It’s that time of year again when the sun goes down before most people can even leave work. More than ever, it’s time to huddle into a favorite restaurant or watering hole, and we’ve got a few new places to visit. Sadly, it’s also sunset for a beloved Sunnyside bistro, as Old Pal will be closing for good at the end of the year. Below, find our roundup of recent restaurant openings, upcoming spots, and closures.
Say Hello To:
Pau Hana at Departure
Downtown’s rooftop pan-Asian restaurant Departure is making room on its eastern balcony for a winter-long pop-up, Pau Hana. Executive chef U’ilaniku’ulei “U’i” Vele taps into her childhood in Wai‘anae, O‘ahu, with a menu sure to drive away the dreary winter chills. Through the end of January, the pop-up will offer kalua pork rice plates with gochujang barbecue sauce, poke bowls and vegan tofu bowls, teriyaki beef nachos, chicken yakitori, and Spam musubi, along with other sides and dishes. The drink menu leans tiki with mezcal and rum drinks, plus a selection of wine and beer to pair with the food, all with one of the best views in town. Don’t worry: It’s covered and heated. 525 SW Morrison, 15th Floor
Love Crumble
Regulars at the Beaverton Farmers Market might be familiar with this stand, which has now gone brick-and-mortar in NW Portland, taking over the space previously home to café and wine bar Lei Brilla. The focus at Love Crumble is on coffee and matcha drinks, as well as a selection of crumbles using local fruits. The opening menu includes seasonal options like apple berry crumble and pumpkin goguma, or Korean sweet potato. Despite the emphasis on caffeinated beverages and sweets, Love Crumble is more of an evening hang than a morning pit stop, open 11 am to 7 pm Wednesdays through Sundays. 1759 NW 24th
Hotel Reynard
Most hotels in Portland sport some kind of dining option, but the city largely lacks the European–style “tavern with an inn above it” model. Now, thanks to the team behind Pal’s on Hayden Island, we have a new one with Hotel Reynard. Named after the trickster fox character from medieval fables, Hotel Reynard takes over a century-old inn sitting on the border of Troutdale, the city streets giving way to the Sandy River and the forests and farmlands of Corbett beyond. In an elegant, stylish dining room, chef Bill Wallender—formerly of Quaintrelle and Ava Gene’s—oversees a Southern European-inspired tavern menu highlighting local, seasonal produce. Think chanterelles and leeks on toast, pasta with fennel pesto, roast chicken with warm bread salad, and charcoal-grilled trout. Sean Hoard, a longtime bar veteran from Teardrop Lounge, handles the drinks, throwing back to the early days of the Cocktail Renaissance with classics like Red Hooks and brambles alongside draft Guinness. The restaurant is open for lunch and dinner, and the hotel above is taking overnight reservations. 302 E Historic Columbia River Hwy, Troutdale
Look Forward To:
Angelina’s
Sesame Collective—the restaurant super group behind Mediterranean Exploration Company, Shalom Y’all, Yalla, and Dolly Olive—is adding another restaurant to its roster. Angelina’s will open November 24 in Slabtown with a menu familiar to fans of the group’s other restaurants, but with its own unique take on Mediterranean cuisine. While still skewing Italian, including fresh pastas, there will be an emphasis on grilled meats and vegetables, as well as polenta bread. It will also hew more casual, operating like a bar as much as a restaurant, with a broad selection of local wines and beers, plus cocktails split into categories like “refreshing” and fuller proof “sippers” as well as NA options. A spacious dining room and patio with seats for over 100 should allow for plenty of drop-ins. To execute this new installment, the Sesame team has brought on chef Adam DeMaris, who moved from high end New York restaurants to open Angelina’s. 1580 NW 21st
Louie
The Garrison was the hottest spot for craft cocktails in St. Johns until it closed earlier this year. Luckily, locals won’t have to wait much longer for its replacement. Louie comes from Jesse Morrow of Old Friend, the team behind Collector Bar on NE Glisan and Company on SE 34th. Like Collector, Louie’s approach to mixed drinks is spirit-forward numbers, earthy and dry and bold, even the nonalcoholic options. Collector bartender Piske will be moving up to St. Johns to oversee the drink menu. Also like Collector, Louie won’t have a full kitchen, instead relying on the neighbors sharing its courtyard to fulfill OLCC obligations for food, mainly the next door ramen shop Mikasa. But the cocktail bar will still carry snacky items: tinned fish from Fishwife, some kind of dips with bread or crackers, snack mix, olives, that sort of thing. The goal is to provide another great drinking spot for the residents of St. Johns. “We’re certainly trying to carry on what the Garrison did,” Morrow says. “We’re hoping to continue with that and be a part of the neighborhood.” Louie will open its doors on November 20. 8773 N Lombard
Say Goodbye To:
Old Pal
Jeremy Larter and Emily Bixler opened Old Pal in 2022 as a kind of “pandemic pivot” for their business Field Day Catering. Tucked off a busy strip of SE Belmont, the charming, airy bistro opened with geeky wines, freezer martinis, and a seafood-heavy menu that evolved over the years, adding heartier dishes like burgers and pastas alongside raw oysters and prawn cocktails. In 2025, the couple rebranded the restaurant as Old Pal Kitchen and Market, adding lunch and a shop of local and imported goods. They eventually moved back into an evening bistro model, and earlier this year drew media attention with the announcement that the James Beard Award–winning chef Timothy Wastell would be moving from his post at wine country’s Antica Terra to join the kitchen. Sadly, the final days approach for Old Pal, as on November 5 the owners took to Instagram to announce they would close it at the end of the year to focus on Field Day Catering again. Fans have a few weeks to visit, with the team adding Sundays to the schedule and offering $2 oyster specials throughout service. And December 13 will see the return of Old Pal’s annual holiday market, where guests can shop local vendors while sipping wine and noshing on treats.