As a pioneer of the 15-year-old Stark Street revival, the Bipartisan Cafe is again driving innovation in Montavilla Town. Yesterday they installed a dedicated To-Go window on SE 79th Ave. The small side sliding window is similar to units seen at drive-through restaurants.
The To-Go window is not yet in use, waiting on the final glazing installation and other interior adjustments. “We only have to rearrange some equipment and work out a few logistical details.” Said Peter Emerson, owner of the Bipartisan. Emerson hopes to serve customers from the window by the end of the week. Until then, customers can continue to pick up orders at the front door.
Bipartisan has not allowed customers inside the cafe since the COVID-19 pandemic restrictions were in-place but have been able to remain open for pick up orders. They are now encouraging customers to order and pay online before visiting, to minimize interactions. The separation provided by the new To-Go window will further protect the cafe’s staff and customers.
Emerson sees pick-up orders as a longterm addition for Bipartisan. “Our plan is for this to be the new normal. We don’t plan on opening our dining room until there is a vaccine. Even after then, we can see shutting down the dining room early in the evening and having only window service.”
Expect to see socially distanced lines along SE 79th Ave when the pick-up window is fully functional. Such a permanent alteration is a sign of the long-term changes we will see in the coming year, as businesses adapt and reinvent how they serve the public.
Bipartisan Cafe is located at 7901 SE Stark Street503.253.1051
Finished To-Go windows July 21st 2020To-Go windows July 14th 2020
Weeks before the official statewide shutdown, PDX Cookie Co opened their Montavilla store at 7919 SE Stark Street. Just as the shop became popular, people were ordered to stay home. Despite that challenge, the Cookie shop has seen success. With an established online business, they have managed to thrive during the pandemic. Now, as people are venturing out again, they are expanding store hours.
The opening day of the confectionery saw lines wrapping around the block. PDX Cookie Co was the first of what was to be many new eateries coming to Montavilla town in early 2020. Instead, COVID-19 changed plans all over Portland, and nearly overnight customers disappeared. The owner of PDX Cookie Co, Nisha Chitale, described the two extremes as jarring. “We had an awesome opening weekend followed by months of a ghost town.” Chitale considers PDX Cookie Co fortunate to have opened before the virus ramped up. Otherwise, they may have had to postpone the opening indefinitely, as many others were forced to do.
PDX Cookie Co was launching their first storefront, but they were already a successful online business. “Luckily, we started online, and it has always been our primary business,” explained Chitale. Even as walk-in customers diminished, PDX Cookie Co kept their storefront open throughout the closure, from 10 AM to 4 PM Friday-Sunday. The doors were open, but most people stayed home. Stuck at home, customers needed the comfort of cookies more than before and continued to buy. New local interest, driven by the successful opening, only added to online orders. Chitale was caught off guard by continued customer support online. “[I was] shocked and beyond grateful to have had our business boom during the quarantine.”
The growth in business was a relief for PDX Cookie Co employees as well. “Our employees are all close friends who continued to work during the quarantine. They were laid off from their other jobs, so this was able to keep food on their table,” explained Chitale. At the store, they enacted measures to protect staff and customers. Screening people for symptoms before coming in and social distancing in the building. “For extra precaution we also temporarily discontinued our edible cookie dough cones so there was less chance of any contamination.”
As the restrictions have gradually lifted in Multnomah County, PDX Cookie Co extended store hours for the summer. They are now open Friday through Wednesday from 10 AM to 4 PM. Edible cookie dough cones have now returned to the menu, joining cookie ice cream Sundaes. Indoor seating continues to be closed, but drop-in customers are welcome.
Online orders continue to outpace walk-in customers, but Nisha Chitale enjoys having the storefront. “My favorite things about having the brick and mortar location is being able to make goodies that don’t have to ship and getting to meet all of the Montavilla residents. Both business owners and nearby families are some of the kindest and most welcoming people I’ve ever met.”
The storefront is a unique benefit from Montavilla residents. Online inventory of new items can be exhausted within 5-10 minutes of being released. Chitale sees many customers excited to find menu items available at the storefront that sold out online. Chitale commented that the retail location has a better selection compared to the online store.
With demand as high as it has been, they may have outgrown this location. Chitale is still evaluating future moves. Ideally, PDX Cookie Co would expand in this location or move production and online order fulfillment to a commercial kitchen. Regardless of how they manage expansion, Chitale hopes to remain in this neighborhood that has treated this business so well.
Collective Agency has moved out of its coworking space located at 7819 SE Stark Street. This was one of three locations for the Collective Agency, and the only one that has been permanently closed. Customers of the coworking space, called Members, will now have to relocate to another location.
All three locations have been closed during the statewide restrictions surrounding COVID-19. Alex Linsker, the owner of Collective Agency, is keeping the Member community engaged with outdoor meetups, Zoom calls, movie nights, and soon a July 4th barbecue..
Member movie night
With a tagline of Coworking Spaces with Cozy Community, being open during the age of social distancing was not an option for the small Montavilla space. The Montavilla location would have been the hardest location to reopen, and “the Montavilla community is the least tied to a physical space.” Said Linsker. Closing the Montavilla location resulted in only three Members leaving.
Starting in Phase 2 of Multnomah County’s reopening, Montavilla Members will be able to use the location at 3050 SE Division Street. The downtown location will also reopen at the same time as the Division Street location. However, they are looking to sublease the space soon.
Downtown location with new spaced out configuration
Linsker describes the Montavilla Members as being “very” support of the changes needing to be made by the Collective Agency. The consolidation of locations seems like a sound business decision. Alex Linsker is a proponent of Small in this Together and hopes for some relief for businesses affected by COVID-19 closures. Regardless of what assistance businesses receive, tough choices are required. This closure is a prime example of the tough decisions many business owners are making.
Pottery Fun is closing its store in Old Town Montavilla. For Rent signs are now posting in the window of the longtime staple of Stark street. Located at 7821 SE Stark Street, Pottery Fun offered craft activities for individuals and groups.
Pottery Fun temporarily closed March 16th, in response to COVID-19 containment efforts. The website and voicemail for Pottery Fun have not yet been updated to reflect any change in business location or closure of this location. They have been at this spot on Stark street since October of 2010.
During their years in business, Pottery Fun has been featured in both the Portland Tribune and SE Examiner. They will certainly be missed as a family-friendly entertainment option in the neighborhood.
Disclosure: The author’s daughter once worked at Pottery Fun, many years previous.
As Montavilla restaurants and bars continue to reopen, Parking Plazas are now appearing on SE Stark Street. Businesses are converting parking spaces to extensions of their regular indoor seating.
Portland Bureau of Transportation (PBOT) offers Healthy Businesses permits, enabling the closure of curbside parking and streets. These spaces allow business to distance customers from one-another, without sacrificing too much seating. Plazas like these are part of the PBOT Safe Streets Initiative and the hope is it will be a safer way to visit local businesses.
Vino Veritas, at 7835 SE Stark Street, was the first along Stark Street to open their Parking Plaza. Vino Veritas is a wine bar with a select offering of food items. Between 4PM and 9:30PM, the Parking Plaza is decorated with colorful umbrellas. They provide shade over a handful of tables, that are placed within the wine barrel parameter.
Redwood restaurant will open their Parking Plaza Wednesday, June 24th. This is the first day since the COVID-19 closure, that Redwood has opened for dine in and take out. Redwoods’ Parking Plaza is the most elaborate in Montavilla to date. They have constructed a double sided Shadow Box fence around the area, where others have just used rope or chain. Redwood is located at 7915 SE Stark Street.
Each business is using Parking Plaza in a method that matched their business. Threshold Brewing & Blending has their own take on a Parking Plazas, just around the corner from these two. While the weather is nice, these should be a good aid to deal with the challenges of reopening. Patrons can already be spotted making use of these outdoor venues, to the relief of many business owners.
Along SE 80th, a large grill cooks sizzling meat. Staff at Lazy Susan have not yet settled on an official opening date, however they have started curbside service for Montavilla locals.
Lazy Susan is located at 7937 SE Stark on the corner of SE 80th Ave and Stark Street. They had intended to open months prior, but delayed due to COVID-19. They are still putting the finishing touches on the interior of the restaurant but that will not stop them from cooking. “We are serving barbecue to the neighborhood curbside, and offering awesome beverages like sangria slushies and piña colada snow cones.” Wrote Kayla Morrell of Lazy Susan PDX.
Lazy Susan has taken curbside service to an extreme, cooking and selling the food from the sidewalk. Orders for food and drinks are placed at the front door on SE Stark Street. Around the corner the food is prepped and grilled. They offer waiting chairs along the front of the building, spaced apart for safety.
Lazy Susan staff have successfully brought a mini version of their restaurant, to the sidewalk. Plates are priced at $15, with your choice of meat. A crescent roll and potato salad are included. They are open 12 to 4 PM.
This years Montavilla Street Fair has been canceled in response to COVID-19. The annual event was set to occur on July 26th and would have been on SE Stark street, as it has for many years. The event is hosted by the Montavilla East Tabor Business Association (METBA). METBA President, Pete Dills, announced the cancelation at the June 16th association meetup.
The decision to cancel this years fair was driven by many factors. Concern for everyones health was the primary reason. Beyond that concern, the States reopening guidelines would also prohibit any event like the street fair. In past years the event has attracted thousands of visitors. Any social distancing plan would be complicated and hard to monitor. “I do not know how we would ‘police’ something like that,” said Dills.
Logistics alone were not the only reason to cancel this years fair. METBA Board member, Carmen Wilson, added that the issues were also financial. The Permits for closing Stark street, from 76th Ave to 82nd Ave, is a large cost to METBA. They would be unlikely to recoup that cost through in donations this year. Instead, METBA wishes to use the funds they have to support local businesses in other ways.
Dills presented a few ideas of how METBA could help local businesses, instead of hosting the street fair. One idea, would try to replicate the business exposer from participating in the fair. The structure of the program would spread out participation over a month, to allow for COVID-19 related restrictions. Currently it’s referred to as “Montavilla Passport.” The Passport would be a mobile-device friendly why to interact with or patronize local businesses. This may be though in person visits or no-contact ways of interacting.
Dills’ other idea, had METBA creating a neighborhood scavenger hunt. Both ideas have the goal to help the residents know “what businesses are open and provide opportunities for the Montavilla community to support their local business district in fun and unique ways.” Wrote Dills in an email to Montavilla News.
METBA is seeking advice and feedback from the community about what can replace the Montavilla Street Fair this year. You are invited to email montavilla.biz@gmail.com with your ideas and thoughts on what METBA should do. Local businesses need extra support this year and now is the best time to start work on how the community can band together.
UPDATE – Redwood restaurant has decided to push back their opining until Wednesday Jun 24th. Jessie Hawkins, Front of the House Manager at Redwood, informed Montavilla News about the change. In a text message she wrote “The numbers were not looking good so we hesitated to prep a bunch of food before we knew for sure.”
This echoes the choices many restaurant owners have made recently. With last week’s delay in entering Phase 1, many chose to wait and see if Multnomah County would be delayed again. Today, Governor Kate Brown announced we can enter Phase 1 this Friday but for many that assurance came too late.
Original Post from June 12th
Redwood is scheduled to reopen Friday June 19th. Originally staff planned to open the restaurant on the 17th but that’s “currently not possible.” Said Jessie Hawkins, Front of the House Manager at Redwood. Hawkins explained that the date could change again, depending on whether Governor Kate Brown gives approval for Multnomah County’s Phase 1 reopening.
Redwood, like many local restaurants and bars, had to adjust their plans. Thursday evening Governor Brown announced a week long pause to Oregon’s phased reopening. This last minute change caught businesses off guard, some planning on opining the next day. Many hope that this will only be a seven day long delay and not a prolonged wait to enter Phase 1.
Redwood is located at 7915 SE Stark Street, in the center of Montavilla Town. They offer brunch and dinner from Chef Susie Blue and drinks of all types, at their bar.
Roscoe’s bar will be reopening Friday at 3 PM, with limited service. They are located at 8105 SE Stark Street and offer beet on tap and southern cuisine.
A note is posted on Roscoe’s webcam, where it regularly displays a live feed of beers on tap. It reads “We will open for Carry-out Beer + Food 6/12/2020 From 3PM to 9PM.”
Last week Tinker Tavern received building permits for for their new Montavilla Tavern. This project has been delayed due to COVID-19 related shutdowns and was in a holding pattern, waiting for the city’s approval. Now work will begin in just a few weeks.
Tinker Tavern is going to have an “old school tavern look… classic.” Said Erik Mahan, owner of Tinker Tavern. He described Tiffany style lamps and swivel bar stools as elements of the design esthetic. The goal is to create a comfortable space, Mahan explained. He is not looking to challenge the customers through design but instead create a welcoming neighborhood bar.
The location of Tinker Tavern, 7980 SE Stark Street, was formerly a retail store. Transforming the space into a tavern, with a kitchen, will take some time. Mahan expects construction to last 10 weeks, as long as trade work is not overly delayed due to social distancing measures.
The added delay in opening, has given Mahan time to adjust his buildout to deal with the COVID-19 restrictions. He anticipates opening Tinker Tavern in phase two of Multnomah County’s reopening process. Currently he’s operating his other location, Bantam Tavern on NW 21st Ave, under the general restrictions. That has provided him the experience needed to make smart design choices for Tinker Tavern. Choices that will help him open safely and still function as a Tavern.
To meet the phase two guidelines, he has eliminated a table from his original interior layout, allowing for the required distancing of guests. Further interior modifications will include the use of plexiglass, to provide separation between groups. Fortunately the building is setback from the sidewalk and that will allow for outdoor seating. Mahan will use planters to create an 8 foot by fourteen foot outdoor seating area. He also plans to apply for Street Seating through the PBOT program, when he is closer to opening.
When asked why he chose Montavilla for his new Tavern, Mahan explained he has been a longtime fan of the area. He was impressed with other bars in the area, like Roscoe’s and has watched how they have grown. Mahan’s girlfriend lives in the neighborhood and they frequently walk the streets of Montavilla. It was on one of those walks that he saw this space available and knew it would be a great fit for his next Tavern. Being on SE Stark Street and a corner property made it an ideal location. Mahan described the location as an “attractive newer building.” Taking a space in an older Montavilla storefront, would not be as easy to upgrade with all the features he wanted to add.
Mahan sees a neighborhood bar as more than just serving neighborhood customers. He wants to incorporate items from other local businesses in the tavern’s offerings. Look for local beers and food items to be on his menu.
Construction will start soon and residents should expect to see activity at the site in the coming weeks. They have set up a Tinker Tavern Instagram as the primary way to communicate about their progress. Mahan said he will be posting updates and construction pictures there as things progress.
Neighborhood news site focused on buildings and changing businesses
