On February 19th, the Joint Office of Homeless Services (JOHS) will host a “Sneak Peek” of the Oak Street Village sleeping pod shelter at 333 SE 82nd Avenue. Organizers invite the public to tour the facility before residents move in. Invited speakers will provide brief remarks and participate in a ribbon-cutting ceremony. Organizers ask people wanting to attend to RSVP for the event, which runs from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
In 2022, Multnomah County purchased the former RV sales lot and another site several blocks south to create shelter services along 82nd Avenue. However, it was not until officials selected 333 SE 82nd Avenue’s operator, Straightway Services, that the County announced the shelter’s format. Resident selection for Oak Street Village will prioritize individuals living in passenger vehicles and needing to park those while transitioning into the shelter’s housing. The site provides Pallet shelters branded sleeping pods, 33 onsite parking spaces, trash services, showers, restrooms, laundry facilities, and a communal kitchenette. Several years have passed since the County purchased the properties. Since then, County staff have worked to provide community outreach and secure support for the site through a Good Neighbor Agreement.
The second county-owned county site in Montavilla at 1818 SE 82nd Avenue will take on a similar development path but will not focus on supporting residents with cars. That second shelter will likely open at the end of 2025 if the project keeps to schedule. Although the sites are different, this sneak peek can provide a view into how shelter operators organize these sites.
Multnomah County Board of County Commissioners Chair Jessica Vega Pederson and Montavilla’s County district representative Commissioner Julia Brim-Edwards will speak at the event. Other invited guests addressing the attendees include Pastor Dwight Minnieweather from the site’s service provider, Straightway Services, alongside business and neighborhood association leaders. JOHS director Dan Field will share the project’s history and update people on the facility’s next steps. Event parking for the Wednesday midday gathering on the 19th is available at the Montavilla United Methodist Church at 232 SE 80th Avenue, one block west of Oak Street Village. Event organizers will provide snacks and refreshments.
Wendy’s restaurant at 232 NE 82nd Avenue plans to refresh the fast food location inside and out later this year. Some upgrades include modifications of interior walls along with the installation of new equipment and fixtures. Exterior work involves rearranging this location’s Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) parking spaces, adding bike parking, and new exterior lighting mounted on poles.
This 1981-era dine-in and drive-through building features the brand’s classic stylings and has outgrown its current configuration. Previous remodels included the creation of an exterior detached cooler that crews will demolish as part of this round of enhancements. Building permits show the planned addition of an attached cold food storage room to accommodate future kitchen capacity and replace the old detached unit.
Exterior detached cooler that crews will demolish
The Wendy’s fast food chain did not respond to requests for details regarding this remodel. However, the company has recently embraced its Global Next Gen design strategy for new and refreshed stores. That concept prioritizes higher order volume with streamlined buildings supporting increased digital orders and delivery customers. The square-patty burger maker says their modern restaurants can significantly upscale production compared to previous designs, increasing kitchen output capacity by nearly 50%.
The newer-designed stores include smaller dining rooms and offer dedicated windows for delivery drivers to collect food purchased through services like Doordash or Uber Eats. They often feature adjacent short-term delivery driver parking to streamline pickups and keep drive-through lanes clear for customers. The newer designs also incorporate building with a mixture of woodgrain and flat panel cladding over clean vertical lines that extend up to the parapet. The company no longer uses the decorative flared band that wraps the roofline of older Wendy’s locations, preferring a simple box shape to the building.
Work at this location will complement the Portland Bureau of Transportation’s plans to widen the sidewalk in front of this restaurant to 12 feet, adding room for possible street trees or a planting strip in the furnishing zone between the curb and sidewalk. The pedestrian zone widening is part of the 82nd Avenue Glisan and Davis Signal Improvements project developed in 2024, with an expected groundbreaking in 2025.
Image from 82nd Avenue Glisan and Davis May 2024 Draft Design. Courtesy PBOT
The NE 82nd Avenue store may only use some of Wendy’s Global Next Gen design principles in its remodel. However, it will likely incorporate many modern elements into this location to increase its functionality for customers and employees. The City of Portland is still reviewing building permits for this remodel. Work is likely months from starting and may require some disruption to regular business at this location during construction.
As winter weather approaches Portland, planning a safe trip becomes essential to getting where you need to go while not creating more hazards on the road for the people that must be out during inclement conditions. Switching to public transportation is among the best options for drivers without adequate traction devices or winter driving skills. TriMet created a dedicated website page at trimet.org/winterweather with information about traveling in the region during snow and ice events. Traveling by foot to the bus stop or other neighborhood locations will also require some planning, including traction devices for boots and dressing in warm layers. If driving is required, people should use the Portland Bureau of Transportation’s (PBOT) Plow Activity and Routs map to travel on well-cleared streets for most of their journey.
Conditions can change quickly in any winter weather event, and travelers must stay informed. Transit riders should follow trimet.org/alerts. Although buses will follow their regular routes as long as the streets are safe, bus drivers may have to change stop locations. If a stop is on a hill or in an unsafe area, bus drivers may want to pick up riders at a nearby location on level ground. Transit users will want to check for route cancelations due to road conditions often, and dress for prolonged waits in the elements. TriMet says MAX trains typically run well in snow, but many need to adjust frequency or line length to prevent ice buildup on overhead wires interfering with operations.
Good winter boots can help most Portlanders through the powdery snow, but ice is another issue. The first day of snow can be easy to manage with basic footwear, but an overnight freeze of compacted slush or freezing rain makes our sidewalks and roads hazardous. Investing in a pair of Yaktrax or similar walking traction cleats helps people traverse most ice conditions. The cleats stretch over a shoe’s sole, providing a biting grip when needed, and can come off when indoors. People should charge phones before leaving and keep devices in an inner pocket. Cold significantly reduces the charge in a phone’s lithium-ion battery, causing people to lose access to the device that can help them identify safe routes or see transit delays. A phone user’s body heat provided by an inner pocket can warm that device when not in use, particularly when people dress in layers of warm clothing for wintery conditions.
Driving is hazardous in non-optimal conditions. Street safety depends on all participants knowing road conditions and understanding the limitations of what they can do. The best winter drivers can still suffer damage from a less prepared motorist. If individuals do not need to drive, it is best not to hit the road. If people must drive, prepare with supplies in case the unexpected happens. They should bring extra clothes if circumstances force them to walk longer than expected because their vehicle becomes stuck. Pack a shovel to free a parked car after sitting at the destination, and take additional traction devices, even if drivers do not need them at the start of the journey.
Portlanders can often get to their destination even in the worst winter storms. However, it takes much longer than a regular commute. Experts advise leaving early and being patient with others on the road. Check official sources for up-to-date road conditions and remain flexible in how you get to your destination, as the most direct route may not be the safest. The best option is to stay home, leaving the roads clear for emergency services and the people who have to go out into the storm for work.
TriMet will honor Rosa Parks with free rides for all passengers this Tuesday, February 4th. Transit operators will suspend fare collection on that day until 2 a.m. February 5th. Portland Streetcar and C-TRAN operators will also offer rides without cost in observation of the civil rights icon’s 112th birthday. Riders who tap a Hop card or ticket will receive confirmation of valid fare, but the automated systems won’t charge them, and ticket machines will not allow any ticket purchases on February 4th
In 2020, TriMet’s District 5 Director Keith Edwards proposed the resolution declaring Parks’ birthday as a day of remembrance across the public transportation system. That year, TriMet adopted the fare holiday across the 533-square-mile service district to recognize Parks’ contribution to the Civil Rights Movement. 2025 is the fifth straight year TriMet has commemorated the bravery of Parks, whose name is most notably associated with the struggle to bring equity to public transportation as part of a wider racial equality movement.
Graphic courtesy TriMet
On December 1st, 1955, Rosa Parks challenged Montgomery, Alabama’s segregationist city ordinance that required black Americans to give up seats in the “Colored” section of the bus for white riders when the reserved white section ran out of seats. Parks’ refusal of the bus driver’s commands to give up her seat resulted in her arrest. Her act of civil disobedience led to the year-long Montgomery bus boycott and a significant court decision that found bus segregation unconstitutional under the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Parks suffered years of harassment for her role as a public face of the Civil Rights movement. Still, history has quickly recognized her contributions to equality through that 1955 peaceful act of defiance, and her later work, which has had a lasting impact on America’s ongoing effort to repair its racial inequities.
On January 22nd, TriMet hosted an in-person open house to show its progress on the 82nd Avenue Transit Project designs and gather feedback from attendees. TriMet reports nearly 100 people attended the event in the Community Hall Annex at Portland Community College’s Southeast campus. The public transit provider created an online version of the open house where people can provide additional feedback through February 14th.
Online visitors can find maps of the proposed route and station locations similar to the information presented at the in-person event. The map also shows station removals planned for the new bus rapid transit (BRT) line. TriMet will implement traffic-light signal-prioritization for buses and near-level boarding platforms with dual door entry and remove underutilized stops along the route to decrease travel times for future FX-Frequent Express service. TriMet also intends to work with the Portland Bureau of Transportation (PBOT) to use some percentage of outer lanes along 82nd Avenue for Business Access & Transit (BAT) uses. They would reserve a yet-to-be-determined length of lanes for bus travel and for cars turning into or out of a parking lot.
As with the FX line running on SE Division Street, this new service on 82nd Avenue will have bus stations instead of stops with shelters, seating, lighting, and digital displays informing waiting riders of the next bus’s arrival time. Busses will run more often with enhanced reliability, according to planner’s estimates. TriMet recently secured funding for a fleet of zero-emission hydrogen fuel-cell electric buses to operate on this line, reducing roadside noise and pollution.
TriMet expects to upgrade bus service on 82nd Avenue between Clackamas Town Center and the Cully neighborhood by 2029. This open house is the best time to provide input about the proposal. TriMet recently solicited public participation in an 82nd Avenue Transit Project Community Advisory Committee (CAC). Applications for the CAC closed on January 27th, but TriMet has not yet announced the selected members. The CAC engagement process will provide Portlanders other opportunities to interface with TriMet regarding the BRT’s development. However, the survey following the online Open House is still the most direct way to express feedback about this transit project.
The Portland Bureau of Transportation (PBOT) recently received permission from the Oregon Department of Transportation to lower speed limits on SE 92nd Avenue from SE Lincoln Street to SE 91st Place. In the coming months, crews will replace the 30 mph speed limit signs with 25 mph signage, signaling drivers should reduce speed. This update impacts less than a mile of SE 92nd Avenue and partially overlaps with an existing school zone that drops speed limits to 20 mph when timers activate flashing indicator lights.
PBOT Speed Limit Map of SE 92nd Ave with MV News illustrations
Southbound drivers on SE 92nd Avenue will have ample visual queues for the changed speed as PBOT upgraded the marked crossing at SE Lincoln Street in 2023 with concrete-protected bike lanes and high visibility crosswalk markings. This 25 mph section of roadway will cross SE Division Street and SE Powell Boulevard, which will retain 30 mph speed limits. Cars turning on SE 92nd from those busier streets will need to observe the reduced speed limit. PBOT is making these changes to minimize pedestrian injury near high-crash corridors and areas that would benefit from slower speeds. A pedestrian struck by a person driving a vehicle traveling 20 mph or below has a 90 percent chance of surviving a crash. However, they have less than a 50 percent chance of surviving a collision with a vehicle traveling 30 mph or above, and fatality rates rise quickly as speed increases. Reducing speed saves lives and is particularly valuable in areas where pedestrians, cyclists, and motorists cross paths.
Five other Portland streets will also receive new reduced speed limits around the same time as SE 92nd Avenue. PBOT does not directly control speed limits on many of Portland’s streets; instead, it must request permission from the Oregon Department of Transportation to change speed limits. A 2022 state law allows Oregon cities to apply for the authority to designate speed limits on roads they maintain. However, those municipalities must designate an engineer to oversee the process. A PBOT representative explained that ODOT still controls most of Portland’s speed limits.
SE 162nd Avenue from Stark Street to Powell Boulevard (35 to 30 mph)
NE Fremont Avenue from SE 102nd to 122nd avenues (30 to 25 mph)
SW 62nd Avenue from Taylors Ferry Road to Pomona Street (30 to 25 mph)
N Argyle Street/Way from Interstate Avenue to Columbia Boulevard (30 to 25 mph)
N Mississippi Avenue from Fremont to Cook streets (30 to 20 mph)
Speed Limits do not officially change until PBOT crews install new signs. Drivers traveling through these areas should pay attention to posted speed limits in anticipation of the update. They should remain aware of other street users to avoid the types of collisions that encouraged this speed limit reduction.
In January, Mary Carroll Ceramics and Alexandria Cummings Ceramics relocated their shared production studio to a long-vacant storefront at 6900 NE Glisan Street. The corner storefront allows the partners to expand their businesses to include a membership-based multi-use space and retail storefront to sell homeware alongside their creations. Taking the new business name from the signage of past tenets at the location, Fine Things Studio and Ceramics Shop will open in phases as the team fills into the ground floor of the 1911-era mixed-use building. They anticipate completing work in late spring with the opening of the storefront selling pottery made onsite alongside accessories, gifts, and women’s and kids’ clothing.
Community ceramics studio space with racks on the left and pottery wheels to the right
Mary Carroll and Alex Cummings began sharing studio space two years ago, each having six to eight years of prior ceramics experience. In 2024, with their studio lease ending, they decided to explore ways to expand beyond ceramics production to include a retail space for their work and other complimentary products while making space for other ceramicists. They embraced the concept from Alex Cummings’s past workspace and Carroll’s long-held dream for a shop. Before co-locating with Carroll, Cummings ran a small community ceramics studio called Hey Studio in Northeast Portland on 42nd Avenue. Reimagining that prior space was a way to assist others needing studio space and provide a retail opportunity for creators. In her 20s, when planning her adult life, Carroll had envisioned running a vintage store and coffee shop. As she began working in ceramics, the vision became a pottery-vintage-coffee-shop. Now, her shop idea centers on ceramics but with various homeware products from an array of creators, including products from their community ceramics studio members.
In this new building, Carroll and Cummings want to create space for up to 28 potters to work on ceramics and store projects, sharing the studio’s resources. To start, they will limit the facility to 15 members, ensuring participants have enough tools and workspace during peak times. The owners geared the community ceramics studio toward people who have progressed beyond the basics but have not moved to production-level ceramics, where they would require more studio space than is available to members. They will not offer any classes and anticipate that people will know enough to work independently. However, people don’t have to be seasoned pros to become members. “Honestly, if they’ve never had a class but they’ve watched YouTube videos, and they’re able to come in and just throw and make things ready for the kiln, that’s fine,” said Carroll. The studio staff will take care of firing pieces for members, so people need to understand clay types and the firing process enough to communicate with kiln operators. Each member has a bank of racks to store their work in progress, and people can rent extra rack space if they need additional capacity regularly. The studio may also have the capacity for people outside the ceramics community who need creative space.
Small production space looking onto the retail showroom
Finding the storefront on the western edge of Montavilla materialized quickly for the partners after seeing a Craigslist posting for the affordable storefront. “It happened fast,” said Cummings. “September, we looked at it, and a week later, we were like, ‘We have to jump on this because we don’t want to lose it,'” recalled Carroll. They were thankful to find this location because other places they looked at prohibited the mixed-use vision they shared. “The terms were weird. We couldn’t have a retail component, or we couldn’t have a community component,” said Cummings. “To find all three is super tough,” explained Carroll. To build the space, they launched a Kickstarter funding campaign and had to develop branding and information within a week. That was a challenge, made a little easier by signs still hanging in the window. Carroll and Cummings visited the property and looked through the windows, which displayed a stylized Fine Things decal. They looked at each other and agreed to keep that part of the former tenet’s, Di Orios Fine Things & Sharons Dolls & Bears, business name. The name felt right for their business, and it respected the work of the companies that came before them.
Production studio space
With the help of supporters, Carroll and Cummings have made the first two phases of their storefront come to fruition. Half of the available slots at the community ceramics studio are in use at the east end of the building. Both owners have established their ceramics businesses in the center of the main floor, and soon, they will open the retail space at the western corner of the property. Guest shopping at the store will have a view into the production studio to watch the speckled clay creations take form. Each function of Fine Things is viewable behind large windows along the NE Glisan Street sidewalk.
Mugs made by Mary Carroll
Until the Fine Things retail shop opens, people can purchase items online at Mary Carroll’s or Alex Cummings’ websites. Although they both use the same type of clay, they present differing styles of ceramics. “I like to make things that I hope people would use every day. Lots of dinnerware that’s colorful and playful but also feels pretty utilitarian” explained Cummings. “I like being playful, but it’s very important to have crisp, clean lines. Most of my work has some type of circle or geometric shape or straight lines but still has that really fun, handmade vibe to it,” said Carroll. They hope people will enjoy seeing their work created and displayed at the shop alongside the talents of studio members and other local artists. People can track their progress on the Fine Things Instagram account.
In fall 2025, the Multnomah Campus of Jessup University will cease offering traditional undergraduate classes, athletic programs, and its Master of Arts in Counseling at the Portland-based campus. The University announced these changes on January 13th, highlighting a renewed focus on Seminary, Graduate, and online education. In November 2023, Multnomah University announced they would join Jessup University, transitioning the 8435 NE Glisan Street facility into the third campus for the California-based Christian school. This partnership delivered financial stability to the Portland-based education institution, which is now rightsizing its program to meet current demands while remaining an active community resource.
At the start of the following curriculum year, the Portland Campus’s in-person education will focus on seminary, graduate, and certificate programs. They will no longer offer student housing or athletics programs, opening up the existing facilities for community benefit uses that align with the educational institution’s mission. Volunteers of America Oregon (VOA) is already using two campus dormitories for its residential treatment for women with children, and the soccer field is supporting the youth sports group Inter PDX, which removes the “pay to play” barrier that can keep some kids from participating in the sport.
Multnomah Campus of Jessup University Chancellor Jessica Taylor is committed to using the institution’s educational resources for positive community uses that also support student needs. “Our goal is to always utilize the campus for a community benefit. I don’t want anything shuttered, boarded up, and not being utilized,” said Taylor. However, the University is not interested in becoming a landlord renting space to any tenant. Student safety and support will remain top priorities when considering partner uses of the property. Taylor explained that the organization supports behavioral health services and other critical resources. Its VOA Oregon partnership is a prime example of auxiliary uses for excess campus resources fitting their goals. However, they would not consider programs with drop-in services that could disrupt their educational work or the wider community. “We want to care about the [partner’s] community, but of course balancing that with both safety and operational functioning,” remarked Taylor.
The University’s course reduction in Portland will significantly impact students and staff. At the end of the 2024-2025 academic year, the Multnomah Campus of Jessup University will eliminate over 70 percent of staff and faculty positions. Students continuing in-person classes have various options based on degree path, including transferring to the Rocklin California Campus of Jessup University if the program is supported. Alternatively, George Fox University‘s Newberg and Portland campuses, as well as Corban University’sSalem campus, will offer a teach-out option to enrolled Multnomah undergraduates. Western Seminary University and George Fox University will support Master of Arts in Counseling transfers. This path allows students to stay in Oregon and complete their work towards a degree. Students can also transfer to other higher education programs outside the teach-out options.
Online education is an option for some students due to a new offering from the University dubbed Jessup Global. In the Fall of 2024, the Portland Campus began headquartering that international online education platform for the organization. Chancellor Taylor explained that Jessup University did not offer a seminary education program and that its partnership with Multnomah University added that expertise to its course catalog. Taking the programs online lets the West Coast-based organization reach everyone seeking an Association of Theological Schools (ATS) accredited Seminary degree, regardless of location.
The reduction in courses and campus community has been difficult for Chancellor Taylor. However, this change secures a future for the school, which faced economic challenges with declining enrollment made worse during the last few years. The campus has dropped from a 1000-student maximum enrollment to a few hundred, with half the remaining students graduating this spring. Jessup University’s support gave the Portland campus enough time to reorganize and find its sustainable path. “Without the support and this partnership, Multnomah would have had a sudden and abrupt closure in the fall of 2023,” said Taylor. “The community’s been through so much change, but they are most resilient.”
The NE Glisan Street Campus will remain open to the community during its transition, and University leadership still welcomes people visiting Roger’s Cafe. Taylor said they are open to partnering with complimentary groups for facility uses and look forward to remaining an active part of the Montavilla neighborhood.
On January 31st, the Oregon Driver and Motor Vehicles (DMV) department will permanently close its Mall 205 DMV location at 9910 SE Washington Street. In a posted notice, DMV representatives explained that finding a replacement location could take over a year. Until then, they will reassign the Mall 205 location’s 18 employees to nearby DMV offices to handle the expected increase in activity at the remaining Portland area DMV facilities.
The Mall 205 DMV opened in 2015 and is one of the only remaining interior-accessed storefronts in that complex. Rhino Investments Group purchased the shopping center in early 2022 and ended leases for a majority of tenants in March 2022. The new Mall owners are actively reconfiguring the building for larger retail clients with dedicated front entrances that do not rely on the legacy interior hallways. DMV customers accessed the office through a back entrance on the south side of the shopping mall building, which led visitors down an unmarked hallway to find their destination. One other business used the back parking lot for access during the reconfiguration. However, in May 2023, Mall 205’s 24 Hour Fitness location closed permanently, making the DMV the last tenant accessed from that side of the property.
Handwritten sign directing visitors to the back entrance for the DMV
According to the DMV’s posted closure notice, building maintenance issues prompted the department’s decision not to renew the lease at Mall 205. A Rhino spokesperson explained they worked early on to remedy heating and cooling issues experienced by the DMV and developed a 2025 plan to create a permanent solution for the space if the DMV remained a tenant. More recently, vandalism on the property interrupted the DMV unit’s water service and forced the Mall’s public restroom to close. “The majority of the recent water-related problems the DMV experienced stem from repeated break-ins from the city’s homeless population, during which copper piping was stolen, and facilities were significantly damaged. This caused intermittent service interruptions,” wrote the Rhino spokesperson in an email interview with Montavilla News. The group decided to close the public restrooms due to repeated misuse and to promote safety for people visiting the property. The common-area restrooms were leftover from the Mall’s former configuration, and the Rhino spokesperson noted the group is not obligated to provide those facilities. Each tenant in Mall 205 has dedicated restroom facilities within their units.
The DMV’s lease expires on February 28th, and despite reported months-long efforts to find a new location, they could not secure a suitable alternative and chose to close one of the DMV’s busiest offices. In 2024, the Mall 205 DMV served around 95,000 customers, updating vehicle registration and obtaining driver’s licenses or identification (ID) cards.
Mall 205 hallway leading to the DMV
This closure comes ahead of the May 7th federal requirement that everyone 18 years and older present a REAL ID, or a federally accepted alternative, to board a flight within the U.S. or to access certain federal facilities. REAL ID-compliant Oregon-issued ID cards and driver’s licenses have a star in the upper right corner. Air travelers without that indicator will need to visit the DMV soon. Individuals wanting to update to a REAL ID or use any other DMV services should use the Southeast Portland DMV at 8710 SE Powell Boulevard or another conveniently located office.
Rhino Investments Group had anticipated the DMV’s continued participation in Mall 205’s transformation to an exteriorly accessed shopping complex. “We regret that the Oregon DMV has chosen to leave Mall 205. We had already designed around the DMV premises with the Burlington lease, as we anticipated to retain the DMV at the property,” wrote the Rhino spokesperson. They now plan to renovate the former DMV office to incorporate the remaining indoor mall space into a single leasable unit with its entrance on the southern side of the building. Construction on the 1970-era Mall should begin again as the city approves permits and more tenants sign leases.
In early February, Sleepover Pizza will open in the former Pie Spot storefront outside the Rocket Empire Machine food hall at 6935 NE Glisan Street. The new school pan pizza maker takes inspiration from Detroit and Sicilian styles, offering eight-by-ten-inch rectangular pies with classic flavors that aim to excite families and pizza lovers alike. The shop will expand into more adventurous menu offerings for its pizza Sunday brunch program.
Aaron Manter has called Montavilla his home for nearly a decade after relocating with his wife from Greenville, South Carolina, where they both ran a New American-style restaurant called The Owl. After closing that business, they eventually followed friends to Portland. Together, the couple managed the now-closed Fillmore coffee shop that Futura Coffee Roasters replaced in 2022. Aaron Manter went on to receive accolades for his following two positions: cooking at the 1905 Jazz Club and as executive chef for Scholar Restaurant on NE Broadway. Recently, Manter worked as a chef at Fressen Bakery down the street from this new location. Despite 25 years working in kitchens creating complex menus across various disciplines, pizza was where he started his culinary career, and it continually reemerged as a favorite dish. After experimenting with some popups hosted by Blank Slate Bar in June 2024, Aaron Manter was ready to become a restaurant owner again—however, this time in a smaller space with affordable rent and a more universally approachable menu.
Sleepover Pizza’s name and primary menu originate from Manter’s nostalgia for his time with friends growing up in South Florida. Some of his best memories stem from having people over while his parents were out, ordering a pan pizza, and staying up late watching a VHS tape of Predator. During that stage in life, he started cooking for Little Caesars at a time when the pizza chain made everything in the shop. Those foundational experiences linked cooking, friendship, and youth with pizza. Through this project, he wants to share that experience and those flavors with his community. “It’s really meant for people to grab a slice with the family and, like the name implies, bring it back home to eat while you watch a scary movie and hang out with kids,” said Manter.
When open, Sleepover Pizza will serve guests from noon to 8 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday from the standard menu, offering a classic cheese, pepperoni, or tomato pie with garlic and pecorino Romano. Manter plans to provide a rotating white sauce pie option, rounding out the main selection to four pizzas. All pies pull from the Detroit style, where the sauce is on top, and the cheese covers from edge to edge, giving it a pronounced caramelization where it meets the pan. To speed up the cooking process, he will pan-proof the crust to about an inch thick and then briefly bake it to set the dough ahead of a customer’s order. “I can’t ask people at a food pod to wait 20 minutes for a pizza. I just don’t feel like that’s realistic or right. Parbaking (partially cooking a bread product before fully baking it at a later time) lets us get that out in maybe ten minutes, and I didn’t find any decrease in quality,” said Manter.
Image by Audrey Willcox, courtesy Sleepover Pizza
People can order a whole pie or a half as the by-the-slice option, and they will have an assortment of sodas. “I plan on doing a slice and a drink for 10 bucks. I’ll offer Coke, Diet Coke, and some sort of root beer. I think root beer and pepperoni are a very underrated combo,” explained Manter. He also intends to expand his drink offerings to meet his customer’s tastes. However, with Gigantic Brewing’s Robot Room adjacent to his space, he will keep to non-alcoholic options. Sleepover Pizza will be on some food delivery apps, and its sidewalk-adjacent location will make quick pickups easy for to-go orders.
Pie Spot location closing sign directing people to visit them at 521 NE 24th Ave
Sleepover Pizza will also open on Sundays but targeting the brunch crowd, with hours from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. The menu will feature unique flavors inspired by traditionally un-pizza origins. Aaron Manter envisions a shakshuka pie made with Moroccan tomato sauce and a fried egg on top. Or, a lox bagel approach with cream cheese, smoked salmon, chives, capers, and pickled onions.
The small kitchen space that will become Sleepover Pizza
The small kitchen space, not much larger than a shipping container, is nearly ready to reopen. Manter is only waiting on Multnomah County to approve the commercial kitchen. He explained that he has worked at eight different pizzerias over the years, learning all the best techniques to bring to his creations without losing the core qualities that make pizza great. “I’ve learned everything I can from every place I’ve worked, and I’m just trying to do a good job without being too cheffy, as it’s meant to feed the people and the families of the neighborhood.” Future customers waiting to try Montavilla’s newest pizza location should watch the Sleepover Pizza Instagram account to learn about the official opening date or visit the company website when it launches at sleepoverpizza.com.
