That Portland Life

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Jessica Berger and Tekela Fisher

Tacos

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May 5th is Cinco De Mayo so naturally I am going to focus on Tacos! 

I love mexican food, more than any other style of food, I would happily eat it everyday! I especially like tacos, they are so simple, but so delicious. This was an incredibly difficult topic for me to research *wink wink* but now you can enjoy the fruits of my labor! 

There are 5 taco places that really stand out to me, of course there are many many more, but I can vouch for all of these. In no particular order, here are the places you should definitely check out this week! 

  • Xico – 3715 SE Division – They have an awesome back patio, amazing margaritas, and fantastic food, everything on the menu is worth eating and while they don’t always strictly have tacos on the menu, the carnitas is a build your own taco plate and to die for! 
  • Taqueria Nueve – 727 SE Washington – They also have an amazing patio and so many taco choices you will need to try them all! They really focus on keeping things authentic and it shows! 
  • Nuestra Cocina – 2135 SE division – really cute restaurant that is a Portland staple. They have homemade tortillas instead of chips and really incredible sangria. They don’t always have tacos on the list either, but many of the entree’s come with tortillas to build your own tacos! 
  • Mi Mero Mole – 32 NW 5th – this Mexico City inspired eatery has tons of choices for your tacos. They focus on guisados, which are home style dishes like stews and stir-frys. Put that all together and you get some amazing food! 
  • Portland Mercado – 7238 SE Foster – This list wouldn’t be complete without the Mercado. There are so many delicious carts here, by Tierra del Sol wins for their tacos. Lots of choices, simple and delicious, and affordable! You truly cannot go wrong. 

Let me know which places you end up trying and which ones are your favorite!! 

Revelry

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We at That Portland Life finally had the chance to check out buzzy Korean street food spot Revelry to celebrate Jessica’s birthday. Immediately upon entering, I could see where the reputation for hipness comes from. Between the wall of retro boomboxes, the graffiti stlye art, and the exposed industrial beams, this place feels like a cool, underground locale that could be in any city in the world.

We started, of course with a round of cocktails, my favorite of which was called Dear Mama, a bright and well-balanced combination of gin, green chartreuse, celery bitters, and Thai basil. The savory herbal notes were perfectly complemented by just the right amount of citrus, and the bitterness of the chartreuse was offset by just a touch of sweet. Another surprising delight was the Somaek, a create- your-own concoction of Soju and Hite beer that I didn’t anticipate enjoying and then found myself happily ordering a second.

One of my favorite things about dining as a large party is that we got to order almost every single menu item, and share it all family-style. The Moo Shu pork dumplings were an immediate favorite, done Rockefeller style with a rich buttery sauce that I wanted to pour over every bite of food that I had in front of me. The scallop fried rice was delicious and impressive in the way that somehow the rice itself, perfectly seasoned and dotted with pan-crisped edges, was the star of the dish rather than the bay scallops as one might expect.

The fried chicken lives up to the hype even better than I had hoped, crunchy and saucy, spicy and sweet, and still so tender that no utensils are necessary. Don’t miss out on the Dan Dan noodles as well- amazing housemade noodles, with crispy spiced pork sausage and tender greens- a dish that many at our table were fighting for down to the very last scraps.

The name Reverly is certainly apropos, as I felt like the vibe was ideal for our raucous, boozy, celebration crowd. Maybe not the best place for a quiet date night or to take your great-uncle from Topeka, but an absolute delight for festivities with friends.

If you have anywhere you think we need to try, let us know in the comments!

Gran Moraine Winery

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Sometimes the very best thing about living in Portland, is getting out of Portland! Located only an hour outside of the city center, this winery is well worth the drive. Tucked into the hills in the Yamhill Carlton AVA they specialize in Pinot Noirs in the burgundian style. If Pinot Noir isn’t your thing they also make a killer Chardonnay and a Sparkling Rosé that is to die for.

This last week I had my wine pickup party and I was reminded just how much I love this winery and its wine. We were served multiple courses to pair with the 6 wines they were pouring. Everything was thoughtfully chosen and paired perfectly. Even if you aren’t a member, or don’t want to join a wine club, the staff is incredibly friendly and will pour you a delicious glass of wine.

If you want full details and contact info you can head over to their website at granmoraine.com Hopefully I will run into at this fantastic winery, and if you have already been, let me know in the comments!!

Cheese Bar

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This week’s hot spot is a Portland staple. If you have lived here for any amount of time you have definitely heard of Steve’s Cheese. Well, this is the home of it! Cheese and wine are certainly 2 of my favorite things, so give me a place to enjoy them side by side and I will be there frequently!

Located on 61st and Se Belmont you can stop in and pick up some cheese to go, or sit in and have lunch or a snack. They have a rotating selection of about 200 cheeses both made locally and from around the world. The employees are very friendly and knowledgeable and they will make sure that you make the best possible cheese choice!

If you do decide to dine in they have numerous boards you can choose from, some with all cheese, some with all meat, and some with a lovely mix. We tried the Buddy-up Board which had 2 meats, 2 cheese, and lots of accompaniments. If you are looking for something more substantial, they also have salads, sandwiches, desserts! I highly recommend the seasonal salad with smoked trout in a scrumptious blue cheese dressing. They really focus on putting together a thoughtful menu with locally sourced ingredients and the flavor of the fresh food really shines.

Along with the fabulous food, they have a great selection of wine, beer and cider. They do their best to stick with local makers here also, but because they want the menu to specifically pair with the cheeses, you can often find some delicious foreign wines.

Be sure to check this plate out and let me know what you loved!

Do you know someone that might like to be featured here? Send me a message and I would love to check it out!!

Barrio

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This week’s feature is the fantastically friendly Barrio inside the Portland Mercado. They serve a variety of beers and wines on tap as well as some latin favorites like the Michelada or Sangria. Chris is the owner and bartender and will treat you like a member of his own family.

My absolute favorite part of my visit was the true sense of community that you feel the moment you step inside. This is defiantly a neighborhood bar, and everyone wants to invite you in. You can tell all the vendors and food cart owners are friends, they love working together, and they fully support each other.

Bars like this are few and far between, but if you want to visit somewhere with lots of variety that will quickly feel like home, this is the place for you!!

Hey Love!

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If you haven’t been to Hey Love yet, put it on your short list. I have been twice and both times the vibe was different, but equally amazing. The bartenders are friendly, knowledgeable, and make a mean cocktail.

Hey Love calls themselves an indoor jungle. And that isn’t wrong. The main dining rom is completely surrounded by plants, and if you have been following me, you know I LOVE plants. If you aren’t in the mood to sit amongst indoor plants there is a “secret” second floor patio.

With plenty of seating, a fire pit, and the sweet portland air, this is a pretty nice place to relax. As you can see from the pictures, it still remains a bit of a secret because we were the only ones up here on a busy Friday night. The bar hangs art from local artists, makes healthy versions of food you would find somewhere much warmer, and serves up delicious daytime coffees.

I hope to see you here at this amazing new Bar/Restaurant/Coffeeshop/Jungle!

920 E Burnside

  • 7am – 4pm in Suprette lounge
  • 10am – 2am lunch, dinner, late night
  • 2pm – 5pm Happy Hour

Portland Market Action – February 2019

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It’s statistics time! February’s stats came in right where I expected them to. We saw a slight softening in median home price, slightly less homes come onto the market, and slightly less inventory. This is all very typical for the end of winter here in Portland. Here is a quick glance at what the market is doing. Keep reading if you want a more in depth take!

The first thing you likely see on my graphic is that the median sales price is down nearly $15,000 in one month. That may seem like prices are tanking, but the average sales price actually went up by just over $6,000. There is such a difference in these prices because of what is happening in the lower price ranges. There were quite a few “fixers” listed in February that are really dragging the median price down. If you look at the homes that are selling throughout the Portland area, it is hard to find anything under $400,000.

The days on market dropped by only 1 day. 75 days seems like a long time to be sitting on the market, but if you are in a “hot” neighborhood and the home is move in ready under $500,000 or so, the homes are still going pending in a matter of days. Pricing is still really important in this market because buyers are well educated on the market and know when something is priced well.

March has been off to a super strong start and I expect that the average sales price will go up, inventory will go down, and we will see a ton of new listings. Subscribe to the blog to stay up to date with all the latests stats and for fun things to do around town!

January Market Update

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The January market stats are in! Everyone knows I am not much of a statistics girl, but I love these ones. They come in halfway through the next month so it allows me to reflect on whether the trends I was feeling were taking place across the metro area, or just in localized neighborhoods. For January, my market predictions were pretty accurate! The simplified version for those of you not wanting to read on: There are lots more listings, prices are still normalizing, and the market is still leaning toward a seller’s market.

For everyone wanting to get a bit more in-depth, here is my breakdown: We saw the median home price drop just slightly from December, which is something we expect after the holiday season. Almost every year between October and January we see prices fall. Seasonality effects even the strongest markets and this is certainly not a sign that the market is crashing. Despite this slight drop, we had a huge surge of new listings come on the market, more than double what we had in December. There are likely many reasons for this big push but my guess for the biggest reason is that sellers are scared. The media has been stating over and over that we are in for a crash, another recession is imminent, and housing is doomed!! Well, the good news is that nothing that drastic is going to happen. If you have been a buyer, or known a buyer in the last 3-4 years, you know that everyone has been hoping the market would slow down, pricing would stop skyrocketing, and that multiple offers would be a thing of the past. The good news is we all got what we hoped for! I find the best analogy for this is that the market is slowing like a car, we were going 100 miles an hour and now we are going 60. We are still moving forward, just not accelerating. The bad news is, we are on our way into the spring market, and things are going to pick up quickly again.

The average days on market is the most surprising number for me. 76 seems like an exceptionally long time for something to sit on the market, especially when we are seeing so many homes sell on the 3rd day. Truthfully, this number should be much lower, it is skewed primarily by homes that are overpriced with sellers who aren’t willing to negotiate. I’m looking at you, home that needs to be torn down but is listed over 600k! If a home is priced well, “pinterest perfect,” and in a neighborhood close in on the east side, expect it to be pending by the end of its first weekend with multiple offers.

I anticipate we will be in a seller’s market through the rest of our busy season and then we will see the market slow through the end of the year. We may even have a bit of time where we shift into a buyer’s market right around the end of summer. If you are thinking of buying, I would still recommend doing it now. Interest rates are low, but expected to climb, and they affect your affordability more than a slight increase in home prices. If you have questions about affordability, talk to your lender, they have lots of info and stats for you!