Neighborhood:
Mississippi Graffiti-stained walls and the odd shoplifter remind visitors that this burgeoning pocket of Portland is still in conflict with its gentrified frills. (read more) But the local indie boutiques and farm-to-table eateries keep on coming despite the quiet unrest. Find your happy place at Gravy (3957 N Mississippi Ave., 287-8800), where pancakes are the size of your face, or down inventive cocktails come dinnertime at the ever-charming Lovely Hula Hands (4057 N Mississippi Ave., 445-9910). Shop until your pad is full at whimsical boutiques like Flutter (3948 N Mississippi Ave., 288-1649), then explore tiny but spiffy Video Vérité (3956 N Mississippi Ave., 445-9902), which houses an exhaustive selection of indie and foreign flicks. If you’re on the resourceful side, the ReBuilding Center (3625 N Mississippi Ave., 331-1877) will be a regular haunt—this temple of salvaged building components is always bustling with worker bees. And speaking of bees, Pistils Nursery (3811 N Mississippi Ave., 288-4889) not only supplies local and sustainably grown flora, it also holds workshops on everything from urban chicken farming to beekeeping. Then again, North Mississippi is sooo 2005; a newer crop of businesses is sprouting on its even rougher neighbor, North Williams. The one-two sweets ’n’ suds punch of Pix Pâtisserie (3901 N Williams Ave., 282-6539) and Fifth Quadrant brewpub (3901 N Williams Ave. # B, 288-3996) delights revelers nearly every night, while construction on The Hub building project nearby will add a new Ristretto Roasters outpost and fine-dining restaurant Lincoln to a block that already houses vegan-central Nutshell (3808 N Williams Ave., 292-2627) and a yoga studio. —Elianna Bar-El.
Featured in Drink 2008
Portland is inarguably a barbecue-deprived city. After nine months of sitting indoors, watching verdant flora engulf the Weber on the back patio, there's nothing quite like sitting at a sunny picnic table with a basket of goldfish crackers ($2) and a greasy sausage ($6)—sausage as in bratwurst, not hot dog, mind you—hot off the grill. Perhaps no other bar in Portland understands this need as well as Amnesia, which, with its giant white tent, friendly staff and abundance of deliriously happy patrons, gives off a definite block-party vibe. Oh, and the beer's not half-bad, either.
Perfect Patron: Me and you and everyone we know. (KH)
HAPPY HOUR NOON-MIDNIGHT MONDAY-TUESDAY, 4-6 PM WEDNESDAY-FRIDAY: $3 IMPERIAL PINTS, $10 PITCHERS.
OUTDOOR SEATING, SMOKE-FREE INSIDE.
KAT HYATT
