Most Anticipated Restaurants in Spring 2025
Originally served at pop-ups, Miriam Weiskind’s pizzas will soon have a permanent home at Yum’s of PDX.
If this list of anticipated openings looks a little familiar, you’re not alone. Spring 2025’s lineup of “new” restaurants is more of a parade of reopenings, expansions, and that old Portland chestnut, pop-ups opening brick-and-mortars. But hotly anticipated they remain—we’re talking nationally celebrated sushi, wacky pizzas from a Chopped alum, bacon-egg-and-cheese bánh cuốn. All of them exude a warm and breezy approach to hospitality, even when tackling caviar service and tasting menus. As the city pulls itself out of its winter slump and sun-starved Portlanders rush to crowded patios, it’s time to look forward.
You’ll soon be able to find spiked sorbets and ice creams at Tipsy Scoop.
Tipsy Scoop
Boise | May 2
Ever dreamed of getting buzzed off ice cream? Weird, but relatable enough. And good news: That’s exactly what Tipsy Scoop promises, a New York–based chain of shops selling boozy ice cream and sorbets like a real bourbon vanilla, mango margarita sorbet, creme de menthe–chocolate chip, and a fairly repellant–sounding cake batter vodka martini. Tipsy Scoop’s Portland branch, located on N Mississippi Avenue, will open May 2 and feature flavors that utilize local spirits, like a Wild Roots marionberry vodka ice cream that sounds a lot dreamier than the cake batter ’tini.
Okta Farm and Kitchen will still source directly from its connected farm.
Okta Farm and Kitchen
Mcminnville | may 3
At McMinnville’s Tributary Hotel, Okta attracted a wave of media attention for chef Matthew Lightner’s ambitious farm-to-table tasting menu—until it closed suddenly last September. This next iteration is a second chance for the restaurant, with chef Christy Smith running the kitchen. Smith has been cooking in Willamette Valley restaurants for 20 years, most recently at Silverton’s now-shuttered Italian restaurant Guerra’s. Rather than the dozen or so courses that defined Lightner’s menu, Okta Farm and Kitchen will be pared down to a lower-priced four courses, still sourcing many of its ingredients from the connected regenerative agriculture farm, larder, and fermentation lab.
Pepperoni pizza and cannolis at Yum’s of PDX.
Yum’s of PDX
buckman | early may
Miriam Weiskind’s professional pizza journey began back in the early days of the pandemic, when she served Neapolitan-style pies out of her Brooklyn apartment. She soon transitioned to a formal pop-up, the Za Report, which caught the attention of then–New York Times critic Pete Wells. After an appearance on Kelly Clarkson’s NBC talk show, a cross-country move, and over a year of Portland pop-ups, Weiskind is primed to open Yum’s of PDX, serving cold-fermented, char-kissed “Neo-Neapolitan” pies and thick, wood-fired Sicilian style pizzas on SE Eighth Avenue. Expect classics like pepperoni and margherita, as well as Weiskind’s take on a cheeseburger pizza, the Italian Big Mac. A rotating dessert menu will include black-and-white cookies, tiramisu, and always some kind of ice cream. Is Portland primed to make room for yet another pizza shop–ice creamery? The crowds that lined up for Weiskind’s pop-ups would make it seem so.
Living Room Coffee
University Park | May 10
Living Room Wines filled a hole in the University Park neighborhood’s drink scene when it opened just six months ago: Until then, the closest wine bar was St. Johns’ 44th Parallel. With affordable and smartly curated wines, queer social events, and charming atmosphere, the bar has juiced up the neighborhood’s evenings; now it’s looking to do the same to its mornings. The shop will open daily at 7am as Living Room Coffee before transitioning back to wine service at 3pm. The café will be one of the only specialty coffee shops in the area, serving Dear Francis coffee and espresso drinks with housemade syrups, along with breakfast sandwiches, burritos, oatmeal, and chia pudding. In a city where hybrid coffee shop–bars have become vanishingly rare, it’s sure to attract more than just University of Portland students and neighbors.
Berlu Bakery brings gluten-free Vietnamese pastries (back) to Portland.
Berlu Bakery
buckman | may
Entirely gluten-free, Vince Nguyen’s take on contemporary Vietnamese pastries began as something of a pandemic pivot from his minimalist fine-dining restaurant of the same name. In the intervening years, the bakery has popped up and disappeared a few times, but now it will be a permanent fixture around the corner from its original restaurant space. Fans will find plenty of familiar favorites, including the vivid green pandan waffles, layered sponge cakes, and creamy coconut egg tarts. But new treasures abound: think fun takes on bánh cuốn and a cured salmon- and cream cheese–topped bánh tiêu.
Nodoguro’s dining room is almost ready for service.
Nodoguro
downtown | spring
Elena and Ryan Roadhouse’s inimitable omakase restaurant has taken many forms in many locations over the years, but this next move feels somehow conclusive. Nodoguro will take over the mezzanine dining room at Morgan’s Alley, adding more life to the recovering downtown scene. With a prix fixe kaiseki-style menu, Nodo 3.0 (or is it 4.0?) will keep doing what it does best—serving superlative Japanese small plates with house-party vibes and pop culture references. Expect nigiri and sashimi flown in from Japan’s top fish markets, Dungeness crab soba, composed rice and fish bowls, uni rice, Wagyu, caviar service, and a legendary sake program. Its current location in Kerns will continue as Peter Cat, a private event space and reservation-only izakaya-style bar.
Mika Paredes and Luke Dirks will lead the L’Echelle team.
L’Echelle
richmond | Spring
L’Echelle may be the most hotly anticipated restaurant in years, but excitement around its arrival is colored by the tragic loss of its founding chef and culinary icon, Naomi Pomeroy. Her presence was tangible when L’Echelle popped up last year next door to its permanent location on Division, serving crispy chickpea panisse, steak frites topped with freeze-dried green peppercorns, lightly poached albacore with thick slices of heirloom tomato, and glasses of elegant European and Oregon natural wines. The pop-up served as a preview of sorts—Pomeroy’s business partner Luke Dirks describes it being a “sketch of things to come,” with the final version a seasonal, local take on French bistro dining. Mika Paredes, a longtime collaborator and close friend of Pomeroy, will helm the kitchen as executive chef, bringing her own experience and connections to local farms.
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