The Northern Note

[September 5th, 2007] Columbia Boulevard—the mottled, industrial thoroughfare Chopsticks III (535 NE Columbia Blvd., 283-3900) calls home—will never have to fear being labeled “the new Mississippi Avenue.” That is, of course, unless “fast food” replaces “sustainable cuisine” and “semi-truck” replaces “fixie” in the hipster lexicon. So, until then, this sister to massively popular Southeast Portland karaoke joint Chopsticks II will be a remote outpost. Unfortunately, it’s probably too remote to draw much traffic away from its sibling, which has grown to be intolerably crowded over the past couple of years. On the flip side, a recent night at Chopsticks III had both staff and KJ (“the Captain”) singing songs to a large empty dance floor, an empty (quite nice) patio and a few folks slumped in the roadhouse-esque bar area who may or may not have realized they were in a karaoke bar, or even that there’s a city south of Columbia Boulevard.