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Portland Weekend Amusements (28-30 August 2015)

August 27, 2015 by Dave Leave a Comment

The fantastic Festa Italiana, Movies in the Park, Drive-in at Zidell Yards, and Support Black Restaurant Days – all weekend!

All Weekend

Drive-In at Zidell Yards

North By NorthwestNorthwest Film Center and Zidell present Drive-In at Zidell Yards each evening Thursday through Monday, August 27 through 31, 2015 at Zidell Yards (3030 SW Moody Avenue) under the Ross Island bridge

The movies:

  • Thursday (27 August 2015): Clueless
  • Friday (28 August 2015): An American Werewolf in London
  • Saturday (29 August 2015): Jurassic Park
  • Sunday (30 August 2015): North by Northwest
  • Monday (31 August 2015): Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure

Festa Italiana 2015

Festa Italiana

The 24th annual Festa Italiana tranforms Pioneer Courthouse Square into an Italian piazza Thursday through Saturday, August 27 through 29, 2015.
Arrive early to grab a table in the beer and wine garden (in my experience the beer and wine prices are very reasonable) where you’ll have an excellent view of the stage. Entertainment runs the gamut from marionettes, ballet, and opera to Sinatra tributes and of course (of course!) plenty of accordions!

Saturday-Sunday

Support Black Restaurant Days, Portland, OR!!!!

Inspired by an article about Black Restaurant Day in the San Francisco Chronicle, Portlander Bertha Pearl launched a Facebook event to bring Black Restaurant Day to Portland. The event’s page has amassed a huge list of black-owned restaurants in Portland that would otherwise not exist, and according to Pearl, August 29-30 will be Portland Black Restaurant Day.

Ongoing

Movies in the Park

Movies in Parks

Friday, August 28

  • Dawson Park – Cinderella
  • Montavilla Park – Home

Saturday, August 29

  • Spring Garden Park – Back to the Future

Things to do in Portland on Thanksgiving Day 2012

November 19, 2012 by Dave 1 Comment

Happy Turkey Day Portland!

Coffee

Anna Bannanas (8716 N Lombard & 1214 NW 21st) is opening at 7:30 a.m. and closing when it slows down, probably 5 or 6 p.m.

The worker-owned Red & Black Cafe is open 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Thanksgiving Day.

Beer and Booze

Barfly Magazine maintains a respectable list of bars open 365 days a year.

rialto200And here are some more picks:

Rialto (529 SW 4th) stays open 365 days a year, 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 a.m. While drinking beer play some pinball and pool, watch football on the ginormous TVs, or place some off-track bets.

The Radio Room (1101 NE Alberta) will be opening for Thanksgiving at 5 p.m. to 2 a.m., and will be featuring a turkey dinner special,and many drink specials – no reservations needed!

The Hop & Vine (1914 N Killingsworth) will be open (probably) from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Thanksgiving Day for last minute needs!

Bottles NW (5115 NE Fremont) opens at 6pm on Thanksgiving Day!

McMenaminsMany downtown hotel restaurants and bars will be open on Turkey Day.

Quite a few McMenamins will be open on Thanksgiving day. Check the calendar for holiday buffets and movie showings.

You can also place bets at the track: Portland Meadows is open on Thanksgiving Day, and is offering a special breakfast buffet at the North End Bar & Grill. Doors open at 7:30 a.m. and will will be open for simulcasting through about 3:00 p.m.

ProstAnd Prost (4237 N Mississippi) opens the doors on Thanksgiving Day at 6pm for their 4th Annual Thanksgiving Day Turkey Dinner, featuring, in addition to bier, booze, and hot cocktails for sale, a complimentary turkey dinner!

Henry’s Tavern (10 NW 12th) is open noon until 8pm, offering a special holiday menu.

Restaurants

And PortlandFoodAndDrink.com‘s annual Thanksgiving Roundup is live!

Sizzle Pie (624 W Burnside) is open normal hours on Thanksgiving Day, 11:00 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Shopping

Powell's BooksAvoid the holiday crowds that will ensue on Black Friday by visiting Powell’s Books (1005 W Burnside location) on Black Friday Eve (aka Thanksgiving Day). The store will be open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Groceries

Though not likely to be open all day, many grocery and convenience stores will be open for limited Holiday hours. Usually from late morning until early afternoon.

Activities

OregonZooThe Oregon Zoo is open on Thanksgiving day (and every other day of the year, except December 25).

Many bowling alleys and movie theaters are open Thanksgiving Day!

Transit

TriMet buses and MAX, as well as the Portland Streetcar, will run on Sunday schedules.

Got any more suggestions? Add them in the comments below – and have an excellent Turkey Day!

Southland Whiskey Kitchen: A Preview

October 11, 2012 by Dave Leave a Comment

This guest post is graciously provide by friend-of-the-blog Rick, of Beerdrinker.org and @m8ryx on Twitter – thanks Rick!

Southland Whiskey KitchenWhen Dave asks, it is imperative that you do the right thing. Especially when it’s “Hey, Rick, would you like to checkout this new restaurant that serves tasty BBQ and delicious grown-up beverages?” So, I did the right thing: show up to Southland for a preview of their tasty menu.

Southland Whiskey Kitchen (1422 NW 23rd) is a new project by the folks who brought the Casa del Matador (1438 NW 23rd) to Portland, located just a couple doors. Not that other (awesome but totally different) Matador. The first thing you notice is the decor. As you may have noticed at their Matador with the intricate ironwork, these guys are chronically attentive to detail, with a simple but elegant wood decor and some awesome light fixtures that I won’t endeavor to describe, as my effort will fall short so you should probably go check them out (but props to Hippo Hardware for providing the moody bulbs). The space has a large open air section facing NW 23rd, openings that were not there when it was the Clear Creek Distillery.

Southland interior

The menu is heavily Southern without many concessions, most of which live in the sides and salads, to vegetarians. Vegans need not apply, unless you’re just looking to quench your thirst. Everything I ate was pleasing. There were two standout items: the collard greens, and the spicy shrimp with grits. The biscuit was a thing of beauty, and went nicely slathered with honey butter and brisket.

Eric (my date) and I disagreed on the fried chicken. There was consensus that the meat (we both had thigh) was juicy and tender, but butted heads on the fry. It comes down to a matter of preference, I like mine a bit crispier and spiced, and Eric likes it the wrong way. Don’t tell anyone but the fried chicken may become available in ‘n waffles format with the advent of a brunch menu.

They were nice enough to bring us key lime pie for dessert but I was so stuffed on main course items I only shoveled a couple quick bites into my mouth on my way to tour the kitchen. Please remember folks, we’re professionals, excelling at planning, pacing, and execution.

Okay. Now on to the bar. The wonderful, wonderful bar. The bar is wide. With whiskey. The only place in town I can think of with a comparable list is the Brooklyn Park Pub (3400 SE Milwaukie). Southland specializes in American bourbons, ryes, and whiskeys. A rough count or their list shows about 120 American selections. They appear to be well curated, with a selection that reaches into the Canadian, Irish, and Scotch varieties as well.

Cocktails at SouthlandWe were served a variety of hard and soft mixed drinks throughout the evening. I was presented a Mint Julep just for walking in, YMMV. The julep was great. I was parched from the long drive to NW 23rd from the office, and the crushed ice worked wonders with the classic refresher. It had a sweetness, but over the top for me, unlike the Southern Punch. My date Eric loved them both, but I tend to shy away from beverages with “punch” in the description. For the kiddies and DDs (can’t think of anyone else) they have their scratch lemonade. They make it from lemon juice and sugar. Again, super-sweet, but I think that’s how it’s done in the South.

Meal service closed with an Old Fashioned. Ah, back to my kind of drink. This was the most avante-garde of the bunch, with a big ice cube and a suspended cherry (next to the ice, not in it). The effect was of a somewhat deconstructed Old Fashioned, which you could drink from different sides of the ice for slightly different effects.

Happily, we got to checkout the kitchen, which was pretty classy with its mesquite grill and big ‘ole black smoker. It smelled wonderful in the back with the local apple wood smoking the meats, but I can see why they do their best to vent out and up, since some customers may object to a smoky meaty sauna.

I’m expecting Southland to pack a pretty lively happy hour, which will run daily 3:30 p.m. to 6:00 p.m.

Portland Seafood Company: A Preview

November 18, 2011 by Dave 4 Comments

Portland Seafood RestaurantPortland Seafood Company (9722 SE Washington) opened its doors a just few days ago in the old Newport Seafood Grill location at Mall 205. Dave Knows contributor Mike Allen was invited to a recent media preview event at the restaurant, and filed the review below (he also took all the photos!). Enjoy the review, and find more from Mike at his blog Gangster of Food, and on Twitter @GangsterOfFood.

Update 1/24/2012: A second Portland Seafood Company location has opened at 9585 SW Washington Square Rd IC, Portland, OR 97223.

Portland Seafood Company menu, with condiments (photo by Mike Allen)

Mall 205 is as reminiscent of the Oregon coast as 82nd Avenue is evocative of Paris’s Avenue des Champs Elysées. Still, an Arc de Triomphe couldn’t hurt the place. And while it would be an unwarranted hyperbole to describe The Portland Seafood Company as a Triumph, it certainly spruces the joint up a bit. After all, who hasn’t spent a trying Saturday attempting to whittle down their overly-ambitious “Honey do” list and, after a third run to Home Depot in a futile quest to procure exactly the right widget to repair the appliance/fixture/structure, thought, “You know what would be nice? A grip of oyster shooters, a bucket of fried clams and a Ninkasi, that’s what.” Precious few I’d imagine.

Oyster shooter at Portland Seafood Company (photo by Mike Allen)The atmosphere is a bit disjointed: faux granite and “distressed” wood surfaces under Edison bulbs and above tarnished steel bar stools, but comfy nonetheless. The service is professional, as friendly and unobtrusive as you might find at a place that serves monkfish and white asparagus and truffles, the bartender exceptionally friendly and engaged. The chef hit his mark, but we failed to dispatch the cornucopian repast.

We feasted on margarita shooters, Bloody Mary shooters, crab cocktails, oysters casino, oysters on the half shell, steamed clams, clam chowder, fried clams, crab boil, fried cod, po’ boy sliders, fried halibut, butter and garlic prawns and a whole fried rockfish served with a riot of Latin-inspired garnitures and tortillas. There was Tabasco, Old Bay and Heinz malt vinegar at the table. While I would describe nothing as a failure, the fried foods apparently hold “favorite son” status in the kitchen of Chef Brian Poor. The clams for example are East Coast Quahogs tenderized in much the same manner as a cube steak, dusted in semolina and fried. The menu claims “funyuns” as a side. Don’t be fooled like me, they just don’t want to sound too fancy by sayin’ frites á l’oignion. The fried Cod and Halibut, served as “Fish and Chips” are, truly, some of the best I’ve ever
had, even if the chips were frozen. The regular tartar sauce is perfectly tart. I cannot, however, find much nice to say about this bacon tartar sauce. The items that miss only do so in ways that snobby professional cooks and assorted gastronomic malingerers would notice anyway. Most of the fish is Pacific Northwest and considered sustainably harvested. The prices are quite reasonable; value driven is the phrase I believe they used.

Basket of seafood at Portland Seafood Company (Photo by Mike Allen)

I imagine the CEO of Restaurants Unlimited has a very short (nonexistent?) list of pipes needing unblocking, lighting to be wired, or retaining walls to be erected by him personally, which is all the more credit to his vision: a person with work to do cannot afford to burden their viscerals with the beef attack of Red Robin. On my next Home Depot run (or zombie stroll through the consumerist purgatory of Target) I think I’ll skip the Burgerville drive through and go to where the company is, at the very least, lubricated.

Zizzo’s FC Grand Opening (16-November-2011)

November 15, 2011 by Dave Leave a Comment

Zizzo's FCZizzo’s FC, speedy Portland Timbers midfielder Sal Zizzo‘s new downtown Portland food cart, opens Wednesday, November 16, 2011, according to a recent Twitter and Facebook update:

Ok ladies and gents the moment you’ve all been waiting for, GRAND OPENING for @ZizzosFC is TM Wed, Nov. 16 be there to enjoy the great food!

Zizzo’s FC, according to the website (ZizzosFC.com), will feature delicious and authentic Italian cuisine. The cart is at the SW 9th and Alder pod.

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