Trap Kitchen Aaron Lee A lot’s happened since last week, so let’s get you up to speed. Here’s what you need to know. This week, we reported that journeyman bartender (and rock ’n’ roller) Jason Rocksmore is opening The Cavern, an unfussy craft cocktail bar on SE Hawthorne Boulevard. And our very own food critic, […]
Chad Walsh
Chad Walsh writes about Portland’s food scene and other stuff, too. He makes a mean carbonara and an even meaner chicken larb, and he’ll never muddle fruit in your Old Fashioned because he knows you deserve better.
Posted inFood and Drink
Food News: The Cricket Cafe is Back! (And With New Owners)
Eliza Sohn The Cricket Cafe, which suddenly shuttered last year at 3159 SE Belmont, is back thanks to Jam on Hawthorne’s Gordon Feighner and Katie Prevost. “We took over the Cricket because we don’t think its time is done,” says Feighner. “There are so many people in this town who want to keep these great […]
Posted inFood and Drink
Nong’s Will Say Goodbye to the Cart that Started it All—and Hello to a New Brick-and-Mortar
Nong’s Khao Man Gai Katie Summer Nong Poonsukwattana, the one-woman show behind the Nong’s Kao Man Gai chicken-rice-and-sauce operation, tells the Mercury that she’s opening a brick-and-mortar restaurant “ASAP” at 417 SW 13th in downtown’s West End where the short-lived Heart Pizza once operated. On Monday, Eater PDX reported the news after noticing an announcement […]
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Portland Veteran Bartender (and Rocker) Will Open The Cavern Whiskey Bar on Hawthorne
Kai Pak Journeyman bartender Jason Rocksmore (Mulligan’s, the Old Gilbert Road Tavern, Kelly’s Olympian, the Virginia Cafe) says he’s planning to open The Cavern, a whiskey-centric cocktail bar, in the abandoned Hawthorne Public House space at 4601 SE Hawthorne. If the name sounds familiar, that’s because Rocksmore has a band (Stumblebum, which our very own […]
Posted inFood and Drink
Your Weekly Food and Drink Round-Up: Finally, Pretty Good Food News!
Pizza Jerk Natalie Behring This city’s food and drink reporters were on their toes this week. Over here at the Mercury, we reported on the Mr. Benny’s food cart owner who was arrested for allegedly showing his penis to a woman Uber delivery driver, about Boxer Ramen’s plans to open a new Sellwood noodle shop […]
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Thelonious Bottle Shop Is Opening a Restaurant with a Bay Area Michelin-Grade Chef
Kelsey Glasser and Alex Marchesini—the wine experts behind the Pearl District bottle shop Thelonious Wines—are working on opening Arden Wine Bar & Kitchen, a new restaurant, also in the Pearl, in the old Coppia (née Vino Paradiso space) at 417 NW 10th. The new restaurant, Glasser says, could softly open by March 1, and when […]
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Boxer Ramen is Opening a New Location in Sellwood-Moreland
Do you like ramen and live in SE Portland? If you answered yes to both, good news: Boxer Ramen will open its newest Stumptown location sometime this spring or summer at 1613 SE Bybee. Construction’s just getting underway, but the noodle spot’s co-owner, Matt Lynch, says that when it does open, Sellwooders (Sellwoodians?) will enjoy […]
Posted inFood and Drink
Rules to Keep Happy Hour Happy
Or, Why Do Bars and Restaurants Have All These Rules?
As you can probably tell from this regularly occurring column, restaurants love to roll out reasonable, albeit sometimes confusing, rules for dining out. Some won’t seat you until all of your party’s present, some will limit how many times you can split your check, and some will even dictate how much you’ll tip out once […]
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Portland Food and Drink Wrap-Up: Don’t Check Twitter—Your Favorite Restaurant is Probably Closing
R.I.P. the late, great Rue. Jannie Huang What a week. Ever since the ball dropped on New Year’s Eve, this city’s food reporters have been very, very busy breaking story after story—much of it bad. In early January, the Mercury noted that both locations of the Original Taco House would be closing after half a […]
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Thanks to a Baker with Some Serious Street Cred, Lents Will Get a New Bakery Very, Very Soon
Bella’s addictive cannoli Chad Walsh For two decades, Michelle Vernier worked in kitchens in Detroit and Boston before heading to Portland to work in the pastry departments at Wildwood, Paley’s Place, and Imperial. Since then, she’s spent the last few years cooking up tartines, cannoli, and sfogliatelle under the Bella Mercato banner at farmers markets […]
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The Waiting Game: The Pros and Cons of Tipping
JAKE GIDDENS Before becoming a full-time freelancer, I labored at many jobs: crime reporter, arts editor, short order cook, pizza delivery driver, pothole-patcher, and bookseller. But the most lucrative job I’ve ever had was waiting tables in Portland, Oregon. This was largely thanks to a state mandate requiring employers to pay my fellow servers, bartenders, […]
Posted inFood and Drink
The Trouble with Tipping
The Pros and Cons of Restaurant Gratuities
Before becoming a full-time freelancer, I labored at many jobs: crime reporter, arts editor, short order cook, pizza delivery driver, pothole-patcher, and bookseller. But the most lucrative job I’ve ever had was waiting tables in Portland, Oregon. This was largely thanks to a state mandate requiring employers to pay my fellow servers, bartenders, and myself […]