The Rainbow Cave at Hopscotch, a gallery in Portland’s Central Eastside neighborhood. | Dina Avila/Eater Portland It may not seem like the most obvious locale, but Central Eastside can be the site of a deeply Portland weekend — if you let it As a city sandwiched between a world-class wine region and the Columbia River Gorge, Portland offers its residents unfettered access to either locale for weekend getaways. For this reason, some may overlook the potential of a staycation in the heart of the city — particularly one in Central Eastside, a relatively car-heavy area. However, if you can ignore ..read more

Replicant co-owners Lydia Crumbley and Gianpiero Milani. | Replicant Bar & Bottle Shop Replicant Bar and Bottle Shop will open alongside the new location of City Noise Records Montavilla locals will soon be able to nurse a beer or a glass of Mexican wine while they shop for records. Replicant Bar and Bottle Shop will open alongside the new location of City Noise Records, with an extensive wine and beer selection, nonalcoholic cocktails, and listening stations for folks to drink and listen. City Noise Records owner Gianpiero Milani originally opened his punk-focused record store in November ..read more

Visitors eat in a booth at the Love Shack in Slabtown. | Carter Hiyama The fun, creative food landing at the city’s newest cocktail bars is evocative of early-aughts Portland, when stakes felt lower and chefs had room to play In the early 2000s, back when Portland’s restaurant scene started getting national attention, many people celebrated the city’s emphasis on hyper-locality, farm-to-table dining, and artisan food culture. But there was also a contingent that acknowledged the freewheeling nature of Portland, describing chefs as “nonconformist” and noting the city’s “renegade spirit.” Many n ..read more

Steak au poivre at Mama Bird. | Mama Bird The classic French dish has reappeared on menus across Portland At Le Clown, the French pop-up from St. Jack alumnus John Denison, a past steak preparation came as a two-plate dish: A crock of silken whipped potatoes surrounded a marrow bone filled with demi-glace, while the other plate supported a sliced culotte drenched in a rich peppercorn sauce, topped with a scattering of microgreens. There was a time when steak au poivre was inescapable. Peppercorn-encrusted steaks, drenched in a sauce bolstered with brandy or sherry, became a staple within both ..read more

A cocktail from a past Worry Not pop-up. | Worry Not From Canard bartender Cliff Seminerio, Worry Not partners with Portland chefs for brunches and events, serving drinks with house-made zero-proof amaro and shrubs The world of nonalcoholic drinking in Portland has shifted dramatically over the last ten years. Historically, it’d be a big deal to see a single mocktail on a menu; now, it’s more of a given. Oregon is home to its own zero-proof spirit brand and breweries, and vintners are now making nonalcoholic wines with state-grown grapes. However, not all NA lists are created equal, in the per ..read more

Stumptown Coffee Roasters’ former Ace Hotel cafe. | ARTYOORAN/Shutterstock Plus, the Uncanny is debuting two vegan food menus, and more news to know Third-wave Portland roaster Stumptown Coffee is set to open its new cafe at the 11W Building on Southwest 11th Avenue and Southwest Washington Street tomorrow. The new West End location replaces Stumptown’s former Ace Hotel cafe; the move was first announced in August 2023. In addition to its regular lineup of coffee beverages, the 11W cafe will feature rotating seasonal and signature beverages such as spring’s Rose Gold Honey Cortado, which uses ..read more

Geri and Ethan Leung of Baon Kainan. | Thom Hilton/Eater Portland The couple behind the Eater Award-winning Filipino food cart share their go-to doughnut spots, where they get their morning coffee, and the move for post-shift sushi Welcome to Dining Confidential, a monthly column in which local chefs talk about their favorite restaurants, bars, and cafes in Portland, highlighting their own restaurant’s ethos and sharing fun personal takes. Know of a chef you’d like to see featured? Let us know via our tip line. Ethan and Geri Leung, the husband and wife team who own the Eater Award-winning Fil ..read more

Chef Daniel Green and Bauman’s owner Christine Bauman Walter. | Kelly Mooney Portland chef Daniel Green is serving house-pickled and cured snacks alongside the award-winning ciders made onsite The restaurant within Bauman’s on Oak, the Southeast Portland cidery and taproom from the award-winning Gervais cider brand, exists as something of a trade. When Cafe Olli alumnus Daniel Green first wanted to learn more about cider, Bauman’s founder and head cidermaker, Christine Bauman Walter, became a mentor. As they got closer, Walter was trying to decide whether she should offer food at her Portland ..read more

Pronto Gelato will serve grapefruit Campari sorbetto and Oregon hazelnut gelato in Northeast Portland Almost 20 years ago, while coffee roaster Andrea Spella was opening his original eponymous espresso cart, the Spella Caffè owner encountered a sorbetto that would become something of an old friend. He was trying to find gelatos for his affogato service, and he stumbled upon Stella Gelato while at a Market of Choice in 2006. “The grapefruit-Campari sorbetto won me over,” he says. Thus, he started serving Stella gelato affogato at his original cart, with a range of flavors: stracciatella, hazel ..read more

Pho Gabo’s owner Eddie Dong is taking his case to court. | Pho Gabo Eddie Dong, owner of Pho Gabo, is suing the city for “selective and disproportionate enforcement of city codes” It wasn’t long ago that Portland officials cited Eddie Dong’s restaurant for “continuous, frequent, or repetitive odors”, which directly contributed to the business’s closure. Though the city has said it is retooling its process to avoid biased decision-making in the future, the Willamette Weekly obtained files indicating that Dong plans to sue the city. Julie Parrish, a lawyer for Kell, Alterman & Runstein LLP ..read more