Portland food news and views
Thanksgiving 2025—it’ll be here before you know it (November 27). We hope this resource will be of help for those making their dinner and ingredient pre-orders, as well as for those trying to snag a reservation at one of our local restaurants.
This roundup will be updated as new options and information becomes available. Happy Thanksgiving (to come)!
Poultry and Meat | Pies and Dessert
Meal Kits & Takeout | Restaurant Meals | Misc
I thought I’d take a little time to share some of the restaurants opening in Portland in 2025 that I am particularly looking forward to. As we move further away from the pandemic—though COVID is not gone, by any means—I have hopes that its volatility that affected the city’s restaurants for too long is truly in the rearview mirror. And that other issues (like break-ins) can be addressed by our new city council. This year’s list includes a public market, a new coffee shop, Indigenous fine dining, and more.
Continue reading “Restaurants Opening in Portland in 2025: What We’re Looking Forward To”
Over the years, Bridgetown Bites has published numerous stories about Portland restaurant openings and closings. But what’s different about this year, is that I kept a simple list of those we covered, in reverse-chronological order. I thought it would be fun to look back on that list, and make a few observations.
Continue reading “Summary: Portland Restaurant Openings and Closings, 2024”Apologies for the lack of posting this week—I had emergency eye stuff to attend to and it really threw me for a loop. Take care of your eyes, friends; your vision health is not something to neglect.
Chef Naomi Pomeroy has died. On this past Monday I was scrolling Instagram and saw this post from Portland Monthly. I was stunned—surely it was not true. But it was, it is, and it is a huge loss for her friends and family, loved ones, fans, and Portland’s restaurant and food world. Countless tributes have been posted, and much sadness and shock has been expressed.
The Benton County Sheriff’s Office reports that she “drowned shortly before 8:30pm on July 13 near river mile 132 in Corvallis about 100 yards upstream from the Mary’s River.” KATU reports that she was “pulled under the water and held by the paddle board leash. She was not wearing a life jacket and, unable to resurface, drowned.” Her body has been recovered.
I hope anyone who is reading this takes this awful tragedy to heart and chooses to wear a life jacket next time they’re floating on the river.
Read more about Naomi Pomeroy’s remarkable work, career, and influence in the world of food in this NY Times article (unlocked). I never met her, so I can’t speak personally about her, but I know she essentially changed the world—and many lives—with her work.
Indian food is coming to Argay. A Bridgetown Bites tipster alerted me to a new Indian restaurant opening up in that shopping center on NE Sandy Blvd and 139th Avenue (same center where the P-Town Pizza is opening). It’s called Best of India, and from what I can tell from when I peeked in the other day (I did not ask questions, as they were moving heavy things around), they are currently revamping the interior. Research as of today has not yielded much; I’ll look into it more next week. 13882 NE Sandy Blvd, Portland
Look at this cool map of Roseway. Illustrator Sunny Eckerle put together this sweet map of the Roseway neighborhood (she lives nearby), featuring some of the great eats you can find along NE Sandy Blvd and 82nd Ave, including Junior’s Roasted Coffee/Upright Beer Station, Denizens Cafe, the Sandy Jug, Fresh Love (who has a new vegetarian Muffuletta sandwich on the menu), Reeva and Pizzeria Otto, and the Mom & Pop Wine Shop. She also included Madison South’s The People’s Courts and Sumner’s My-O-My (she and I have a lighthearted agreement for joint custody of My-O-My and Roseway’s Cameo Cafe). Various
Belle Époque Pies opens in August. Pizza pop-up Belle Époque Pies will open their doors on Saturday, August 3 at 5pm at the 23rd and Alberta Food Cart Pod. “Join us for an afternoon of pizza and music with a wonderful acoustic performance by @caicedo_decia and a DJ set by mi hermano @_muertitos_.” They offer Sicilian/Detroit-style pies. 2231 NE Alberta Street, Portland
Stories you may have missed this week on Bridgetown Bites:
A Few Updates: Bobacat Teahouse, Pizza, and Greek Food
I thought I’d also tell you what festivals are coming up soon, listed on our Portland Area Cultural + Food Festivals page:
Fuji to Hood, Saturday, July 20, 2024 (Portland)
Portland Highland Games, Saturday, July 20, 2024 (Portland)
Four Days of Aloha Hawaiian Festival: Welcome Pāʻina, Thursday July 25, 2024 (Vancouver)
Posting this in a “better late than never” approach, I’m happy to say that February 2024 was another good month on the blog with about 19,000 page views generated by over 14,500 unique visitors—and for a shorter month than January! As for what was popular, it was heavy on the bars, with a couple of eatery news stories. The opening of new places is always something fun to read about.
As always, thanks for reading, sharing, and sending tips!
5. Mokdong Gimbap to Open in Old Frog & Snail Space
As you know from reading this blog, Frog & Snail closed earlier this year, ending easy access to crepes and the magnificent French onion meatball sub they were known for. But a new place is opening up there, Mokdong Gimbap, offering sushi and—you’d expect—especially gimbap.
Continue reading “Top 5 Posts on Bridgetown Bites, February 2024”