Small Bites: Cocina de Mary, Tariffs, Shorebird Bakery, and More

Chiles at Cocina de Mary.
Photo credit: Cocina de Mary.

Welcome, Cocina de Mary. This is another case of two restaurants operating in one space at different times. RJ Skillets is there from 8am to 3pm (starting 10am on Mondays) and Cocina de Mary operates 5pm to 9pm (closed Mondays). They offer Guatemalan food: cuchitos, a type of tamal; churrasco; hilachas, similar to ropa vieja; pepián; and tayuyos, similar to pupusas. They also offer familiar dishes like quesadillas, fried plantains, empanadas, burritos, and more. They officially opened on Friday, February 6. 2529-B NE Alberta Street, Portland

Continue reading “Small Bites: Cocina de Mary, Tariffs, Shorebird Bakery, and More”

Taste of Sichuan Has Re-Opened in Beaverton

Fu Qi Beef, a cold appetizer at Taste of Sichuan.
Fu Qi (or Chi) Beef, the first item on the Wild Side menu: Thinly sliced marinated beef in a chili sauce with flakes of beef tendon. Photo credit: Taste of Sichuan.

Back in March of this year we published an article called Taste of Sichuan Will Re-Open in Beaverton. Originally the plan sounded like they’d re-open in April, but delays happened. In the end, they re-opened on Sunday, November 2. Co-owner Dietmar Schimmel and I agreed to chat about Taste of Sichuan after they re-opened, and here is part of our conversation.

Continue reading “Taste of Sichuan Has Re-Opened in Beaverton”

Small Bites: Next Level Veggie Grill, Soulful Sips, Cliff’s, and More

The spread at Next Level Veggie Grill. Photo credit: Next Level Veggie Grill.

Next Level Burger relaunches as Next Level Veggie Grill. I saw this pass through an influencer email list I’m on, but saw that Rachel Saslow at Willamette Week covered the change. Basically, last year Next Level Burger acquired Veggie Grill, a fast-casual vegan competitor of theirs, and had a business baby. Now there’s burgers and bowls, and much, more. It kind of reminds me of Laughing Planet.

The first location to transform will be on SE Hawthorne and 42nd Avenue, with a grand opening party this Saturday, October 25 from 11am to 1pm. Read more on WW. 4121 SE Hawthorne Blvd, Portland

Continue reading “Small Bites: Next Level Veggie Grill, Soulful Sips, Cliff’s, and More”

Top 5 Posts on Bridgetown Bites, March 2025

Data Analytics Chart

It was a very interesting group of articles that Bridgetown Bites readers enjoyed the most in March 2025. A holiday roundup, news of restaurant openings, and the first look at the Flock Food Hall from this past January all caught your collective eyes.

However, Google launched a core update in mid-March, and Bridgetown Bites unfortunately was affected (I can see the downward line on a graph of engagement in my analytics). I looked back at March 2024’s top 5 review and interestingly enough, the site got hit then, too. So, fool me twice, shame on me—I’ll be making yet another set of adjustments.

Continue reading “Top 5 Posts on Bridgetown Bites, March 2025”