Events

Polish Festival, Polish Library Hall, 3900 N Interstate, Sat Sept 24, 11 am-10 pm; Sun Sept 25, noon-7 pm, free Last year 10,000 people showed up at Polish Fest, so it’s a big deal. Not surprising though with the wealth of sausages, potato and cheese-filled pierogis, potato pancakes, and plenty of other diet-destroying delights. If […]

Having an event? Email katie@portlandmercury.com and we’ll include it next time. Bridge Bash at Cathedral Park, take Lombard west from Portland, park is under the east side of the St. Johns Bridge, Sat Sept 17, gates open at 11 am, free Cathedral Park is one of the coolest parks in Portland, and it’s even cooler […]

Zach’s Shack Hot Dog Eating Contest, 4611 SE Hawthorne, 233-4616, Sat 3 pm In conjunction with the Hawthorne Street Fair, Zach hosts his annual hot dog eating contest. 12 harrowing minutes of gut stuffing and you could be the next champ. Last year the winner ate 11 wieners, which doesn’t seem like much to me. […]

Bite of Oregon, Tom McCall Waterfront Park, Fri-Sat 11 am-11 pm; Sun 11 am-10 pm, $5 admission It might seem weird that you have to pay five bucks to get into an event where you’ll have to buy food, but it’s not. First off, proceeds go to the Special Olympics, and second, there’s tons of […]

BBQ Sundays at Billy Ray’s Neighborhood Dive, 2216 NE MLK, 287-7254 In keeping with their all-things-fun-and-cheap mantra, Billy Ray’s is hosting an entirely affordable Sunday BBQ series after the staff kicks ass in their weekly softball game. Show up around 4 or 5 pm for cold 22-ounce Pabsts and $3 plates of burgers, dogs, sides, […]

Portland Farmers Market, Behind the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall between SW Salmon and Main, Wed, 10 am-2 pm weekly Avoid the overpriced atrocity that is Wild Oats’ produce section, and buy your fresh tomatoes, apples, strawberries, mushrooms, herbs, and more at the downtown farmers market. Perfectly timed so you can drop by on your lunch […]

Andina, 1314 NW Glisan, 228-9535, $5 cocktails, $1 oysters, $2 chicken, beef, seafood, and veggie skewers Take a gander at the restaurant everyone is talking about–without the big price tag. Blue Hour, 250 NW 13th, 226-3394 Cheap eats ($1-7), $3 beer, $4 wells, Mon-Fri 4:30-6:30 Fondue, meat and cheese plate, Caesar salad, pizza margheritas made […]

Clinton Street Theater Now Serves Beer, 2522 SE Clinton, 238-8899 In a burst of productivity, the Clinton Street Theater has built a brewery onto the back of the theater and have turned themselves into a food-serving brew-and-view. This means the theater is now an over-21 venue when beer is being poured, but it’s still all-ages […]

Texas Chainsaw Chili Cook-off, Sabala’s, 4811 SE Hawthorne, 238-1646, Sunday, June 26th, 6:30 pm Think your chili is God’s gift to mouths? Well, prove it! Sabala’s is hosting a chili cook-off of massive proportions this Sunday. It’s $10 per entry, and the cook with the best tasting chili gets all money collected. Show up at […]

Gimme Doughnut: Raw Screening at Sabala’s, Sat June 18, 8 pm, 4811 SE Hawthorne, 238-1646, $2 Portland’s favorite downtown doughnut shop finally shows the public the inner workings of their successful operation. What this amounts to–for the most part–is watching the Voodoo Doughnuts employees get wasted at their staff party and cause mayhem and destruction […]

Lounge Relish Happy Hour at Holocene, 1001 SE Morrison, 239-7639, every second Friday (including June 10) from 5-9 pm Dress swanky and get down with jazz, and lounge music spun by DJs Damn I’m Thrifty, Junkenstien, and Scrappers. Also, don’t miss out on Lounge Relish’s mysterious alcohol-fueled martini race. Holocene’s happy hour is already the […]

Il Piatto Pizza Special, 2348 SE Ankeny, 236-4997, Through May 15 Il Piatto smartly wrangles in customers by having delicious Italian cuisine in an adorable, romantic house, but they also provide affordable specials. Sure, we all want to eat upscale, but these days we can’t afford the price. Il Piatto’s ongoing special is a short […]