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Behind TPK Brewing Co.’s peaked roof and cottage doors, young and old, queer, nonbinary, and people of all color gather around LED candle lights and a smoldering fire, poring over detailed character miniatures and intricately drawn maps of the in-house world of Val’Ruvina. TPK is one of the world’s first tabletop role-playing game-themed breweries and Oregon’s first brewery owned by a queer, Indigenous woman of color.
TPK stands for “total party kill,” a term that spells the end of the line for an entire group of tabletop gamers. But TPK Brewery is more of an entry point where warriors and warlocks alike can fill their bellies for a few gold coins and still have enough to satiate their thirst with a mug of ale—it comes in pints!
Even muggles who don’t carry around a 12-sided die or get every Dungeons & Dragons reference can appreciate TPK’s cozy quarters and thoughtful details, like hidden inscriptions, and cocktails and beers inspired by settings and characters from the brewery’s published player’s guide, The Leyfarer’s Chronicle. A lively bardcore soundtrack sets the tone for hushed conversations among intimate groups of gamers and friends while others grab seats at the casual bar in the main pub hall. An upstairs loft can be booked for larger campaigns and hosts classes for big and small halflings, such as Introduction to Tabletop Gaming and How to Become a Game Master.
Co-owner and brewer Jessica Hardie comes to the industry after a career in online gaming in the Bay Area before being selected as the Oregon Brewers Guild’s first recipient of the Mashing Barriers brewing internship for underrepresented individuals looking to enter the trade. Along with transgender game master, professional voice actor and creative director Dana Ebert and ex-video game industry vet Elliot Kaplan, the TPK Brewing crew brings a librarian level of knowledge comparable to that of the Faerûnian deities Deneir and Milil. But unlike Katashka the gatekeeper, TPK’s mission is to break down the historically exclusionary barriers of craft beer and gaming, making a space to learn, adventure and explore without judgment.
After purchasing the former Tabor Bread bakery and cafe on Southeast Hawthorne Boulevard, TPK’s owners installed a 7-barrel brewhouse where Hardie conjures up old- school craft beer styles, often with modifiers like banana purée, guava, coffee and black chiles. Elemental building fixtures—like the showpiece wood-fired stone hearth oven kept burning 24 hours a day—have functional uses, like the brewery’s monthly bierstacheln “beer poking.” Red-hot metal pokers are dipped into cold beers, instantly creating polymorph-level transformations to the liquid in the glass.
Of course, any true D&D tavern must provide sustenance to its weary players. Finding TPK’s own Garrakg to run the kitchen was more than just a side quest. En Vida PDX chef-owner Mauricio Prado joined the company, slinging home-style Argentine, Venezuelan and Colombian food. The Cubano ($15) is the bestseller, roasted on plancha mojo pork, ham, Swiss, housemade pickles, and mustard on hot-pressed Dos Hermanos Cuban bread with choice of side is a bargain. The smoky Colombian hot dog ($14) is tempered with a sweet-tangy slaw and pink sauce with a topping of salty-crunchy crumbled potato chips making for a wild combo of flavors and textures that dance across the palate like a court jester. Authentic sides that accompany larger meals are highlights. Try the cassava root golden brown yuca frita ($7) and the soft and sweet caramelized maduros ($7) with lightly charred skins.
After a long day’s journey in the forgotten realms, the Antioqueños stewed ham hock beans really hit the spot. But the best deal are the bowls ($16-$19) large enough for two with choice of protein, and come with frisoles antiqueno, maduros, rice, pickled red onions, avocado, and housemade cilantro aioli. It could satisfy even the hungriest Kobold.
GO: TPK Brewing Co., 5051 SE Hawthorne Blvd., 503-231-6354, tpkbrewing.com. 11 am–11 pm Wednesday–Monday, 5–10 pm Tuesday.