Portland food news and views
Friends Share, a community space in outer southeast Portland located in a former dispensary, opened their doors on Saturday, October 12 after months of planning and work. Among the activities happening there is a Sunday pop-up called Friends Share Cà Phê—a “slow drip” social cafe inspired by Vietnamese coffee culture. Their launch is this Sunday, November 3.
Continue reading “Friends Share Cà Phê Opens November 3 in Portland”
Last month I was invited by Jacob Loeb, publisher of the Montavilla News, to do a tasting at Thang Long Cuisine, a Vietnamese restaurant on SE Division in Montavilla. It’s in good company there at the bottom edge of the neighborhood, what with Master Kong and the very popular Mojo Crepes as its neighbors. The space that holds Thang Long Cuisine used to be home to Thai Fresh.
Continue reading “Thang Long Cuisine: Comforting, Tasty Vietnamese Food in Montavilla (Review)”Pho Gabo’s owner will sue the city of Portland. Back in February, Eddie Dong was forced to close Pho Gabo because of complaints that his restaurant violated city code related to odors. Now he’s planning on suing the city. His claim is that he suffered “reputational harm, fear, humiliation, embarrassment, emotional distress, and loss of his community that he built as a Vietnamese restaurant in the Portland community.” His claim also alleges he suffered “economic and noneconomic damages related to the City’s subjective, selective and disproportionate enforcement of city codes.” 7330 NE Fremont Street, Portland
Helen Bernhard Bakery is 100 years old this year. Big congrats to this bakery staple in Irvington, offering cakes, pastries, breads, donuts, and more for a century. It was started by someone actually named Helen Bernhard, a woman of German descent and a minister’s wife. I first had their peanut butter banana cake for a birthday party year ago, and loved it! You can also get King Cakes there during Mardi Gras season. I especially like their almond rings. 1717 NE Broadway #1775, Portland
The Montavilla Food Co-op can now legally package their own food. The Co-op sent out news this week: “We completed our inspection and got fully licensed to repackage shelf stable foods under the Montavilla Food Co-op label!” They will be renting space at Quiche Me If You for their repackaging work. Their long-term goal is to open a grocery store but have been acting like a buying club in the meantime. Read about them, here, and join if you like. 411 SE 81st Avenue Portland
Pronto Gelato is coming to Cully. Brought to you by Andrea Spella (Spella Coffee) and George Kaden (Campana), they joined together in 2023 and started production in early 2024, after buying a gelato business in Eugene from its owner, who was retiring. They are still working things out at the Cully location but you can try their gelato now at Campana and Spella Cafe. Other locations are in the plans, too. According to Gary the Foodie, “The Alberta location will be both a gelateria and caffe.” That means affogati, too. 4205 NE Alberta Street, Portland
We are comfortably into January 2024 and it’s time to take a look back at 2023’s most-read posts on Bridgetown Bites. They mostly involved openings and closings of restaurants and bars, but there was one article on an Asian market opening in SE Portland that made the list.
I’m happy to say that from an analytics POV, traffic almost doubled between 2022 and 2023 here on the blog. Regarding 2022 I said, “Over 55,000 visits were recorded, and almost 35,000 of those visits were new to the site.” In 2023 we had 106,000 unique visits, with 86,000 new to the site; these visitors generated almost 142,000 page views, too. Not too bad for this little independent blog.
I also read somewhere online that this blog skews toward NE Portland. That is a true statement. I also read in the same source that some readers would love to see more coverage of the west side of Portland. This is good feedback. will see what I can do about that, and diversifying geographically in general.
Thanks to all who have read, commented, sent tips (keep ’em coming!), and shared these articles/posts on social media and with friends. Here’s to another great year of delving into the Portland food world!
10. Yuginong Offers Gluten-Free Korean Fare in St. Johns
When I was at dinner the other night, my friends who live in St. Johns said “a Korean restaurant has finally opened in our neighborhood.” Of course, my interest was piqued so I asked more questions. The restaurant is Yuginong (or Yu Gi Nong), located in the space that was previously home to Sol Bowl and a Starbucks. They opened this past weekend.
Update: I hear only good things about Yuginong, with modifiers like “fresh,” “tasty,” and “very good.” I’m happy to know they are still going strong.
Continue reading “Top Posts on Bridgetown Bites in 2023”
A Bridgetown Bites tipster alerted me to a new Vietnamese restaurant poised to open: The Paper Bridge, which will be located in the old La Luna Cafe space on SE Ash Street and 9th Avenue. They will serve northern Vietnamese food.
Continue reading “The Paper Bridge, Offering Northern Vietnamese Cuisine, Will Open in SE Portland”