It's been a busy couple of weeks on the food and drink news front—with lots of openings, closings, and new dishes that really want to climb into your mouth. Let's get informed!

Fried chicken lovers rejoice, the new Bae's Chicken (from Micah Camden of Little Big Burger, Super Deluxe) will open it's doors on Wednesday November 6 at 225 Southwest Ash—and will be giving away FREE CHICKEN SANDWICHES to the first 1,000 customers this Saturday, November 2 at noon. Here's what the press release says about what they'll be serving:

Bae’s Chicken serves both grilled and fried chicken in a variety of preparations: wings will be fried and perched on top of waffles, bones will boil down into stocks and gravy, and thighs and breasts will end up sandwiched, either fried with sweet tea mayo or grilled. Bae’s nuggets are split, deboned drumsticks that are fried skin-on and served with white pepper gravy and fermented hot sauce.

St. Johns will be the welcome new home to Banh Mi Up—the former downtown food cart that's now a Vietnamese joint that will serve pho, coconut rice, and of course, the namesake sandwich. Check it out starting Friday November 8 at 8037 N Lombard. More on this story from Eater.

The Velvet Lounge is opening in the former Mother's Bistro space at 212 SW Harvey Milk, and according to the press release promises "a highly curated selection of live music in the Main Room, and fun sing-alongs, drag queen events and a whole lot more in the Lounge." That sounds fun! It's open now, so check it out.

Also from our Andrea Damewood: "Chef Naoko of downtown’s Shizuku is now making bento lunches for sale at Muji (621 SW 5th), Japan’s answer to Ikea. Her food is aggressively seasonal and fresh; I suggest you pair it with a new pair of house slippers."

Chef Naoko opening soon at MUJI. Monday to Friday 11 to 2. #MUJI pic.twitter.com/o2Pf7onsEP
— Chef Naoko (@ChefNaoko) October 28, 2019

The much beloved Lompoc Brewery is shutting it's doors (and pubs) after 23 years, with only Sellwood's Oaks Bottom Public House remaining. Our Ned Lannamann has the story.

The Library at Growler's Taproom—which hosted lots of public events and served as a necessary meeting place—is also closed. From their Facebook:

Denver-based Rockbottom Brew Pub has closed its doors downtown as well, according to the Oregonian.

The Bunk Sandwiches location underneath the Wonder Ballroom is being sold, according to the WW. The upside? Owners Tommy Habetz and Matt Brown are passing the location's torch to manager Josh Luebke and Sierra Kirk-Luebke who will be starting a new bar called Cliff's.

And yes, Avid Cider (121 NW 9th) is closing, too! Here's the sign we saw yesterday afternoon.

Here's hoping the rest of the month stays closure-free. Until then, here's some good food news: "Scientists have trained rats to drive tiny cars to collect food."

(Or maybe that's not good news? See you next week!)