82dishes – Montavilla News

Halloween falls on Tuesday this year, giving fans of the holiday a whole weekend to build up to the night itself. In Montavilla, festivities begin mid-afternoon on Saturday, October 28th, with the Montavilla/East Tabor Business Association’s (METBA) Fall Crawl. Then, as the sun drops, people can make their way over to the Ha Ha Halloween experience, presented by Nightmare on Taylor Street. On Sunday, kids can don costumes and trick-or-treat at businesses throughout the neighborhood.

METBA’s Fall Crawl has around 25 businesses offering special menu items, discounts, activities, and other themed goodies as part of the districtwide Halloween celebration. Those activities run through the close of business. The next day, on October 29th, many of those same businesses participating in the Crawl will join other shops and churches in offering a safe place to take kids with the Trick or Treat Montavilla event. A complete list of participating locations is available online at metba.org. Attendees will find participating spots on NE Glisan Street, 82nd Avenue, SE Stark Street, and the surrounding area.

For a more spooky experience, the annual Nightmare on Taylor Street walkthrough haunted house runs from 6 p.m. through 9:30 p.m. at 7926 SE Taylor Street. This one night is your chance to see the complete scary carnival-themed walkthrough that has taken years of collecting to bring to the community. Volunteers will staff the free event, featuring a curvy path of frights and pre-Halloween scares.

Anyone looking for a party this weekend with fewer monsters and ghouls can head over to The Yard at Montavilla (8220 NE Davis Street) for a two-day party as part of the Around the World in 82 Dishes event underway. From 2 p.m. to 5 p.m., people can enjoy music, drinks, face painting, and special promotions based around the 82 Dishes Passport. More information is available at 82dishes.com.

Regardless of how people enjoy this holiday, local businesses and groups want them to find it in Montavilla.

Jacob Loeb

Disclosure: The author of this article serves on the METBA and 82nd Avenue Business Association boards

Last week, the seventh annual Around the World in 82 Dishes began along the entire length of 82nd Avenue in Portland. The business district’s promotion runs for two weeks, concluding on November 6th. The event highlights a wide selection of dining destinations on 82nd Avenue with a focus on multicultural flavors found along the busy roadway. As an incentive, the event organizers created a contest that enters participants into a drawing for multiple $50 gift cards.

Although any food and drink-related business on 82nd Avenue is eligible for the contest, a group of Montavilla eateries are featured participants in this year’s event. Most of the food carts at The Yard at Montavilla are on that list, along with Sebastiano’s. That level of participation yields increased promotional exposure and includes free digital menu services from Foodi-Menus. Ads for the event are currently running in local news publications like Willamette Week and the Portland Mercury, along with Instagram. Koin 6 News featured the event last Wednesday, showing off foods from vendors at the neighborhood food cart pod.

The contest is just one part of this event, presented by the 82nd Avenue Business Association with funding from the American Rescue Plan and Portland’s Bureau of Transportation. The two-week-long food celebration focuses on the diversity of Portland by exploring tastes from cultures across the globe. Many establishments are owned by immigrants that bring their culinary skills and enthusiasm to the foods they serve. Around the World in 82 Dishes seeks to spotlight those businesses and bring people out to East Portland during the traditionally slow season for restaurants.

The appreciation of food alone is not the only motivator for people to participate. The contest for $50 gift cards is a strong incentive to draw people out to the district, even during rainy weather. Interested contestants can use the BabbleBuy mobile app to find locations and post on social media with the hashtags #82ndFoodies and #82Dishes. Those who want to avoid using the mobile app can post on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, or TikTok using the two hashtags.

There are only a few days left before the event concludes, but that leaves plenty of time to get out and visit your favorite location or experience someplace new. Keep up to date on the event at 82dishes.com, and bookmark that site to stay informed about next year’s Around the World in 82 Dishes.

Jacob Loeb

Disclosure: Montavilla News is a member of the 82nd Avenue Business Association and the author of this article serves on the board.