In perhaps the biggest food news of the week, the Bravo phenomenon Top Chef is coming to Portland! Vitaly Paley has also closed Imperial Like List and announced the imminent closure of The Crown Like List . Plus, Portland gets some new plant-based options, as the Sri Lankan pop-up Mirisata Like List launches its new brick-and-mortar and the popular Supernova Vegan Like List food cart opens a restaurant. Read on for details on all that and more essential updates. For more ideas, check out our list of places to drink fresh hop beer Like List , our takeout and delivery directory, and our outdoor dining directory.
Jump to: New Openings & Returns | Pop-Ups & Events | New Specials | Closures | Other Food News
NEW OPENINGS AND RETURNS
Amelia's Mexican Food
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According to a press release, a Mexican food cart called Amelia's Mexican Food is the newest addition to the Carts on the Square at Pioneer Courthouse Square. Executive chef and founder Amelia Mondragon and her son Josue operate two brick-and-mortar restaurant locations as well as a food cart, serving "recipes passed down through generations" with a modern twist. Popular dishes include the Azabache Burrito (spicy beef brisket, rice, beans, cheese, and sour cream), Tostada Oaxaqueña (beans, lettuce, cabbage, onions, cilantro, tomatoes, radishes, avocado slices, sour cream, and cheese), and Burrito Loco (protein, rice, beans, onions, cilantro, cabbage, "Angeles sauce," cheese, and sour cream).
Downtown
Batterfish
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This acclaimed Los Angeles fish and chips shop, which has been featured on Guy Fieri's "Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives," has moved to Oregon and opened a food cart in Happy Valley Station. Owner Jason Killalee, a former actor who hails from Dublin, is a staunch fish and chip purist and has been called the "Degas of the deep fryer" by LA Eater.
Happy Valley
Central Kitchen
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Veteran restaurateurs John Plew and Keith Castro will open an "online food hall" with six virtual restaurants and one shared kitchen on October 7, according to a press release. Customers can order from the kitchen for delivery or curbside pickup. The six restaurant concepts include Soy Joy Kitchen ("rice bowls, sushi, ramen, and other Asian favorites"), BYOBurger ("customizable burgers, fresh blended milkshakes, three kinds of French fries, plus crispy tots and onion rings"), Tortilla Sunrise ("street tacos, burritos, nachos, and bowls"), Southern Jewel ("Southern fried chicken, Nashville hot chicken, sliders and Southern specialties"), Killer Wings ("boneless and traditional wings with a variety of sauces"), and Thirsty Lion Gastropub ("starters, burgers, sandwiches, salads, and specialties"). Cocktails will also become available starting October 14.
Delivery only
K-Bop!
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This new Hawaiian-Korean food cart opened in Happy Valley Station in mid-September and has customizable bibimbap bowls, loco moco, shoyu chicken, kalua pork, chicken katsu, and more.
Happy Valley
Mac and Tot Box
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If you're looking for comfort food (and let's be honest, who isn't right now?), this new food cart, which opened in late September in the Eastport Food Center, has a menu of souped-up mac and cheese and loaded tater tots. Mac and cheese choices range from basic to the "Crabby Patty Deluxe" (a mac and cheese "burger" with a crab patty, "Spongebob sauce," a tomato, and a toasted bun), while tot options include the "Dating Mr. Potato Head" (a pound of tots with sour cream and chives) and the "Boogie Nights" (a pound of tots with bratwurst, cheese, and grilled onions). For dessert, there's fried Oreos, fried cheesecake, and fried cookie dough.
Southeast
Mirisata
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Rejoice! The sleeper-hit Sri Lankan pop-up Mirisata, which closed
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after needing to vacate its current kitchen a few weeks ago, has found a permanent brick-and-mortar location in the former space of Hunt & Gather Catering and opens for lunch and dinner today. The restaurant is entirely BIPOC worker-owned and serves an all-vegan menu. One of the most popular dishes is a rice and curry plate with a variety of curries served over banana leaves. They also have a vegan version of kottu roti (a famous Sri Lankan street food typically made with godhamba roti and vegetables, egg and/or meat, and spice), made with meatless Chick'n or polos (jackfruit).
Southeast
Supernova Vegan
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And another new option for vegans: The Supernova Vegan food cart, known for its popular burritos loaded with plant-based mac and cheese, has opened a restaurant in the former location of Back to Eden. The new restaurant also features a vegan and gluten-free bakery called Ritual Sweetcraft.
Northeast
Teardrop Lounge
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This Pearl District cocktail bar has reopened after being temporarily closed and has gone to great lengths to provide a safer experience for customers, including building a Plexiglass window around the bar, upgrading their HVAC system to a more "restrictive filtration" and setting it up to bring in triple the amount of outside air, splitting staff into two teams to minimize potential spread of COVID, temperature checks, and more.
Downtown
POP-UPS & EVENTS
Dine the Couve
Past Event
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All month long, you can take advantage of super-cheap "3 for $25" specials from participating Vancouver restaurants. Some restaurants will be offering takeout options in addition to dine-in.
Vancouver, through October 31
North Bank Beer Week: Weekend Edition
Past Event
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This annual beer week celebrating Southwest Washington beer is in its fifth year and has a lineup of socially distant events planned for 2020, including virtual festivals, beer releases, Oktoberfest-themed days, outdoor movies, and even beer can races.
Vancouver, through October 4
VirtuWedge 2020
Past Event
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The annual cheese-tasting extravaganza The Wedge will go virtual, bringing you an insulated tote bag filled with 10 artisan cheeses from Oregon cheesemakers, plus Kelly's Jelly, Anthem Cider, and crostini and chocolate from Whole Foods. This year’s kits are sold out, but you can still tune in to the virtual event—they’ve even provided a list of vendors so you can assemble your own mini kit.
Online, October 3
Bratwurst & Bier
Past Event
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Drink some sudsy steins of craft beer from Three Mugs alongside hearty brats from the Altengartz German Sausage Food Truck.
Three Mugs Brewing Company, Fridays through October 30
Trusty's Oktoberfest
Past Event
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Trusty Brewing will tap the keg of their first-ever Oktoberfest brew at this smaller, socially distanced celebration.
Vancouver, October 3
Wildfire Relief Fundraiser sponsored by pFriem & Tigard Taphouse
Past Event
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At this fundraiser supporting GW Red Cross Northwest Fund's efforts to help those in Oregon and Washington affected by the wildfires, you can lounge on Tigard Taphouse's spacious, socially distanced patio and try limited and specialty pFriem beers, including a pFriem Gravity pour, fruited barrel aged beers, and seasonal offerings.
Tigard, October 3
Deadshot PDX Presents: Tacos & Tequila Ft. Ricky Bella & Grandpa Guero's Hot Sauce
Past Event
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Sip tequila-based drink specials alongside carnitas, crunchwraps, and plenty of Grandpa Guero's hot sauce at this pop-up event.
Deadshot, October 5
¡Adios Al Verano!
Past Event
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Bask in the last rays of summer and dance to bachata, salsa, and New Latin Wave beats while sipping piña coladas.
Tropicale, October 2-4
Stormtoberfest
Past Event
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This Oktoberfest celebration, which bills itself as "the closest to Munich you're gonna get," features Bavarian-inspired food specials, schnitzel, bratwurst, sausage platters, and a special Stormtoberfest Marzenbier, all on StormBreaker's patio. You're encouraged to don lederhosen.
Stormbreaker Brewing, October 2-4
NEW SPECIALS
Doe Donuts
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The vegan donut shop's October flavors include black sesame matcha, pear huckleberry, and smoked Almond roca. If you're in the mood for something more autumnal, they also have classic apple cider cake donuts.
Northeast
Nacheaux Food Cart
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The Mexican-Southern fusion food cart has added a couple of decadent new specials, including Oreo pumpkin pancakes and a fried catfish sandwich.
Southeast
Grind Wit Tryz
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Prefer your pumpkin spice sweets with a little island flair? The Oahu-inspired food cart Grind Wit Tryz is serving "pumpkin crunch," a Hawaiian fall favorite similar to pumpkin pie with cake crumbles on the bottom and candied pecans and whipped cream on top.
North
DUO PDX
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This recently opened food cart, named for the dynamic "duo" of breakfast and burgers and located on the PSU campus, has a special pistachio fig sticky bun available for brunch in limited quantities this Saturday, made in collaboration with the baking pop-up Olivia B Sweets.
Downtown
Cascade Brewing
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According to a press release, the brewery releases its new sour project Encyclopedia Botanica 2018, a medium-bodied Northwest sour ale aged in oak wine barrels for two years, today, Friday, October 1. The cocktail-inspired release's name comes from the "encyclopedic collection of seeds, berries, spices, flowers, and fruit" used to make it, including elderflowers, orange peel and a "unique blend" of gin botanicals.
Southeast
Voodoo Doughnut
The ever-irreverent doughnut stalwart is back with its Dashing Pumpkin Doughnut, a pumpkin cake doughnut with cream cheese frosting, sprinkles, and pumpkin spice.
Various locations
CLOSURES
Beech Street Parlor
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The cozy neighborhood cocktail bar located inside a renovated two-story foursquare house has sadly shuttered. An Instagram post from the bar read, "Sorry it had to be this way. Thanks for everything. Love you all."
Northeast
Crackerjacks Pub
According to a Facebook post, the longtime neighborhood dive bar and pizza restaurant has closed after 30 years of business. The post hints, "We will miss you all, but you just never know what will happen in this weird world, CJ’s might pop up again somewhere!?!? We’ll keep you posted! I mean who doesn’t love pizza, right!?!?"
Northwest
Imperial
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and The Crown
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The James Beard Award-winning chef Vitaly Paley's well-received restaurant Imperial is permanently closed, and his pizzeria The Crown will close for good as well on October 8. No reasons have been given for the closure, but Paley told Eater Portland in an interview earlier this spring that money had been "seeping out steadily" after temporarily closing his restaurants due to COVID-19. Oregon Live also reports that the future of Paley's other restaurants Headwaters and Rosa Rosa are in doubt.
Southwest
The Liquor Store
After temporarily closing in March, the cocktail bar and music venue is now permanently closed and available for lease. Two former employees filed lawsuits against the bar's investor Cooper DuBois for sexual harassment in April.
Southeast
Saucebox
Bruce Carey's downtown restaurant has closed permanently, following the recent closure of Carey's Pearl District restaurant Bluehour in June. In August, former server Jorge Bello filed a workplace discrimination lawsuit against the restaurant, co-owner Joe Rogers, and three other employees for racial discrimination and harassment.
Downtown
OTHER FOOD NEWS
A "Top Chef" season in Portland!
And now, for some very exciting news, if you haven't already heard: The 18th season of popular Bravo reality competition Top Chef, which comes out in 2021, will take place in the Rose City. The show has created a "production bubble" in a Portland hotel and taken other measures to ensure safety while filming what is sure to be an unusual season. In addition to host Padma Lakshmi and judges Gail Simmons and Tom Colicchio, the show will feature appearances from chefs from past seasons, including Richard Blais, Carrie Baird, Nina Compton, Tiffany Derry, Melissa King, Kristen Kish, Edward Lee, Kwame Onwuachi, Amar Santana, Dale Talde, and Brooke Williamson, as well as Portland chef Gregory Gourdet, who finished second in the show's 12th season and competed in the show's recent "All-Stars" season.
For even more food & drink coverage, check out the Portland Mercury's Takeout Club!