Welcome to Portland and
Stuart Ramsay’s Portland Companion!
Stuart Ramsay’s Portland Companion website is a curated guide for locals and visitors and is designed around what is good and working in and around our town. (And the North Coast, Columbia Gorge & Willamette Valley.) Everything that makes Portland and the Pacific Northwest a special place to live in. The Companion explores our food, drink & arts culture, neighborhoods & small towns, farmers markets & local producers, indigenous culture and small businesses.
The website complements Stuart Ramsay’s Portland Companion print and eBook and provides updates, reviews, current news, photos, interviews, and ways to get involved with our neighborhoods and the city.
The website is refreshed monthly, and events are listed chronologically.
*Scroll to the bottom for the Spotlight piece on Lynsee Sardell & Big Wild Spirits!
JULY IN PORTLAND
(A Curated Guide)
©Stuart MacLean Ramsay 2026
ARTS & CULTURE
July 2 - 4. Waterfront Blues Festival, Tom McCall Waterfront Park. 3 stages, 50 + acts and fireworks. The largest celebration of blues, soul, funk and R&B west of the Mississippi! waterfrontbluesfestival.com
July 9 - 12. Portland Arts Week. Art & Sport. A plethora of exhibitions, performances, and events around Portland’s Cultural Corridor (museums, art galleries, etc.), spotlighting how sports culture shapes identity, community and innovation. portlandartsweek.com
Literary Arts, 716 SE Grand Ave. (Central Eastside/Buckman.) Nonprofit bookstore dedicated to building community through literature. Readings, events and writing classes. In-house café serving coffee and pastries. 503-227-2583. Literary-arts.org
July 30 - August 2. Pickathon Music Festival, Pendarvis Farm, Happy Valley. Four happy days of music from scores of music legends and those perhaps to be. Headliners include Steve Earle, The Travelin’ McCoury’s and Shakey Graves. Pickathon.com
Companion Shoutout: Portland Chinatown Museum, 127 NW Third Ave. Old Town Chinatown. Always interesting permanent and new exhibitions in this wee museum, and always enlightening. They also have frequent webinars that explore the history of the vibrant Chinese community in Portland and Oregon. portlandchinatownmuseum.org
Bonus: it’s next door to the Geekeasy Anime Cafe, 310 NW Davis, a great Chinatown joint that serves inexpensive, quality wraps, ramen, small bites & drinks. And lots of plushies.
DRINKING
All the news that’s fit to drink.
Congratulations to my friend and fellow Whisky Hunter, Tommy Klus, and his team at Scotch Lodge in the Buckman neighborhood. The bar was voted ‘Best Outstanding Bar’ in the recent James Beard Awards. Well deserved, Tommy!
July 10 - 16. Horse Brass Pub’s 50th Anniversary. Iconic Portland Brit pub has a host of beer shenanigans planned for their anniversary. Co-owner Jerry Fechter is doing a grand job continuing the late Don Younger’s legacy. Don’s ghost can still be seen on a specific bar stool, nursing a craft beer. (it is rumored.)
July 12. Kachka Fabrika First Anniversary. No Kachka; No Party. The Northeast distillery, bar and restaurant is celebrating its first year in business with a release of their Strawberry vodka. 4 - 9pm, Reservations recommended.
July 18. Fuji to Hood. The Japan Oregon Cultural Festival. Over 20 breweries and ciders from Japan partnering and collaborating with fellow brewers and cider makers in Oregon. Innovative drinks galore, plus food vendors, Taiko drumming and sumo wrestling. The Redd on Salmon, 831 SE Salmon St. Around $35 per ticket. fujitohood.com
In Memoriam: Joe Campbell, wine pioneer and founder, with wife Patricia, of family-run Elk Cove Vineyards.
Too Soon Cocktail Bar • The Uncanny • The Leaky Roof • Aviation Gin Distillery & Tasting Room
Companion Shoutout: Threshold Brewing, 403 SE 79th Ave., Montevilla. Brewer Jarek, born and raised in Poland, and partner Sara co-own this down-home & friendly neighborhood craft brewery. There’s a Polish influence in the food (Zapiekankas) and their beer (Baltic Porters) and, always a sign of a serious brewery, two cask beers on tap. Family and dog-friendly, there’s often live music (bluegrass/gypsy jazz) and a fun event at least once a week. The World Cup is currently on tap, with the sound on. threshold.beer
FOODVILLE
Restaurants, farmers markets & producers that contribute to the region’s food culture.
Congratulations to Ryan Roadhouse, chef at the Portland Japanese restaurant, Nodoguru. Ryan won ‘Best Chef, Northwest & Pacific Region’ in the recent James Beard Awards. Local writer, Erica Berry, took home a Media Award for her personal essay, “Intuitive Eating: Poison, Pleasure and Trust,” in Orion Magazine. https://orionmagazine.org/article/intuitive-eating/
Meet your farmer: Portland and just about every decent-sized town in Oregon is blessed with a bustling farmers market, offering the opportunity to meet the people who put real food on our tables. And meet the local baker or a start-up food cart looking to launch their brick & mortar dream.
Portland Farmers Market at Portland State University downtown is a true Portland treasure, with around 100 vendors and 9,000 customers in the peak summer months. It’s best to go early (8:30 am opening time). Portlandfarmersmarket.org
A mellower and more edited choice is Wednesday morning’s Shemanski Park market (30 vendors), also downtown at 1010 SW Park Avenue. Neighborhood farmers markets have their own local vibe and wonderful energy. Some favorites are Cully, Hollywood, Milwaukie, King, Kenton, Lents, the year-round Wednesday market at People’s Food Co-op, and a bit further: Oregon City and Salmon StreetMarket in downtown Vancouver. Bring a basket or two.
Companion Shoutout: Srma Turkish BBQ. Food booth at the Vancouver Farmers Market by Esther Short Park. Chef Ayten’s parents ran a restaurant in Türkiye, and she was inspired by the Turkish barbecue culture to launch this food booth and catering business. Classy, clean and tasty. Try the grilled meatball Kofta and the lentil kofta. srmafood.com
BUY STUART RAMSAY’S PORTLAND COMPANION eBOOK OR PRINT BOOK!
The Portland Companion website is designed to complement Stuart Ramsay’s Portland Companion eBook and print book. The website’s goal is to fill in the travel gaps in the book: restaurant & bar openings and closures, current cultural events, etc. It’s also a vehicle for more in-depth reviews and profiles of places and people in Portland, the North Coast, Columbia Gorge and the North Willamette Valley. Visit Companion eBook in the menu bar at the top for more info and how to buy it.
DAY TRIPPING
North Willamette Valley, North Coast and Columbia Gorge.
Willamette Valley: July 4. (and July 1-3). St. Paul Rodeo, Malo Ave. NE, St. Paul. (Population: 425). Founded in 1935. 10,500-seat stadium with a saloon! stpaulrodeo.com
July 25. Topwire Hop Project’s 6th Anniversary. Doesn’t get more beery than the Topwire Hop Project, nestled in a field of vertical hop vines and pouring beers made with Crosby farm hops. (The owners). Food carts and live music too. The anniversary party is July 25. 8668 Crosby Rd NE, Woodburn.
North Coast: July 4. Old Fashioned Fourth of July Parade in downtown Warrington. Starts at 3pm. Downtown Seaside has a parade too; it begins at 1pm. And Cannon Beach’s is at 11am. Be a patriot and hit all three!
Columbia Gorge: Tamástslikt Culture Institute’s newest exhibit from the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation is Tíkaas, The Precious Art of Cradle Boards. These crafted baby carriers were decorated with intricate beadwork, porcupine quills or paintings. The Institute ‘s museum shop also has exclusive Pendleton wool Kusi blankets, paying homage to the Kusi horses. 47106 Wildhorse Blvd., Pendleton. tamastslikt.org
CELEBRATE PORTLAND
Neighborhoods:
July 11. N. Mississippi Street Fair. 10 - 8pm. Portland’s largest street fair. mississippiave.org
July 26. Montavilla Street Fair. 10 - 6pm, on Stark Street between 76th and 82nd Avenues. Over 150 vendors. Gets busy; 15,000 people last year.
July 10 - 17. Hollywood Theater’s 100th Anniversary. The venerable theater turns 100 on July 17, and will be honoring movies and moviegoing all week (and likely thereafter). hollywoodtheater.org
Gigantic Brewing Company’s taproom (and brewery) is a pdx cultural hotbed in the Reed neighborhood, the industrial bit. There’s always something interesting and pleasantly quirky going on. Here’s some of their plans for July:
July 4 - 26. Tour de France on the tv.
July 18. Gigantic Queer Film Festival.
They’re also showing all the World Cup games played after noon, and the USA and Croatia (they’re a Croatian supporters pub) any time they play. Excellentt beers on tap, a laid back patio vibe and a Hawaiian food truck for spam & sustenance.
5224 SE 26th Ave.
BREAK-IN NEWS
It’s tough owning and operating a small business in Portland.
Smashed windows, broken doors, graffiti and seemingly no accountability towards the low lifes who do it. Insurance companies increase coverage rates or drop the business entirely, so the business is left paying out of pocket. Break-In News is not asking to donate money to the businesses affected - just support them by buying a drink or a meal, whatever it is they’re making, selling or doing. Tell them the Companion sent you. Thank you.
The following businesses have recently been vandalized:
Midtowners Market, 1736 SE Hawthorne Blvd. New and vintage boutique and furniture shop. Broken windows, break-n, theft. midtownersmarket.com
Citizen Ruth, 1416 NE Alberta St. Pop culture and jewelry gift shop. Break-in and jewelry theft. citizenruth.com
Darcelle XV Showplace, 208 NW 3rd Ave. Iconic Old Town Chinatown drag club. Historic plaque defaced with homophobic hate speech. darcellexv.com
Alberta Head Start. NE Alberta St. Non-profit helping low income Portland kids. Windows repeatedly broken. albinahs.org
PDX MISC.
The World Cup: Portland’s a futbol town, and there’s a smorgasbord of venues serving beer to wash the games (from 6/11 - 7/19) down.
The estimable Gol soccer pub on Hawthorne Blvd. is showing all the games, and there’s a lot of them. It gets busy, though. Away Days, the Brooklyn cask beer pub, has transformed the financially formidable U.S. Bank building (downtown) into a 6 week fan festival with their beer, food and DJ’s. $10 a game and around $250 for a table of 8 per game. Dingo’s, an Aussie pub in Montavilla, has meat pies and an antipodean vibe (and a hella big screen) for the games; the cricket & rugby pub, Sticky Wicket, is doing it in North Portland. T.C. O’Leary’s, Nick’s Coney Island, Prost, North 45, Beermonger’s, Baerlic Brewing and Gigantic Brewing are other options for all the games.
Pedalpalooza ! Community -led bike rides (over 100) through June, July and August. Get on your bike!
Wildflowers. There’s still time to wander lonely as a cloud among the wildflowers. Some local suggestions: Forest Park Forestparkconservancy.org); Powell Butte Nature park (Friendsofpowellbutte.org); and Tryon Creek State Natural Area (tryonfriendsp.org). And William L. Sullivan’s book, ‘Exploring Oregon’s Wild Areas’ can take you to magical places.
THE COMPANION SPOTLIGHT:
BIG WILD SPIRITS DISTILLERY, Forest Grove
Stellar distiller & awesome artist, Lynsee Sardell, is the real Oregon deal. For her Witches Gin, Lynsee handpicks juniper berries, pine tips, elderberries, rosehips, marshmallow root, Oregon Grape and more for her witchy elixir. Lynsee’s amber dram, The Wolf’s Whiskey, was inspired by a formidable female wolf, 06, in Yellowstone National Park. Oregon-grown barley, rye and oats make up the mash bill; the whiskey is distilled twice, then rested for four years in oak barrels. All Lynsee’s spirit labels are designed by her.
Lynsee also works with Oregon State University and local farmers that are growing heirloom varieties of barley, and has distilled these heritage grains in a series of spirits for Patricia Green Winery in the North Valley.
Big Wild Spirits are only available in OLCC liquor stores, and in limited amounts. Best bet is to track them through oregonliquorsearch.com , under Big Wild Witch’s Gin and Big Wild Wolf Whiskey. The Forest Grove liquor store has both of them, at $54.95 each. And if you’re of the traveling persuasion, the Aurora ‘speakeasy’ cocktail bar, operated by Loyal Legion, is pouring it at PDX. on the pre-boarding mezzanine. level.
Here’s Lynsee’s Witch’s Gin Spritzer, to help you through the summer:
2 oz. Witch’s Gin • ½ oz. sweet white vermouth or Lillet • 1 oz. fresh lime juice • 1-2 oz. simple syrup • Stir over ice and add seltzer as preferred. Find a hammock in a forest grove..
About the Author
Stuart MacLean Ramsay was born and raised in the Highlands of Scotland and arrived in Portland in 1985 to create and manage Portland’s first brewpub at the BridgePort Brewery. Writer, craft brewer and educator, he is a leading expert on whisky, spirits and craft beer. He was American correspondent & contributing editor for Britain’s Whisky Magazine and craft beer columnist for the Portland Oregonian. His most recent book project was contributing editor for the award –winning ‘Whisky: The Definitive World Guide.’ Stuart was the Curator for Portland’s Multnomah Whiskey Library when it opened, overseeing the multitude of spirits and the education & events program. He operates and hosts America’s oldest whisky school: Ramsay’s Dram Academy of Whisky, and seven years ago launched WhiskyBack Brewing, a family of craft beers designed to pair with different whisky categories. (Extinguished by the covid pandemic, alas.)
He is owner and host of The John Barleycorn Home, a guest house celebrating Portland’s food & drink culture and Oregon’s history, people and places. It was the catalyst for this book: airbnb.com/h/johnbarleycornhome-portland
Stuart’s whisky classes & events: https://www.ramsaysdram.com
WhiskyBack Brewing Company: https://whisky-back.weebly.com