Making your way down Vancouver, you may have seen and wondered about Sloan’s Tavern, the business at the corner of Vancouver and N. Russell that has a semi-truck cab jutting from its side. Curious myself, I wandered into Sloan’s Tavern to get the scoop.
A series of short posts about some of the beautiful murals in and around our amazing neighborhood.
The mural at the southwest corner of NE Broadway St. and NE Grand Ave. was painted in 2007 by “the people of Portland”.
While many neighborhoods in Portland have a local bike shop, few neighborhoods have what could be considered to be a “Bike Hive”. Eliot is home to a vibrant community of businesses and nonprofits passionate about supporting people who ride bikes at any level of expertise. The intersection of North Page Street and North Williams Avenue is home to several local businesses dedicated to cyclists: Metropolis Cycles, Igleheart Custom Frames and Forks, Ahearne Cycles, Breadwinner Cycles and Café, Signal Cycles, and Endurance PDX, with Bike Farm and Cycle Oregon just a few blocks away. I wanted to learn more about these businesses, how they collaborate, their views on what they offer to Eliot, and what they want the neighborhood to know about them.
A series of short posts about food carts in and around our amazing neighborhood. Portland is becoming known for its mobile food and we have a number of tasty options!
The scent of roasting meat from BBQ Soul made my mouth water as I approached the cart, and wasted no time in ordering a pulled pork sandwich, selecting the maple-infused BBQ sauce to add to it. I knew the second I sank my teeth into my sandwich that I made the right choice. Lachisa Gill, one of the operators of the family-run business, also speaks particularly highly of the BBQ chicken that the cart prepares. BBQ Soul has only been in this pod for the past three weeks.
Bridges Café and Catering is a restaurant in which the love of family and friends is palpable, both in the overall environment and in the taste of the food itself. The moment you walk into Bridges, you are enveloped by a sense of warmth and coziness. The café is intimate, and is filled with bright colors that lift the spirits even during the darkest days of winter. Coffee mugs are cheerfully mismatched, tabletops are covered in beautiful mosaics, and the scent of delicious food wafts through the air. After beginning many a weekend morning at Bridges, I sat down with Laura Lane-Ruckman, one of the owners of the restaurant, to learn more about the family-operated business and its connection to Eliot.
Continue reading Gathering Together: Bridges Café and Catering
A series of posts about places to take your furry friends in and around our amazing neighborhood.
A sure sign of summer is the increased numbers of people and their dogs lazing about in local parks. Irving Park has a wonderful off-leash area that is sure to delight playful or rambunctious dogs. The off-leash area, bordering the edge of the park on Northeast 7th Avenue, sits at the crest of the hill and offers several benches and picnic tables where humans can rest as their canine companions get all of their exercise for the day.
A series of posts about places to take your furry friends in and around our amazing neighborhood.
Hot Diggity! Dog Walking and Pet Sitting Services is a locally and independently owned and operated service based in NE Portland. All of the dog walkers are bonded and insured, and are highly trained in Pet First-Aid, so you can have peace of mind when you’re leaving your pooch with a walker for the afternoon.
Richard Basi, a longtime Eliot resident who only recently moved a block beyond the neighborhood’s bounds, loves jazz. Hailing from England, Richard fell in love with swing dancing when he moved to the US. As Richard improved in his dancing, he became entranced by the jazz that allowed swing dancers to be so expressive in their movements. Soon, Richard progressed from being a casual listener of jazz to becoming an eager student of the genre. Richard argues passionately that jazz provokes a broader range of emotional responses than any other genre of music—from sheer bliss, to utter disappointment and sorrow. He has dedicated much of his energies to learning about the history of jazz, and how it has evolved over time alongside shifts in society. Through this research, Richard learned a great deal about the history of jazz in Portland, and specifically, the jazz scene that once existed on Williams Avenue in Eliot. Now, Richard is one of the most prominent advocates in the city for “bringing jazz back to Williams”.
Continue reading Richard Basi – Cherry Blossom Orchestra and Jazz on Williams
Eliot Neighborhood 