The plan is for a series of collaborative tastings as well as wine and coffee pairing options, according to Water Avenue owner Matt Milletto. “It’ll be a mini version of what we do here at Water Ave, but with a bigger focus on tastings,” Matt told Sprudge. As for the gear on hand, expect high-end equipment like Mazzer grinders, Chemex hand-pour and Fetco batch brew, alongside “a baller espresso machine.” and other accoutrements. As per Matt Miletto: “Our goal with Enso is to provide an outlet for great coffee, and to work closely with a wine maker and coffee roaster to explore our similarities and revel in the differences.”

The Water Ave daytime coffee bar at Enso will be open in early June 2013, with hours set for  7am – 2pm Mon-Friday, 7am-1pm weekends. More on Water Avenue Coffee here, and more on Enso here. 

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If you’re playing along at home, Heart’s new space at 12th and Alder puts them directly across the street from Tasty n Alder, an Eater HeatMap regular since its opening in late 2012, and places them squarely within one of the city’s hippest shopping districts, with nearby tenants like Canoe, Kask, and The English Department. Mr. Kovel and Skybox are responsible for several Portland Modern restoration and original design projects, including the Doug Fir, the Jupiter Hotel, and Blackbox.

SE 12th and Alder, home to Kask, Gruner, and the future Heart.

Sprudge spoke to Heart owner Wille Yli-Luoma, who confirmed an opening date of early August. “This space is perfect for Heart. This feels like a natural step – there’s nothing forced about it. The space is around 750 square feet, so that gives us enough space for seating, and the focus is mainly still coffee, but we will have a little bit of a wider selection of food items.”

On from whence said food would be sourced, Wille told us, “Food will be brought in from outside – our focus is to still have trained baristas and to have the space be as good as possible on the coffee end. We’ll be working Pixie Retreat for vegan food and salad items, as well more sandwich options – it’s still open who the main suppliers are going to be. Pixie is what people want these days – it’s healthy.” On the topic of healthy options, Wille confides, “Cafes always have bagels, muffins, and cookies, but people are starting to want something else – something that’s a little more healthy but tasty still. You don’t have to have so much sugar to be delicious.”

On the timing of the build-out, Wille says, “We’re looking at finishing the build-out this summer, and having quite a lot of practice time in it before we open. By the beginning of August I would say that we’ll be open for certain.”

The original Heart Roasters is located at 2211 E. Burnside. Website here.

Previous Heart Roasters coverage on Sprudge.

The post PDX: Heart Roasters Confirm Second Location appeared first on Sprudge.com.

Here’s the info direct from Coava’s Facebook:

“Coava has exclusively sourced the Norma Leon from Honduras for our friends at New Seasons Market. This delicious coffee will be available starting tomorrow at the Hawthorne, Seven Corners, Mt. Park, Arbor Lodge, Concordia, and Sellwood stores.”

With 12 locations in and around the city, New Seasons is something of a Portland institution, focusing on healthy and organic foods, delicious hot and cold deli items, top notch bakeries, and a sterling selection of “thoughtfully chosen and abundantly local” goods, including coffee.

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16 long years ago, a cafe called The Fresh Pot opened in as-yet untrendy SE Portland, at 3729 SE Hawthorne Blvd. The year was 1997: the first Harry Potter book was published; James Cameron’s Titanic broke all box office records; and the United Kingdom officially handed back Hong Kong to the Chinese. The first-ever Ozzfest and Lillith Fair concert tours made their rounds across the United States, while the Spice Girls topped the pop charts and Radiohead released OK Computer. Clearly, these were different times.

16 years is a long time by almost any metric, but in the realm of specialty coffee it might as well be eons. So it’s astounding, then, that this coming April 4th the Fresh Pot will be celebrating its 16th year in business by throwing a gala rock and roll blowout at Holocene (1001 SE Morrison), a noted Portland discotheque.

For friends unfamiliar with The FP, it has the distinction of being one of the very first Stumptown Coffee Roasters wholesale clients, all the way back in 1999. They’ve now got 3 locations in Portland – Hawthorne, Mississippi Avenue, and Downtown – and they’re still serving up some of the best shots of Stumptown’s Hairbender espresso you’ll find anywhere.

Fresh Pot shot from Flickr user Doodah42

The Fresh Pot is still owned by original co-founder Matt Vinci – “Vin” to his many friends – who opened the cafe alongside Skip Colombo. These days Skip is the Senior Account Manager for Stumptown Coffee Roasters here in Portland. We had a chance to play “back in the day” with Mr. Colombo, who was super giving of his time and memories.

Sprudge: Skip, this is pretty cool stuff – 16 years of the Fresh Pot! How’s that make you feel, man?

Skip Colombo: “It’s hard to encompass such a huge part of my life in a soundbite, but I’m proud to have been part of the inception of The Fresh Pot – I’m incredibly proud and excited for Vin to have taken the Fresh Pot and grown it, and for all the amazing people that have come through that place and into our lives. I wouldn’t trade it for anything in the world. After 16 years, the Fresh Pot can officially be known as a Portland Institution. I’m proud of it, Stumptown is proud of it, and it makes me feel good – most of all, I’m just incredibly happy for Vin. He deserves accolades – he’s one of the hardest working people i’ve ever met in my *expletive deleted* life. Here we are, 16 years later, and when you go into the Fresh Pot downtown, he’s working the bar, ripping amazing shots of espresso. Kudos to him and everyone who’s been part of the Fresh Pot family.”

Sprudge: Tell us, back in the day, how did Stumptown first get involved?

Skip: “The Hawthorne Fresh Pot predates Stumptown by around a year and change, and I’ll never forget the day Duane Sorenson first walked into the shop. People had already said, “hey, you gotta go check out this place Stumptown, it’s amazing” – but then Duane came in and said, in kind of classic Duane fashion: “Hey, you should come check out our place. The coffee is better.”

So I went out to Division [Stumptown's original PDX location], and Duane was on bar, pulling shots. I sat down on the bar and it was like having coffee for the first time in my life. It was a level of quality and substance I’d never had in my life. So we shook on it, I hopped back on my bike, went back to Fresh Pot and the rest was history – 15 years later and still serving Stumptown.”

Sprudge: What was SE Portland like in 1997?

Skip: “Man, that was SE Portland in the early days, still really blue collar and a little trashy, to be honest with you. SE Portland, in that area, was mostly a collection biker bars and some seedy characters. But there was such a comraderie and solidarity between the business owners on that street, because it wasn’t NW 23rd – it hadn’t exploded as a destination or shopping district. The best restaurant on the entire Hawthorne strip was 3 Doors Down  at that point, and now look at what happened. The neighborhood has just exploded. I remember when Jackpot Records first opened; that changed the neighborhood, and helped bring such an amazing community of musicians – Janet Weiss and Sleater Kinney and Elliott Smith would all come in and get coffee from us. Jackpot was the place you went in town, you could go there and get great records – we would always hook up the Jackpot kids with coffee, and they’d send people across the street to us and trade us great records. We’d play stuff in the shop and then send people across the street to pick up the records…”

Sprudge: Whoa that’s pretty cool. Any other memories stick out?

Skip: “Well, the space that was Fresh Pot had formerly been a Chinese restaurant – all of our pastry and bagel plates were original Chinese restaurant plates, I remember that. Looking back, I was really growing up with the city of Portland and seeing it through the lens of a small independent cafe. The chance for two college buddies from Michigan State – me and Vin – to open a business together on a wing and a prayer, and for that business to survive and thrive for 16 years is pretty radical.

We threw some pretty fun parties, one of which will always stand out. I believe it was an anniversary party at Hawthorne, with a solo show by Hutch Harris [of The Thermals], the Minders, and me and Vin’s indie music idols, Quasi. Vin and I lived in a house with a bunch of dudes when we first opened FP and we cleared out the living room and put a ping pong table in. We wore out Quasi’s “Featuring Birds” on the turntable. It was our early soundtrack of Portland.

The fact that Matthew Vinci (Vin) has remained my friend for 23 years through all the highs and lows of owning a business together, is a testament to him as a person. I’ve never met such a kind, hard-working and loyal person in my life. I’m so happy to see him grow and improve the business. This celebration is for him and his undying commitment to keeping the Fresh Pot relevant and successful. I’ll never forget those early years in starting the Fresh Pot with my best friend. They’re not only my fondest memories of Portland, bust some of the funnest years of my life.”

For more, watch our interview with Skip for the Linea Love campaign:

You, too, can celebrate 16 years of the Fresh Pot. This event on Friday, April 4th is free, open to the public, and kicks off at 8pm. More info here via Facebook!

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Hanna Neuschwander is the author of Left Coast Roast, and a regular contributor to Portland Monthly, Edible Seattle, and Willamette Week. She is also the managing editor of Democracy & Education, a scholarly journal published by Portland’s Lewis & Clark College Graduate School of Education and Counseling. This is her first feature for Sprudge.com.

By my own admittedly unscientific count, until last week Portland had 44 coffee roasters (that’s one per 13,496 people). Last week, the suffering city arched its way to an oddly even 45.

That’s because last week a guy named Marty Lopes launched Roseline, a new limited-menu, boutique roasting operation located on SE 10th street. Lopes was until recently the coffee buyer for all three outposts of Barista PDX, one of the most well-known examples of a multiroaster café in the U.S. Which is pretty much the best job in the world if you’re an aspiring coffee roaster, because your daily schedule looks something like:

• Taste a kaleidescopic array of the country’s best coffees all day long.
• Work directly with microroasters across the nation.
• Evaluate which coffees sell and which languish in the hopper and on the shelves.

But Lopes isn’t new to roasting. Before opening Roseline, he was the self-described “cupping boy,” responsible for sample roasting about 20 coffees a day at Spokane’s Thomas Hammer Coffee Roasters before moving to Portland in 2008. Then, he worked as an apprentice roaster at Extracto Coffee Roasters before moving on to Barista in 2009. The idea for Roseline was hatched years ago, but Lopes has taken his time bringing this baby into the world.

Unlike many microroasters, Lopes doesn’t use a vintage roasting machine. His shiny brand new 1.5 kilo Proaster has precision controls. “I was used to working on older machines. It was like going from driving a big bus with only a gas pedal, where the only way to slow down was to lay off the gas, to driving a car with brakes.”

He uses that control to coax a very specific quality of flavor from his coffee: A balanced, syurpy depth. Roseline coffees have weight, without being heavy—close your eyes and the coffee sits on the plane of your tongue like a glider on tarmac. It feels the way hard rain on glass looks. He plans to roast each of his coffees to evoke this quality, while leaving plenty of complexity and individuality in place. “I definitely have a style of roasting,” Mr. Lopes told me. “Let’s call it “Northwest-juicy-balanced.” ”

Lopes’ opening offering sheet includes two washed coffees, one each from Guatemala and Ethiopia, which he will roast for both espresso and drip. He went all in, purchasing a pallet of each, and plans to continue this kind of narrow focus in his purchasing for a while. For now, Lopes says, “I want these two coffees to be my wheelhouses.”

Barista is Roseline’s first wholesale client; he plans to reach out to a small list of Portland cafes, and then look elsewhere. “I want to roast coffee, not open cafes. My goal is to build a boutique brand. I’m going to go for quality every time.” Following @roselinecoffee on Twitter reveals that sample shipments are en route to tastemaking multi-roaster cafes like Houndstooth (Austin), Barista Parlor (Nashville), and Broadacre (Sacramento). Clearly there’s a playbook afoot.

What about that flirty name? Roseline. “It’s a subtle nod to the fact that we’re in the Rose City,” says Lopes. “It’s also a tip to that thing all baristas recognize, when you get a red stripe right through the middle of your espresso shot and it’s like, ‘daaaaaamn that’s gonna be a good shot.’ It’s the rose line.”

Roseline was until recently available at Barista PDX. Interested parties can, as of now, order coffee directly from Mr. Lopes via Twitter (a proper website will be along shortly, but that’s no reason to wait).

The post Roseline Coffee: Portland’s Brand New Microroaster appeared first on Sprudge.com.

It’s summer in Portland! Let’s go for a walk around all the new shops west of the river. There’s the stunning new Sterling Coffee Roasters location in NW, the Case Study pop-up on Yamhill, Phuong Tran’s bike-through espresso bar Maglia Rosa, Keith Miller and Mindy Farley’s Red E Cafe counter in the EcoTrust building, and a soft-open first look at Billy Wilson’s new Barista location on Alder and 3rd. All these spots are an easy walk from one another, or an even more pleasant bike ride. It’s 75 degrees out with a nice breeze off the river, the sun is shining, and the air feels crisp and cool. Why wait?

First up is the newest to open: Barista 3, located at 529 SW 3rd Avenue in the heart of Downtown Portland. This new addition to owner (and former NWRBC champ) Billy Wilson’s portfolio of properties is immediately distinct from the other Barista locations. Barista’s Pearl District shop is sleek, modern, clean and compact; their Alberta street location is a neo-hunt club tribute to an older generation’s masculinity, all taxidermy beasts and brass newspaper holders. The Downtown space holds over some of those vintage touches from Alberta while echoing the modernity of the Pearl space, but with an urban Downtown Americana vibe all its own: white dot “penny round” tile floor, an antique cherry-tinted wooden cash register (with iPad inlay), analog push-button light switches, a turn-of-the-last-last-century hand washing faucet behind the bar, ancient mounted wall fans, similarly ancient-looking library desk light mounts, and a 13 star Third Maryland Regiment American Flag, a replica (probably) of the one originally used at the Battle of Cowpens in 1781, during the American Revolutionary War.

Barista 3 is still in its soft-open, which means certain elements (like the condiment bar and window seating) have yet to be put in place. But what’s there now is impressive enough, particularly the battalion of 4 Mazzer Robur E grinders and the brand new La Marzocco Strada MP, decked out in a custom in-house matte black paint job with cream La Marzocco script on the sides. The windows and center of the space are marked by arching marble counter tops, roughly a foot wide, mounted on who-knows-how-old brass piping. Their entry hallways has a collection of mounted wall clocks, each set to Portland time – for small cities called Portland in North Dakota, Texas, Connecticut, Arkansas, and Pennsylvania.

The opening day menu at Barista 3 featured Heart’s Ethiopia Yukro, Coava’s Guatemala Xeucalvitz, and Intelligentsia’s Black Cat espresso blend. Brewed coffee is available via French Press press pot. Look for more on Barista 3 as the local food and design blogs inevitably descend upon it, but for now, congratulations on Mr. Wilson and Co. for a decidedly firm soft opening, and we’ll be watching for big things to come.

Meanwhile, eight blocks away, 2005 USBC champion Phuong Tran is pulling shots at her brand new cafe Maglia Rosa. We offered an exclusive first look at Maglia Rosa when it opened a week and a half ago, so today was a lovely chance to stop back in, say hi to Phuong, and enjoy shots of Stumptown’s Colombia Hacienda El Roble and Ethiopia Mordecofe. Phuong’s warm wood and forest green bar is buttressed by a simple menu, and the space itself was in full flower in the sunshine, open to passers by and bikers schlepping around town or patronizing West End Bikes, the shop with which Maglia Rosa shares space. We especially enjoyed Maglia Rosa’s wall-mounted filtered water tap, and its lovely seating area complete with mock Mies van der Rohe Barcelona chair love seat. Our shots were top notch.

Sterling Coffee Roasters has been an important part of the NW Portland neighborhood vibe since opening in 2010, and so a little thing like losing their lease to Trader Joe’s couldn’t possibly phase them. Sterling’s new location on NW 21st, billed by the company as a “tidy Parisian cafe”, shares digs with M Bar, a neighborhood wine and beer joint with piquant outdoor seating and an interior built on economy of space. Sterling is the daytime stop; M Bar is the nighttime destination. The designer wallpaper and carefully coiffed aesthetic of Sterling’s original location have been held over here, and the sophisticated vibe has been amplified by a couple of utterly unique service choices. Is there another cafe in North America sporting white table cloths? Does anyone else serve their espresso in Glencairn whisky glass?

Maybe we’re wrong here; maybe this is all old hat. Or maybe Sterling thought of it first. In any case, there may be no greater tactile thrill in all of coffee culture than swirling one’s espresso in a brandy snifter, allowing the shot to cool just a bit, then sipping slowly and tipping the head back while doing so, so as to force the espresso onto the back of the soft palate. An enjoyable experience indeed, one we took on for both their Brazil Sertao and Ethiopia Kochere.

Case Study Coffee have long had a lock on coffee service in NE Portland’s Hollywood District, but now they’re building out a brand new space on Yamhill and 10th, just across the street from the iconic Downtown Portland Public Library. Until their official space opens, the curious can stop by their neon-clad pop-up shop just down the block on Yamhill. When we visited, there was one coffee on offer – Case Study’s own Guatemala Santa Maria de Jesus – which Case Study offers in both a “dark” and “light” roast format. The Case Study employee on hand was quick to show us some of the new cafe’s incoming fixtures, including antique piano benches he boasted were “like a hundred years old!” Look for the new Case Study space to be open by October.

Last but definitely not least, North Portland fixture The Red E Cafe has been open their new Pearl District location for a few months, during which we’ve had plenty of time to hang out there (one of us even worked a few shifts). Red EcoTrust is awesome; owner Keith Miller’s custom woodworking sets the tone, which is equal parts lobby hang-out and espresso on the run. Stop by for an espresso shot on their La Marzocco Strada MP, and enjoy coffees roasted by Mr. Miller and sold under The Red E brand.

So next time you’re out and about in Portland and you’re thirsty for some espressso, maybe want to bring some pour-over upon your lips, consider these brand-new and exciting new cafes to visit and explore! Heck, if you have anything to add, sound off in the comments below!

View Downtown Summer PDX Walkabout 2012 in a larger map

The post A Downtown Summer PDX Walkabout appeared first on Sprudge.com.

A new cafe called Maglia Rosa officially opened this weekend in Portland, OR at SW 11th & Stark, inside West End Bikes iosk space briefly occupied last spring by Heart Coffee Roasters. It’s the work of 2005 United States Barista Champion Phuong Tran, owner of Ridgefield, Washington’s Lava Java, a storied little cafe with an outsized place in NW specialty coffee history. Phuong’s resume is pretty gosh darn impressive: Licensed Q-Grader, BGA and SCAA credentialed course instructor, certified USBC Head Judge, and former member of the BGA Executive Council.

Maglia Rosa has a beautiful black La Marzocco Strada MP and two Mazzer Roburs, upon which to serve up single origin espressos roasted by Stumptown Coffee. On her grand opening weekend, Phuong pulled Ethiopia Mordecofe and Colombia Hacienda El Roble. The menu is limited to drinks under eight ounces. Phuong tells Sprudge she’s excited to be serving coffee in Portland, where she hopes to run into friends more often. Maglia Rosa is located at 1111 SW Stark Street and open Monday-Friday 10am-7pm and Saturday 10am-6pm.

The phrase maglia rosa means “the pink jersey” and comes from the annual Giro d’Italia bicycle race across Italy, which means it’s pretty much the perfect name for a cafe in a fancy bike shop!

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If you’re wondering how to get to these wonderful places, you can ride the MAX, take the bus, or simply call Radio Cab, Portland’s half-century old jewel of a taxi cab service. Their number is 503-227-1212.

Burgerville (1135 NE MLK) For the uninitiated, Burgerville is not your average fast food chain. A Portland mainstay since the 1960s, BVille prides themselves on serving “fresh, local and sustainably-produced food.” Talk to a Portlander-in-exile, and this is the place they pine for. Get a Tillamook cheeseburger with pepper bacon, or their standard plain-old burger with special sauce. They’re currently offering a seasonal strawberry shake, and all their ice cream comes from Sunshine Dairy, whose milk products are served in pretty much every PDX cafe. There is a location like 5 seconds from the Convention Center. Go here. Cheap.

Frank’s Noodle House (822 NE Broadway) Most of the best Asian food in Portland can be found on 82nd Avenue, which is quite a hike from the Convention Center, but Frank’s Noodle House is a solid choice. Literally a house, Frank’s is located about half-mile from the Event, and they specialize in a homey fusion of Korean and Chinese cuisine. Great house-made noodles, great kimchee, delicious soup dumplings, and a tasty pork hock salad. Cheap.  

Bunk Sandwiches (621 SE Morrison Street) Hyped to the point of death (by the New York Times, the Food Network, and others), Bunk Sandwiches is still a super delicious lunch option. They’re famous for their pork belly cubano, and rightly so, but check what they’ve got on the specials board; we recently tried this like, BBQ pork bao bun sandwich thing, with spicy mustard, and it was out of control good. Cheap.

Taste Tickler (1704 NE 14th Ave) Sort of picked up wholesale out of pre-cool late 80s Portland, this is another excellent lunch option for sandwiches. Get the chicken teriyaki sandwich with spicy chili sauce and olives. Cheap.

Olympic Provisions (107 SE Washington St) Super serious charcuterie, lauded by everyone and their mom, and for good reason. Get the charcurterie plate, and the ice cream sandwich for dessert. This would be a fine place for a casual company lunch, a Portland-fancy casual expense account dinner, or a quick brunch before heading into the madness on Saturday or Sunday morning. Mid-range.

Junior’s (1742 SE 12th Ave) The perfect Portland greasy spoon, serving Stumptown coffee. Charmingly ugly yellow booths, long lines on the weekend, but open for breakfast every day! Get a scramble, or the omelette with herbs, honey, and pepper. Cheap.

Ned Ludd (3925 NE Martin Luther King Jr Blvd) Arguably the best weekend brunch in Portland, and there’s rarely ever a wait, which is amazing. Dinner here is awesome too; this is Pacific Northwest ur-locavore casual sneaky-good fine dining at its best. Order whatever looks good, and get a Bloody Mary. Mid-range.

Sizzle Pie (624 E Burnside) A slice of tasty pizza and a salad for $5, with lots of vegan options. This is not a pizza town, but if you need a slice something fierce, Sizzle Pie does just fine. Expect to hear metal. Cheap.

Nostrana (1401 SE Morrison St) You can go big here, if you want, but the cheap happy hour (early and late, everyday) is where it’s at: $6 pizza; Campari and soda specials; affordable house wine; that perfect Portland combination of high-end vibe with bargain basement prices. Get a pizza, skip the skimpy bar nuts. Mid-range, but the happy hour is Cheap.

Clyde Common (1014 SW Stark St) Directly adjoining the lobby of the Ace Hotel, Clyde Common is one of those places that works in like 5 different ways. An easy, classy sandwich and salad for lunch? Sure. A top-notch nightcap from their internationally fawned-over bar manager, Jeffery Morganthaler? Don’t miss it. An all-out splurge of an expense-account dinner for 5? That’s perhaps Clyde Common’s best use. 1/2 of Sprudge took his sugar plum there for Valentine’s Day dinner, and he’s still reeling from it. Clyde Common rules. Mid-range / Splurgey.

MiHo Izakaya (4057 N Interstate Ave) A gem located on Portland’s newly-less-terrifying Interstate Ave. It’s not your average sleek urban faux-Japanese izakaya; MiHo is Portland pub food, cooked by a Hawaiian guy, served by with a smile by a gregarious Southerner. It’s in a cute little house, and there’s a tatami room in the back for big groups. Get the pork belly, split an oilcan of Asahi with a friend, order the octopus salad, ask for recommendations, and tell ‘em Sprudge sent you! Mid-range.

Beaker & Flask (727 SE Washington St) Though the decor is regrettably ultra-lounge, Beaker and Flask makes a damn great cocktail, both classic (top-notch Vesper) and fancy (coconut milk ice cubes, anyone?). They are just as well-known for their food, which is at turns wildly inventive and subtle. A must for those who take their cocktails as seriously as their coffee. Splurgey.

Rum Club (720 SE Sandy Blvd) Kissing cousin to Beaker & Flask (they’re in the same building), this is the retro counterpoint to Beaker & Flasks chic schtick. Despite its name, this isn’t specifically a rum bar, although they do make a damn good mojito. Their food menu is intentionally small, and feels flown in wholesale from one of those Mad Men martini lunch scenes, all cocktail shrimp and egg salad sandwiches. A classy choice for post-competition libations. Splurgey.

Moloko Plus (3967 N Mississippi Ave) We adore this bar. Saltwater fish tanks, the best hot toddy in Portland, heated & covered back patio with plentiful outlets, cheap drinks, an exemplary embodiment of the Portland long-pour…Moloko is just the greatest. If you care, a significant portion of this website has been written from that bar in the last 15 months. We’ll meet you there. Cheap.

EaT: An Oyster Bar (3808 N Williams Ave): Mmm, oysters! EaT’s got ‘em for $1 a shuck, every day between 4-6pm. The rest of their menu is weirdly expensive, and the service is consistently meh, but who cares when there’s cheap, delicious, fresh Northwest oysters by the dozen. Yum! Cheap.

The Red Fox (5128 N Albina Ave): Bury our hearts at The Red Fox. This is the best bar food in Portland: get the steak with a wedge salad; get the tacos, two for $5; get the burger, because holy smokes, that burger, a fantasia of Painted Hills beef, blue cheese, bacon, and crisp lettuce, on just the most perfect bun. The Red Fox is the heart and soul of North Portland. If there’s a heaven, it contains the Fox’s front patio, where you can always find a seat to watch the night slink by. This place is all that’s right and good and true about our city, and we just love it. Cheap.

The Woodsman Tavern (4537 SE Division St.): Owned by Stumptown’s Duane Sorenson, though not technically affiliated with the Stump, this place is probably already on your radar as a place to visit during the USBC/SCAA Event week. The Woodsman Tavern is awesome, and it deserves its many accolades (most recently from GQ). If you go for beer or wine, you’ll be pleased with their selection, but their cocktail program is super-serious and worth more of your attention. A night here can vary pretty wildly in price, from their cheap selection of amazing bar snacks (venison sausage, fried duck wings, deviled eggs) to the glorious three-tiered $75 seafood platter. Mid-range to Splurgey.

Luc Lac (835 Sw 2nd Ave): This is your classic modern Portland story of a food cart done good, an offshoot of the long-standing Pho PDX empire given over to the family’s hipster prodigal son. The pho ga is sublime, and their cocktail program is awesome. Happy hour offers a sort of Vietnamese dim sum, with dozens of small plates prices in the $2-$3 range. Not everything about Luc Lac is perfect – we kind of resent having to grab our own soup spoons – and yet, we keep going back. Mid-range.

Original Oyster Bar (208 SW Ankeny St): Another charming shellfish stop, the Dan & Louis Original Oyster Bar is an institution, having been owned by the same family for more than 100 years. They offer a truly awesome oyster happy hour ($15.95 for a dozen top-flight shells), and the ambiance and sense of history can’t be beat. The bar doesn’t suck, either. For a real taste of old Portland, go here! Cheap.

Laurelhurst Market (3155 E Burnside St) Hands down the best steakhouse in Portland, we mostly use Laurelhurst Market for its awesome deli counter. Their steaks can’t go wrong, but they make what is perhaps the tastiest pork chop on earth, and the cocktails most assuredly do not suck. Splurgey.

Ate-Oh-Ate (2452 E Burnside St) 1/2 of Sprudge grew up in Hawaii, and upon first visit to Ate-Oh-Ate, he was taking pictures of the food and texting them to his mom. Get the saimin, get the curry katsu, get the loco moco, but whatever you do, order the daily poke special. Top quality meat and seafood from the same purveyors as Laurelhurst Market. Mid-range.

Tasty n Sons (Hub Bldg, 3808 N Williams) Also in the running for Portland’s best brunch, Tasty has the added bonus of being open for brunch service 7 days a week. This is a good thing, because trying to get a table here on Saturday or Sunday is a surefire two-hour disaster. Go for brunch on Thursday instead or something, and order whatever, it’s all really good. Their 3-5pm daily happy hour is another great use of the space, especially for their bar burger with smokey Oregon bleu cheese and bacon (only like $7). If you want to try them for dinner, do it, tables are easy to come by in the evening and the menu ranges from homey (awesome, brothy, pork-laden collard greens) to bistro-tastic (seriously tasty bouillabaisse). Mid-range.

Chop (3808 N Williams Ave) Located directly behind Tasty n Sons, Chop is another awesome Portland deli counter, with fresh sandwiches to order (lamb with harissa aioli) and daily specials (sometimes they have meatloaf!). It’s the little things that make Chop stand out: the pickled eggs; the house-made beef jerky; pre-packed Castellano olives swimming in their own oil; etc etc etc. Bring back a picnic of this stuff to the Convention Center, and watch your colleagues die of jealousy. Cheap.

Podnah’s Pit Barbecue (1625 NE Killingsworth) Very serious, nationally acclaimed Texas-style pit BBQ, recently awarded “Restaurant of the Year” by the Willamette Week. Even if you are from BBQ country, you will be impressed by Podnah’s, but don’t stray from the Texas specialties, because while they do begrudgingly offer Carolina-style pulled pork, it’s just so-so. This is what you should order: pork ribs, pickles, brisket, wings (if they have ‘em), rib tips (if they have ‘em), then whatever else you’re into (we’re not into sides, cos sides are for suckers – you realize how much time they’re putting into those ribs, right?). Great bourbon selection, too. Mid-range.

New Seasons, Whole Foods, the world’s greatest Fred Meyer, Zupan’s (all over, consult the map): Portland has plenty of grocery store options, each with their own kind of flare. Whole Foods is exactly what you’d expect. New Seasons is Portland’s quasi-locavore micro-chain, with pretty great off-the-shelf options, though frankly their prepared meals and hot counter is kind of weak. Zupan’s is like a fancier version of New Seasons, with an awesome wine selection and really good soup. Fred Meyer is a Pacific Northwest institution, sort of like a cross between Target and Safeway – their location on SE Hawthorne has a revolving sushi belt, and a make-your-own wings bar, and great produce.

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The Ecotrust Building is gorgeous centuries-old industrial warehouse, fully restored in the late 1990s and chock full of charming shops, eateries, and outstanding views of urban Portland from its public rooftop mezzanine. It was the first LEED-certified restoration of a historic building, and now, with the Red E on the first floor and the headquarters of Sustainable Harvest occupying much of the third floor, the Ecotrust Building has become a major destination for coffee sightseeing during this year’s SCAA event.

Keith Miller, co-owner of The Red E, surveys his new terrain.

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We now write Sprudge everyday from Portland and San Francisco, two cities that are no slouches when it comes to delicious and delightful places to work. We dished to you already on 3 spots in San Francisco that are really gettin’ it done, so here’s three spots we especially love in the beautiful, reasonably priced, eternally calm city of Portland, OR.

Ace Hotel – NW Portland

Serving: Stumptown Coffee.

Great for: dark and civilized mezzanine space, calm vibe

Extra credit: Food and cocktails from Clyde Common, brought upstairs by your server

Moloko Milk Bar – Mississippi District

Serving: adjacent to The Fresh Pot’s gorgeous mid-century art deco former pharmacy space, serving Stumptown Coffee

Great for: covered and heated back patio with plenty of outlets

Extra Credit: “The Moloko Mule” and other assorted fresh juice cocktails

The Red E – North Portland (Killingsworth)

Serving: a polyglamorous menu of roasters featuring Heart, Intelligentsia and demos of small-batch roasting from the cafe itself

Great for: coffee, weekend morning people watching, art

Extra Credit: the California cookie.

The post Sprudge PDX HQ: Three Spaces That Work Well appeared first on Sprudge.com.