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MATT DAVIDSON

Havana Nocturne Cuban food hits the Pearl.

BY MICHAEL C.

ZUSMAN @mczlaw

Cuban dishes, says chef Pablo Portilla, are strikingly simple. It’s mostly just the food families eat at home.

That might explain why Cuban restaurants, outside their native turf and nearby Miami, are hard to find. Portilla tries to remedy that with the new Havana Cafe, an unmissable rooftop experience in Northwest Portland. It’s not Portilla’s first attempt at offering his heritage cuisine in Portland: More than a decade ago, he operated a food cart, also called Havana Cafe, but closed up shop to work for the past nine years at the now-shuttered Mi Mero Mole.

His new digs are about as far from the confined quarters of a cart as you can get. Located in the former home of Pearl District sports bar On Deck, the restaurant is an expansive, 8,000-square-foot rooftop venue shared with gin bar the Botanist. Tables are spaced more than 6 feet apart and spread over two dining areas. The exposed roof can be hot when the sun is high, but once the orb drops behind the late summer skyline, it is hard to imagine a mellower vibe.

The main dining area is farthest west, just as patrons emerge from the short stairway that leads up from the street to the second floor. To the east of it is another massive dining space with a stage setup at one end. On Fridays and Saturdays only, Latin jazz and a variety of other musical stylings accompany the food and drink.

After settling in, diners’ phones hover over a tabletop QR code that reveals cocktail and dinner menus. The food oŸerings are short, sweet and rustically delicious.

Start with a starch: either tostones ($6)—deepfried, smooshed slices of green plantain—or yucca frita ($6), a sliced tuber that also gets a turn in the fryer. Next are traditional platters served with deceptively non-boring black beans and rice. Among a handful of choices, lechon con mojo ($13.75) may be your power move. It’s a mound of ultra-tender, deeply flavored slow-roasted pork infused with garlic. Also compelling is the distinctively flavored picadillo ($12.75), made up of spiced ground beef cooked together with olives and raisins.

As an alternative to a full platter, try a lechon sandwich ($12.75) or the better known Cubano (ham, Swiss, pickles, and yellow mustard pressed together until gooey; $12.75). In the future, expect an expanded menu, including Portilla’s family favorite, quimbobo, a Cuban African mashup of slow-roasted pork chunks and okra in a Cuban-seasoned tomato sauce, and plantain soup, shredded green plantain in vegetable stock seasoned with Cuban spices.

The anticipated additions are exciting, but don’t wait to visit—though “packing them in” isn’t quite the right description, Havana Cafe’s formula of fine Cuban food, drinks and lively music on the weekends is already proving popular.

PATIO SPECS

Number of tables: 50 four-seaters Space between tables: 7 feet Additional safety measures: Digital menus; markers on steps for social distancing; dedicated host on Fridays and Saturdays monitoring compliance. Peak hours: 7-10 pm

EAT: Havana Cafe, 901 NW 14th Ave., 970-400-8887, havanacafepdx.com. 11 am-10 pm Tuesday-Saturday. Tickets for a music-side table are available at tickettomato.com.

TOP 5

BUZZ LIST Where to drink outside this week.

Zoiglhaus

5716 SE 92nd Ave., 971-339-2374, zoiglhaus.com. 4-9 pm daily. If the E-Z Ups are out, that’s a sure sign a good time is being had. At Zoiglhaus, they’re one of the defining features of the brewery’s new pop-up beer garden. The setup is bare-bones, but it’s enough to transform the oil-stained patch of concrete oˆ 92nd Avenue into a breezy block party. Sadly, the outdoor cooking portion of the shindig has come to an end, but the jägerschnitzel is still on the menu. And then, of course, there’s the beer: Cans of Hop on Top—the brewery’s sassy, seasonal dry-hopped Pilsner—sit in a galvanized tub, adding to the feeling that you’re at a neighbor’s summer hang.

Lady of the Mountain

100 NE Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., 971-345-2992, kexhotels.com/ eat-drink/rooftop. 5-10 pm Wednesday-Sunday; last reservations taken at 8:30 pm. Brunch 10 am-1 pm Saturday-Sunday. Icelandic boutique hotel Kex is one of those rare gems in the city with a rooftop oasis. At four stories up, Lady of the Mountain feels a bit like being nestled in a fjord made of glass and concrete. The list of wine, beer and cocktails is long, but to make things easy, just order the Pimm’s Cup: It’s like an adult snow cone, made with cucumber-infused gin, and it’s the most refreshing thing you could possibly order on a Portland rooftop in September.

Migration Rooftop

817 SW 17th Ave., 9th floor, 971-291-0258, migrationbrewing.com. 1-10 pm Thursday-Sunday. In the Before Times, Migration’s sun-drenched front patio was one of Portland’s great summer evening beer-drinking spots. That’s continued to be true in Phase 1, but apparently it wasn’t enough: The ascendant brewery has gone and launched a rooftop taproom at the freshly opened Canvas building. The ninth-floor views are new, but the brews remain reliably the same, ranging from sweet and tart to rich and hazy.

TopWire Hop Project

8668 Crosby Road NE, Woodburn, 503-982-5166, topwirehop.com. 11 am-8 pm Thursday and Sunday, 11 am-9 pm Friday-Saturday. The state’s most secretive beer garden is hidden among the crops at Crosby Hop Farm in Woodburn. Follow the half-mile gravel road that runs between the bines and you’ll wind up at a 40-foot-long shipping container repurposed as a serving station pouring from 10 rotating taps exclusively featuring batches made with the hops growing around you.

Victoria Bar

VICTORIA BAR

4835 N Albina Ave., victoriapdx.com. Noon-10 pm Monday-Friday, 10 am-10 pm Saturday-Sunday. Victoria is famed for its usually packed patio, parlor-inspired bar area, and extensive yet reasonably priced food and drink menus that feature locally sourced ingredients. Because Victoria appeals to such a wide range of Portlanders, it’s a great place to people watch—especially on the patio during the warmer months.