The past couple weeks have been booming with restaurant openings. Steely’s looks like a promising new spot for smashburgers, while Proof Pizza’s thin-crust, square-cut Chicago tavern-style pizza is finally available for dine-in. Plus, Pipsqueak Bagels is open at long last. Here’s what’s new, what’s changed, and what’s closed since our last food news roundup.
Upcoming Openings
Steely’s
This new bar with delicious-looking grub opens Friday, April 17 in the former Gigantic Brewing space on Hawthorne. It’s a collaborative effort between former pop-up Little Brother and the folks behind the now-closed Smitty’s Taphouse in Sellwood. A sneak peek of the food posted on Instagram shows crisp-edged smashburgers, buffalo wings, a wedge salad, shoestring fries, and a beet salad, plus icy bottles of Miller High Life.
4343 SE Hawthorne, Wed-Thur 4 pm-10 pm, Fri-Sat noon-11 pm, Sun noon-9 pm, @steelys_pdx
Proof Pizza
This Chicago tavern-style pizzeria has been open for takeout for a few months now, but on Wednesday, it’s finally opening for dine-in, with a bar equipped with TVs for watching Chicago sports, a patio for sunny days, and cold beer and cocktails to drink. Beyond the thin-crust, square-cut tavern pizza, the menu also includes smoked buffalo wings, salads, bosco sticks, and mozzarella sticks. There’s also a takeout window for those on the go. This is the pizzeria’s first brick-and-mortar location, but there’s also a Proof Pizza cart at Breakside Brewing in Beaverton.
932 SE Morrison, Wed-Thur 3:30 pm-9 pm, Fri 3:30 pm-midnight, Sat 11 am-midnight, Sun 11 am-9 pm, @proofpnw
Verdure @ Malpractice
Chef Adolfo Tigerino of vegetable-forward plant-based pop-up Verdure starts a residency at cocktail bar Malpractice on April 15 (no service April 17). The opening menu includes morel toast with wild leeks and ramps over whipped nettle cashew ricotta, a purple-and-green asparagus salad with rhubarb and strawberries, churrasco tofu and mushrooms, and a take on a Nicaraguan holiday cake called pio quinto—here, it’s a corn cake soaked in coffee syrup, paired with citrus custard and rhubarb ice cream.
77 SE Yamhill, Wed-Thur 4 pm-11 pm, Fri 4 pm-midnight, Sat 2 pm-midnight, @verdurepdx
Update: Portland Mercado
This Foster-Powell food cart pod and marketplace has been closed due to fire since January 2024, but now we have an anticipated reopening date of September 2026. The pod is currently taking applications for six available food cart slots beginning in the summer.
Recently Opened
Pipsqueak Bagels
The much-anticipated Pipsqueak Bagels opened on Saturday, April 11, with lines forming down the block. So far, the bagel shop has sold out early each of the three days it’s been open. But yours truly stopped by on the morning of the 13th, and can confirm that these bagels are well worth the wait—the chew is unmatched. The whole bagel lineup right now is savory: plain, rosemary sea salt, plain sea salt, poppy, sesame, everything, Asiago black pepper, and Asiago jalapeño. Try the fruit and cream bagel for a slightly sweet twist, which includes cream cheese, apricot jam, chiffonade basil, and flaky salt. Stop by on a weekday if you can, but note they’re closed Tuesdays and Wednesdays.
3844 SE Gladstone, Thurs-Mon 7 am-2 pm (or until sold out), pipsqueakbagels.com, @pipsqueakbagels
Gnome and Faerie
This spot serving a couple of its own botanical-infused beers and non-alcoholic options opened on April 9. Situated on the main floor of a Victorian home on Hawthorne, it’s owned by married couple Shay and Eva Hosseinion, who also own Elderflower Medicine, a clinic offering primary care, acupuncture, Chinese medicine, and massage in the upstairs floor of the same house. Shay brews the beer, including a cherry blossom pilsner and an elderflower-elderberry IPA. (The Mercury first covered Shay’s beer, brewed under the name Brewed By Gnomes, back in 2018.) Small plates come from chef Scott Iijima of Hiori, who’s worked at restaurants in town including Han Oak recently finished out a residency at cocktail bar Malpractice. Hiori offers yoshoku (Japanese-Western) food, ranging from Caesar salad with bonito dashi dressing to crispy tofu with aged soy glaze.
3257 SE Hawthorne, Thurs-Sat 4 pm-9pm, gnomeandfaerie.com, @gnomenadfaerie
Hearth & Vine
This self-described New American brasserie opened on April 2 in the former Henry Weinhard Brewery space in the Pearl District, which was most recently home to Henry’s Tavern. In a shift from its long-ago beer brewing past, the wine list here is actually quite impressive, with 50 available by the taste, glass, or carafe (including around two dozen on tap). There’s also a lineup of mocktails, custom martinis, and yes, several beers on tap. Food includes apps like a dip trio and a cheese and charcuterie board, a seafood lineup with oysters and shrimp cocktail, staples like pizza, salads, pastas, sandwiches, and entrees including fish and chips and filet mignon.
10 NW 12th, Wed-Thur 11 am-10 pm, Fri-Sat 11 am-11 pm, Sun 11 am-10 pm, @hearthandvinepdx, hearthandvinepdx.com
Change Is Afoot
Big news from a couple major players in the local food scene over the past couple weeks. On April 3, winery Antica Terra in Amity announced that chef Kristen D. Murray of Maurice would be taking over the kitchen. Maurice, an essential downtown Portland lunchtime gem with fabulous black pepper cheesecake, will remain open with Murray at the helm, but her position at Antica Terra will be a return to fine dining for her. “To welcome her feels like a natural homecoming for a chef whose instincts have always been guided by ingredients, seasons, and the beauty of paying close attention,” Antica Terra’s post states. She takes over the position from chef Timothy Wastell, who won a James Beard award for Best Chef Northwest in 2025 during his time as the winery’s chef. (As we reported a couple weeks ago, Wastell is now over at Old Pal on Morrison.)
Meanwhile, chef Greg Higgins of pioneering farm-to-table restaurant Higgins announced his plans to retire in a recent newsletter. He put out a call for “the right steward of Higgins, someone who understands what this place means to our guests and employees, and will carry it forward into its next chapter here in Portland.” The plans to sell are partially spurred by the loss of Higgins’ business partner, Paul Mallory, who died in November 2025. Back in July 2025, the restaurant sent out a call for help via newsletter and Instagram, asking for customers to come in and support the restaurant to save it from the brink of closure. Higgins opened the restaurant along with Mallory back in 1994, and in 2002, Higgins snagged the James Beard award for Best Chef – Northwest.
Upcoming and Past Closures
On April 13, Bar Casa Vale announced on Instagram that its last day of service will be April 25. The wood-fired Spanish tapas restaurant, part of Olympia Provisions, originally opened in the fall of 2016.
Bar Casa Vale attracted negative attention online in December 2025 after a former executive chef at the restaurant, Jahquari Greene (who also runs Mad Man Pop-Up serving West Indian food) posted a series of videos on TikTok. He stated that a front-of-house employee grabbed his arm during a disagreement, and that his manager asked him to continue plating afterward. Greene said that he and the other kitchen staff walked out in protest, and that he and other back-of-house employees were later terminated in response to the walkout.
Bar Casa Vale told the Portland Mercury that the restaurant’s closure is not related to the allegations made online, but is the result of “business considerations and the natural end of our lease term.”
“We’re looking forward to our final services and to honoring the nearly ten years Bar Casa Vale has been part of the Portland community,” the restaurant wrote in an email to the Mercury.
The Chinese Cowboy announced on April 9 via Instagram that its last day would be on April 11. The restaurant originally opened in 2024 as Warsugai serving classic Chinese American dishes, but rebranded to The Chinese Cowboy in mid-2025 serving brisket fried rice, almond chicken gyros, and pulled pork sandwiches.
Libre, which specialized in desserts and cocktails including creme brulee with bone marrow caramel ice cream and mole milk punch, closed its doors on April 4. Opened in the fall of 2023, the business was a collaboration between pastry chef Gabriella Martinez and restaurateur Nan Chaison, who also owns Mestizo and Norah.