Food and Drink: Best New Bars

2 of the Country’s Best New Bars

Kann, chef Gregory Gourdet’s Haitian restaurant, made Esquire’s list of the best new restaurants last year. Now his bar Sousòl has made the magazine’s list of best new bars.

Also on the list is one of the Portland bar scene's most unexpected success stories: Mendelssohn’s, the self-described “craft cocktail and classical chamber music themed bar” (though it is owned by people with highly successful ventures — Mississippi Studios and Revolution Hall).

In years past, ​​Northwest Portland’s Takibi (2022), Southeast's Scotch Lodge (2021), and Northeast’s Expatriate (2019) made the Esquire list. [Esquire/Oregonian]

Shake Shack to Bridgeport Village

Shake Shack is opening a third location in Oregon, this one at Bridgeport Village in the fall. Portland got one, near Powell’s on West Burnside, in April. And the first opened in Beaverton in 2021.

Bridgeport Village will also be the site of the second Tanaka, a Japanese bakery in Downtown Portland whose specialty is milk bread and the sandwiches made with it. [KGW/Oregonian]

Tito’s Taquitos Opens Restaurant

One of the best food carts in Portland has opened a restaurant. The location is on industrial Swan Island, an unexpected spot for a restaurant (though the location was the original Tilt Burger). The tacos there get the thumbs-up from the Oregonian’s critic, as do the desserts. [Oregonian]