Author: Jacob Loeb

Jacob Loeb began writing for newspapers in high school, first for the school's publication and then for a Vashon, Washington, community paper. He graduated college with a degree in English Literature and Television Communications. After graduating, Loeb worked in film distribution for a pioneering DVD company that supported independent filmmakers. Years later, he wrote for a weekly newsletter about technology and ran a popular computer advice column called Ask Jacob. Moving to the Montavilla neighborhood of Portland, Oregon, with his family in 2005, Loeb firmly planted roots in the community and now writes for the Montavilla News. He is a Society of Professional Journalists member and volunteers with non-profit organizations serving East Portland. ~

Food and Drink, New Business, Restaurant June 30, 2023June 30, 2023

Growler’s Taproom Becomes Covert Cafe

On July 1st, Growler’s Taproom at 803 SE 82nd Avenue will change its name to Covert Cafe in recognition of its new food menu and expanded service. Patrons can continue to order from an extensive selection of beers on tap but now have access to an array of meaty dishes to pair with their brew of choice. Since its early days, the drink-focused business partnered with food cart operators to offer meal options for guests. However, after the Thai Me Drunken Noodle owner decided to shut down their 82nd Avenue cart, Covert Cafe owner Joe Rodgers looked to his past restaurant experience to fill the void.

Inside the cafe, Rodgers pushed the counter seating forward to make room for a commercial flat-top grill and food prep area in a triangular kitchen behind the bar. That work caused a week’s long closure but added more seats for the returning customers. The original live-edge bartop became window seating, and Rodgers updated the sound system with tablet-based controls for quick adjustments.

Efficiency is essential to running the cafe, as Rodgers is the only employee. Covering food service and bartender duties will challenge his skills. However, he is no stranger to working alone and has run the location by himself for five years. His food service skills were honed at an early age making this work second nature. “I’ve been doing bar and restaurant stuff since I was 14, I did 16 years in the kitchen, and then I wised up and got a front-of-house job so I could make more money,” remembered Rodgers. He then worked as a consultant helping other business owners optimize their operations. Eventually, an opportunity lured him back into hospitality work, and it has consumed his life since. “Finally, I ended up deciding to do it for myself because I’ve not seen enough people go crazy trying to do it,” said Rodgers sarcastically.

Over the last few weeks, Rodgers tested recipes with his regulars, finding the right flavor notes. The menu is unique compared to the cart offerings guest had become accustomed to. It features comfort foods with a significant meat focus. “I do lots of steak because I buy half the cow at a time,” explained Rodgers. He chose quality food items that would keep prices within reason. “I’m trying to focus on the idea of not pricing out my neighborhood,” explained Rodgers. However, that attention to cost and his need for efficiency does not mean the cafe needs to cut corners. “My bacon jam takes 16 hours to make. Everything in it is made from scratch in-house.” Similarly, he prepares the other menu items with the same attention to process.

Rodgers explained that the name change to Covert Cafe is a nod to the location’s inconspicuous placement. “We’re kind of hidden. Nobody really expects that this place is here.” He is comfortable with some anonymity, as the cafe focuses on serving the neighborhood, but he looks forward to increasing his customer base and, ultimately, the cafe’s hours. “The whole goal is to get busy enough that I can’t do it anymore. Then I freak out and hire somebody.” With enough money coming in, Rodgers envisions opening for breakfast and lunch sometime in the future. He already has a space plumbed and ready for an espresso machine.

For Rodgers, the renovation work is nearly done. He recently finished expanding his outdoor covered seating area, taking over the space once reserved for carts. He built the new addition with few openings, blocking most light and providing a more enjoyable viewing environment for those watching the projected programming in the “mini movie theater” on the patio. Entertainment, games, beer, and food play into the harmonious community that frequents this location. Now that he has integrated food service into the business, instead of through a cart partnership, Rodgers feels customers will have a reliably great experience, which is what he wants most. “Community is a huge piece of what we do here, and I just want to make everybody happy with a good meal,” said Rodgers. Covert Cafe is open from 4 p.m. to midnight, Wednesday through Sunday.

Jacob Loeb

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*Thai Me Drunken Noodle has a burger focused cart at the Hawthorne Asylum Food Cart Pod*

Bar, Event, Food and Drink, Restaurant June 30, 2023

Breakside Brewery Moto PDX Pop-up

Breakside Brewery recently announced plans to open a summer pop-up inside Moto PDX at 8826 SE Stark Street. Starting this weekend, they will transform the motorcycle cafe into a music-rich venue featuring a bratwurst-centric menu alongside a collection of the company’s beverages. The Breakside Pop-up is open Wednesday through Friday from 4 to 11 p.m. and on weekends from noon to 11 p.m.

The Breakside pop-up is family-friendly, with kids welcome inside the shop until 7 p.m. and even later for outside seating, where children can stay until 9 p.m. The June 30th launch features an indie-folk showcase. The Breakside team is excited to open a space in Montavilla and looks forward to meeting many of the residents.

Jacob Loeb

Business Closing June 29, 2023July 2, 2023

Pot Pioneer Oregon Grown Closes Doors

Oregon Grown Dispensary quietly closed its pot sales store at 324 SE 82nd Avenue this month. The store and its owner often attracting widespread media attention to Portland’s Marijuana industry and the neighborhood. Its closure ends a 13-year history of cannabis use and sales in this building.

In July 2010, the Cannabis Cafe relocated to Montavilla from the Woodlawn neighborhood, taking over a basement bar space that previously held Aaron’s Wine Cellar and Piano Bar. Oregon NORMML operated the consumption space for people holding Oregon medical marijuana cards, charging entry fees and monthly dues. The 4,000-square-foot Cafe reused many of the wine bar’s existing furniture and game tables, making it a cozy gathering space for members. That community room closed down a few years later. However, the Cafe’s sign remained on site as part of Oregon Grown’s collection of memorabilia chronicling the regional legalization efforts.

An April 20th Washington Post article referred to Oregon Grown’s storefront as the “Library of Congress of Cannabis.” Since July 1, 2015, possession and use of recreational marijuana has been legal in the State of Oregon. That legislative reform has launched a wave of storefronts selling marijuana and derivative products. Oregon Grown claimed to be one of the oldest community-based dispensaries in Portland. True to its medicinal roots, the store offered discounts to medical card holders and focussed on small-batch, craft cannabis items.

People looking to buy recreational Cannabis have a wide selection in the area and across the city. However, this place was not just another storefront. It was a player in the nations shifting view on drug use, supporting the efforts of the people pushing for legalization. This dispensary’s closure could indicate that marijuana sales no longer has space for its early pioneers, but that reality is an almost inevitable outcome of any industry maturing.

Update: The shop owners name was removed from this article at their request.

Jacob Loeb

Food and Drink, New Business June 27, 2023

Evening Wine Bar at Futura

A new approach to wine service is taking root inside the Futura Cafe at 7201 NE Glisan Street. For the past six weekend evenings, Eno Wine has taken over the popular Montavilla coffee house and created a new experience in the neighborhood. Opening after the baristas head home on Fridays and Saturdays, Caroline and Matthew Tache swap out mugs for stemware. Each week features a new collection of wines, allowing patrons to experience a distinctive flight of six selections, wine by the glass, or a sharable bottle. Currently open from 5 to 10 p.m. on just two evenings, the owners will expand to Wednesday through Sunday later this year.

Matthew and Caroline Tache began Eno Wine inside the Collective Oregon Eateries (CORE) dining hall. That trial location failed to mature into a permanent shop. However, the hunt for a new space created an opportunity for a different style of wine bar that leveraged an existing space into a symbiotic cooperation between complementary businesses. “Brick and mortar is a big investment. Stocking a wine store with hundreds of different kinds of wine and thousands of bottles is expensive,” explained Caroline Tache. Rent of a whole storefront and inventory costs would require higher prices and change their vision for Eno Wine. The couple was aware of other coffee shop and wine bar combinations outside of Portland that worked well due to inverted schedules and overlapping clientele palates. “If you come here (Futura), you care about your coffee, so you’ll probably gonna care about your wine,” said Caroline Tache, detailing why the two shops work well together.

*Owners Caroline and Matthew Tache. Image courtesy Eno Wine*

Menu variety is an integral part of Eno Wine. Themes and special events will drive each week’s bottle selection, encouraging regular visitors who seek variety and attracting new groups. On June 23rd and 24th, the section offered all Eastern European sourced wines from Slovenia, Croatia, and Hungary. Previously they hosted a wine and food paring event for chef Hannah Che’s James Beard award-winning cookbook The Vegan Chinese Kitchen. They also plan future collaborations, including one with the neighboring Secret Pizza Society. They will select certified vegan wines to pair with vegan pizzas at that event. Future themes will post to the Eno Wine Instagram feed as details emerge.

Sharing Futura Coffee Roasters’ space on NE Glisan fits the Taches business goals for an accessible neighborhood wine bar and bottle shop. Futura’s owner was receptive to collaboration because the two businesses share a commitment to sustainable production and quality. The cafe’s layout and clean design works for Eno Wine’s image, but they hope to add minor enhancements to the shared space, primarily in a wine rack that will showcase popular bottles to customers of both shops.

Matthew and Caroline Tache are Montavilla residents who want to balance the beer-rich culture here with more wine options for their community. However, the seed of this new wine venture started across the country. “I worked in restaurants for a long time and then transitioned to food and wine writing. For about ten years, I wrote about food and wine for sites like Eater and Zagat, then as a food editor for the free weekly paper in Philadelphia. Obviously, it’s a subject I’m very passionate about,” said Caroline Tache. That enthusiasm for restaurant culture took a substantial hit during the pandemic, and she transitioned to sales, managing a boutique wine and spirits store outside of Philadelphia. In 2021, Caroline Tache moved to Portland to start her own business combining her review and sale careers. Matthew Tache is new to this business but brings a personal enthusiasm for wine to the shop.

The group works with several local distributors, including Montavilla’s own Prufrock Wines, creating impressive selections of affordable options. Many of the bottles cost less than $28 but still represent high standards of wine production. “We’re looking for minimal intervention, natural, sustainable, just good quality small production lines,” explained Caroline Tache. People looking to try a creative array of wines should visit Eno Wine on Fridays and Saturdays from 5 to 10 p.m. Look for expanded days and hours over the coming months.

Jacob Loeb

Disclosure: The author of this article received free tasting of six wines during the interview.

Construction, New Residence June 25, 2023

7 Townhomes Take Shape on NE 73rd

A seven-townhome development is well underway on NE 73rd Avenue near NE Glisan Street. It replaces a 1924-era single-family home demolished last September. Each two-story unit offers over 1,000 square feet of living space. The residences share an access walkway along the north side of the property and a covered bike barn on the northeast corner. Each of the home’s two bedrooms has attached bathrooms and vaulted ceilings.

The architect of this project designed the main floors with an open layout. Only the powder-room lavatory under the stairs has separation from the main floor. People enter the homes in the dining room area and must walk through the kitchen to the living room in the back. A three-panel sliding door leads to a back patio in the 160-square-foot yard. An in-unit laundry closet is on the second floor, and some units have an indoor bike rack bay at the front door.

Now that crews finished principle framing, work will transition to internal projects. Expect construction to continue throughout the summer, with completion later in 2023. When finished, the new homes will have unique addresses of 482 NE 73rd Avenue, 480 NE 73rd Avenue, 478 NE 73rd Avenue, 476 NE 73rd Avenue, 474 NE 73rd Avenue, 472 NE 73rd Avenue, and 470 NE 73rd Avenue.

Jacob Loeb

Construction, Infrastructure June 23, 2023June 25, 2023

Updated 70s Greenway Path

This summer, road crews are active across Montavilla installing components of the 70s Neighborhood Greenway project. For most residents along its path, the appearance of newly laid speed bumps are the only indication of infrastructure upgrades. However, some residents north of E Burnside Street discovered these traffic-calming devices in unexpected places compared to the map on the project website. This confusion occurred due to a path adjustment that diverted the multimodal route during the design phase.

For the two years prior to Greenway’s construction, neighbors expressed design concerns over the NE Glisan Street crossing at NE 80th Avenue. Unlike the SE Stark Street and SE Washington Street crossings, the 70s Greenway Infographic did not indicate the installation of Rectangular Rapid Flashing Beacons (RRFB) at NE Glisan and 80th. Now that construction has begun, the final approved path for the Greenway shows a change to the original plan, utilizing an existing RRFB at NE 78th Avenue.

*70s Greenway map. Blue line is final path. Red line shows original path. Green line is pavement infill.*

The changed Greenway path diverts bicycle traffic two blocks westward from NE 80th Avenue to NE 78th Avenue at NE Everett Street. Riders then cross NE Glisan Street at the NE 78th intersection and continue to NE Oregon Street, connecting to the planned zig-zag route leading to the NE 74th Interstate 84 overpass. Work is underway at NE 78th Avenue and Glisan to enhance the existing RRFB device by adding bike-accessible request buttons at the road’s edge. Later, crews will add a striped green crossing to the pavement next to the white pedestrian crosswalk.

*PBOT Provided design document for the NE Glisan Street crossing at NE 78th Avenue.*

The 70s Greenway project includes the addition of new pavement and sidewalks to an unimproved gravel section of NE Everett Street from NE 76th Avenue to NE 78th Avenue. Cement masons have already reconstructed the eight sidewalk corners at each end of this new roadway, adding ADA-compliant ramps and improved stormwater handling. This new connector will allow smooth access along NE Everett Street from NE 71st Avenue to the back entrance of Vestal School on NE 80th Avenue. It also allows riders of the Greenway to bypass many of the turns required north of E Burnside Street by cutting down Everett from NE 80th to NE 74th Avenue. NE Glisan and NE Halsey Streets have fully signalized crossings at NE 74th, offering riders a more direct path.

*NE Everett Street at 78th looking towards 76th Avenue.*

The 70s Neighborhood Greenway project includes many traffic calming features and enhances crossing points on dangerous roads. Although residents have expressed a desire for an RRFB on NE Glisan Street at NE 80th Avenue, the reuse and upgrade of the NE 78th Avenue crossing accomplishes many of the same goals. Expect construction along the Greenway to continue through the summer, followed by increased ridership as the bicycle community discovers this safer route.

Jacob Loeb

Business Relocating, Event, Food and Drink, Renovation June 22, 2023

Jacksons Store and Shell Station Opens

On June 22nd, the Jacksons Food Stores and Shell Gas Station reopened to customers on the corner of NE Glisan Street and 82nd Avenue. This multi-year project involved merging two properties and expanding the store’s footprint to accommodate an enhanced selection of edible items. The Jacksons design team implemented several retail and food service advancements throughout their new market, many of them firsts for the chain’s Oregon stores.

The redesigned Jacksons at 611 NE 82nd Avenue features a market-style store with prepared foods and grocery options, an eight-pump refueling station, and a corner pedestrian plaza with covered seating. The entire project added numerous new street trees and landscaping while retaining many of the preexisting mature trees. Later this year, a local artist will install a mosaic tile mural on the corner wall visible to all passing by the station.

The original gas station’s convenience store offered a modest selection of snacks and drinks in a confined space. According to Alex Romero-Chavez, District Manager for Jacksons, the structure itself had outlived its useful lifespan. He explained that the company would have needed to rebuild the store even without any expansion at this location. While looking at the site for improvements, Jacksons determined that an expanded store in this location would benefit the neighborhood. The group purchased an adjacent property to the north that once housed a Pizza Hut restaurant, merging the two properties into a 0.92-acre parcel.

Designers working with Jacksons used that expanded space to create a 4,452-square-foot convenience store with modern stone cladding. Customers can enter from the sidewalks or one of two parking lots to the north and south of the building. Gerard Aguilar, Regional Manager for Jacksons, anticipates store patrons will be impressed with the selection of food and drinks available at this location. Staff stocked the store with grocery essentials, including milk, eggs, and bacon. Shelves contain a wide assortment of chips, drinks, desserts, and other snacks. This location has an extensive selection of bottled wines and beer. A walk-in “beer cave” surrounds the shopper with a multitude of beer selections in self-fronting racks that always keep the brews visible to shoppers.

Prepared hot and cold food is another marquee feature of this store, and many new technologies help keep the food at peak taste throughout the day. It starts with an onsite kitchen in the back where precooked base ingredients are heated and assembled into the dishes available in the self-service displays. Hot food shelves use heated air curtains to keep the food at the optimal temperature until purchased. That retail technology works similarly to the cold air curtain used for open-faced refrigeration units. Even the pizza display utilizes new technology to better preserve the product. In addition to heating, it uses humidity controls to prevent the dough from drying out.

*Hot dispensers use heated air-curtain similar to the cool air-curtain used for open-faced food storage*

People looking for the staple of this type of store can use the brewed-to-order automated coffee machine. However, the cutting-edge automatic milkshake machine could see significantly more use, at least during summer. Customers can place a special ice cream cup into the machine and have it whip the frosty creation while they wait. Romero-Chavez explained that he has high hopes for serving the neighborhood. “This should be the destination for the whole community.” He envisions it replacing some grocery store trips for people in the community. The central location for the store has the potential to fill the gap left by last year’s closure of Sunny 82nd Market. Romero-Chavez is particularly excited to serve people who use the Montavilla Park and Community Center across the street that may need a take-and-go option.

Speed of shopping is an integral part of this store’s redesign, and Jacksons has just begun to roll out self-checkout to improve the customer experience. Each payment terminal can flip over and become a cashier-free station for credit card paying patrons. Age-verified products and cash sales will require store staff to ring up the purchases, but customers can otherwise checkout independently without waiting in line. This process only recently graduated out of testing, making this one of the first locations in Oregon to implement this payment option.

Over the last month, new store staff have trained at other locations. Jacksons has filled thirteen of the sixteen positions, and those employees have spent the previous few days readying the shop. The store will open daily from 5 a.m. to midnight, with plans to transition to 24-hour service when business conditions warrant it. People working and living near this store should now have a new option for convenient access to a variety of food items.

Jacob Loeb

Construction, Infrastructure June 21, 2023September 23, 2023

SE Yamhill Sinkhole Repair Delayed

SE Yamhill Street remains closed from SE 76th Avenue to SE 74th Avenue due to a sinkhole discovered on May 12th. The sidewalks are open to pedestrians while private vehicles and the TriMet number 15 bus line must detour around the site, as they have for over a month. The substantial hole in the road surface is covered by steel plating, waiting for replacement sewer parts not currently available to Portland’s sewer and stormwater utility, the Bureau of Environmental Services (BES).

Crews determined a leaking private sewer lateral line from a nearby property likely caused the sinkhole. While repairing the problem pipe, workers discovered the sinkhole extended to the maintenance hole at SE Yamhill Street and SE 76th Avenue intersection. Engineers have determined that additional repairs to the base of that maintenance hole are needed. According to a City of Portland Traffic Advisory, that work requires parts not immediately available, and work is on hold until those parts are acquired.

“The SE Yamhill sinkhole repair has been extended longer than expected due to the limited availability of materials required to repair a sewer of this size and age. For a scheduled project, materials are lined up in advance. Since this was an unanticipated emergency project, the materials required were not on hand. Crews are working as quickly as our supply chain allows and have been coordinating with multiple suppliers to receive the necessary material as soon as possible.” – June 7th Traffic Advisory.

Due to the sinkhole, the TriMet number 15 bus line bypasses some stops along SE Yamhill until repairs are complete. Riders of that line should note canceled eastbound service at SE Yamhill & 73rd (Stop ID 6445) and SE Yamhill & 76th (Stop ID 6447). Bus drivers are also bypassing stops for westbound riders at SE Yamhill & 73rd (Stop ID 6446) and SE Yamhill & 71st (Stop ID 6444). The road closure diverts most traffic onto SE Taylor Street, and some area residents have observed increased speeding on their streets. People should use caution near SE Yamhill Street and SE 76th Avenue until road crews backfill and repave the sinkhole.

Update: City staff repaired the Yamhill sinkhole reopening the street on August 16th, 2023.

Jacob Loeb

Construction June 20, 2023

Washman Expansion Begins Construction

Heavy equipment is onsite at the Washman car wash on NE 82nd Avenue and Glisan Street. The business is expanding the facility to support its growing customer base and improve site safety. Recently, crews removed nine trees and prepared the old gravel employee parking lot along NE 81st Avenue for a sizeable self-service vacuum parking area. Landscaping planned for the site will plant over 30 new trees adding shade to the sidewalk along the property’s western edge and creating a buffer between the neighboring building to the south. A six-foot-tall welded steel fence will surround much of the currently open property helping to define the reduced vehicle entry and exit points.

Last summer, Washman submitted permit applications to expand their auto spa facility at 315 NE 82nd Avenue, occupying most of a city block. The project’s primary goal centers on moving self-service vacuum stations from their current position around the car wash tunnel to a separate area on adjacent land owned by the company. Relocating that equipment allows for increased cleaning stations while creating more queueing space for vehicles heading into the automated wash. Site upgrades also include a reduction in curb cuts leading into the property, making for a safer pedestrian realm.

*Image from plan set with Montavilla News illustrations in color*. *Black arrows indicate vehicle path.*

Previously, this location saw motorists enter the site at unpredictable points along its NE 82nd Avenue and NE Glisan Street frontages, causing conflicts between people on the sidewalk and vehicles. Reconstructed sidewalks and new fencing around the block will clarify where potential collisions could occur for drivers and pedestrians. The new configuration will also prevent left turns onto NE Glisan Street, further reducing the potential for car crashes.

In addition to trees and other landscaping planned at the site, Washman will construct the new vacuum station lot with porous asphalt pavement. This parking surface allows water to pass through the material, allowing rainfall to absorb naturally into the ground below, leaving the area free of standing water and reducing the need for excessive drainage infrastructure.

The new vacuum system installed during this upgrade will use a central shed for the mechanical equipment, with PVC pipes running to each cleaning stall’s hose. This configuration will place the noisiest equipment away from the apartment buildings along NE 81st Avenue. David Tarlow, Chief Financial Officer of Washman, explained last year how excited the company is for this project and what it means for pedestrian safety. “We believe this will result in less traffic near the school than there is now, and the SE 82nd sidewalk that borders our site will be less congested and safer with the removal of the vacuums,” said Tarlow.

This project should progress faster than the housing construction projects underway in the area. However, Washman will remain open during construction, and work delays may occur to maintain business operations. During sidewalk construction, pedestrians should use alternate routes and avoid this block, and drivers should use caution in this area.

Jacob Loeb

Disclosure: The author of this article serves on the 82nd Avenue Business Association board where Washman is a member organization.

Community, Infrastructure, Montavilla, Services June 17, 2023

Montavilla Pool and Free Lunch + Play

On Wednesday, two significant Portland Parks & Recreation (PP&R) hosted summer programs will return to Montavilla Park and other locations throughout the city. On June 21st, the outdoor public pool at 8219 NE Glisan Street will open to guests daily through August 27th. That same day in June, the Free Lunch + Play program begins its weekday distribution of USDA Federal Lunch Program approved meals from 12:00 to 1:30 p.m. Group play opportunities run from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

As it has for decades, the outdoor pool at Montavilla Park will reopen for seasonal swimming and lessons. Day users of the swimming facility under the age of 18 must pay $3.75 to swim, while adults pay $4.75. Those over the age of 60 receive a $0.25 discount. PP&R sells passes at a discount for repeat visitors and offers a free swim option on Tuesdays from 6:30 to 8:00 p.m. Open swim is available on weekdays from 1:00 to 3:30 p.m. and 6:30 to 8:00 p.m. Weekend swimming starts earlier with Family Swim time from 11:30 a.m. to 12:45 p.m. Then weekend Open Swim runs from 1:00 to 5:00 p.m.

To fill a gap left by the school system’s summertime closure, the Free Lunch + Play program offers a place for kids to play in groups and have a healthy meal. Program staff distribute free meals to children ages 18 and under. The meals must be consumed at the event by the child. Adults can pay $5.00 cash for a lunch, and children wanting more food can eat items from the “No Thank You Table,” where other children put unwanted parts of lunches. Portland Public Schools, Centennial School District, Parkrose School District, and David Douglas School District provide the free meals distributed during the summer to help feed children who have relied on the Free and Reduced-Price Meals program during the school year. However, the summer program is available to all children. Free Lunch + Play will be unavailable on Tuesday, July 4th but otherwise accessible throughout the summer.

PP&R partnered with over 24 other groups to expand Free Lunch + Play, including Multnomah County Library, Portland Opera, and Rose City Rollers. Those partnerships allow for special programming on certain days. Three of those events take place at Montavilla Park. The Parks Local Option Levy, passed by voters in 2020, funds many of the free summer activities, including the free swimming option on Tuesdays. These park activities ensure that most kids have an opportunity to enjoy a healthy and active summer.

Montavilla Park Special Event Schedule