Booze Futures: A Drinker’s Digest

Nonna
Opened Jan 2014 

Restaurateur Dayna McErlean returns with a downscale Italian “grandma’s bar” adjacent to her tiny highbrow Northeast kitchen DOC. Think bottle shop with à la carte eats, plus Prosecco and negronis on tap. (Read our first impressions of the new space!)

The River Pig Saloon
February 2014 

This laid-back spot co-owned by Oven and Shaker investor Ramzy Hattar aims to infuse a bit of grit back into the Pearl with easy-drinking lagers, no nonsense comfort grub, and stiff punch from the mix masters at Teardrop. Live bluegrass, too.

Navarre bar (name TBA)
Opens Feb 2014 

One look at the pink walls hand-painted with lush blue flowers and it’s clear we’re not in Navarre anymore. Design-loving chef John Taboada strikes again with an intimate “kinship and counterpart” to his beloved, farm-centric NE 28th Avenue eatery. Expect beautifully composed plates of steak tartare and classic cocktails in a pretty, Euro-inspired jewel box. 

The Double Barrel
Opens Feb 2014 

The crew behind Gold Dust Meridian and Club 21 crash-lands on SE Division Street with a traditional American tavern: “a real bar-bar,” promises co-owner Warren Boothby. 

Jackknife
Opens Feb/March 2014 

Make room, Jake’s: the century-old Governor Hotel’s recent renovation includes a new lobby-bar collaboration from the gents at hot spot Dig a Pony and vegan hipster havens Sweet Hereafter and Bye and Bye. 

Published in the Best Bars issue of Portland Monthly.