in hollowed-out pineapples

CHRISTINE DONG

GO: TROPICALE, 2337 NE GLISAN ST., 503-894-9484, TROPICALE.CO. NOON-9:30 PM Tropicale’s WEDNESDAYSUNDAY.

Oaxaca Forever

It looks like a frat party, tastes like the playa.

BY ANDI PREWITT aprewitt@wweek.com

If you ever want to guess how inclined someone might be to abandon all inhibitions, simply try assessing the audaciousness of their glass. The bigger the beer stein, tiki mug or rum barrel, the more likely the person holding it is to shrug off responsibility and carouse until the bar lights come up. Once you start hollowing out oversized fruit to use as a chalice, though, all bets are off. That is unleashed, OOO, vacation-mode drinking—freedom at its finest. For years, Alfredo Climaco has provided Portland with that tropical indulgence by serving piña coladas in pineapples at Portland Night Market and random street fairs. While you can now get his signature beverage in kit form from the new Northeast Glisan Street bar Tropicale, I prefer to leave the mixing to the experts. Although the piña colada is not among the limited lineup of drinks made to order, that gives you the perfect excuse to try something new and discover Climaco’s skill with mezcal. The clear, plastic Solo cups the Oaxaca Forever ($14) comes in are more frat party than playa, but the layers of fl avors nevertheless transport you to that Mexican beach—first through a subtle wood smoke that wafts in the background like a bonfi re on the sand, then by a swell of grapefruit that crashes against a dash of warming cinnamon. The name of the drink is a nod to the home state of Climaco’s father, which also happens to be the world capital of mezcal. The assertive spirit is typically made with the cooked core of the agave plant, which Oaxaca boasts the most varieties of in Mexico thanks to its diverse terrain and climate. Climaco, who grew up in the neighboring state of Puebla, developed his passion for mezcal during trips to Oaxaca with his dad, where they would work their way through fl ights at the region’s numerous mezcalerias. I have yet to travel that far south in the country, but if Oaxaca is anything like its namesake cocktail—dark and sultry yet refreshing and as sunny as a morning glass of OJ—it’ll be the first trip I book, post-pandemic.

TOP 5 BUZZ LIST Where to get drinks this week, one way or another.

1. GlüBar

2006 NE Alberta St., 503-954-2021, imperialbottleshop.com/glubar. 4-10 pm Wednesday-Friday, noon-10 pm Saturday-Sunday. Inspired by the outdoor Christmas markets in Northern and Western Europe, Imperial Bottle Shop & Taproom’s new curbside pop-up makes patio drinking in the dead of winter not only feasible but downright jolly. The lineup of mulled drinks changes about once a week, but whatever options are available, always spring for something that can be set on fi re.

CHRIS NESSETH

2. Tulip Shop Tavern

825 N Killingsworth St., 503-206-8483, tulipshoptavern.com. Noon-10 pm daily. While the building has seen quick turnover in recent years, Tulip Shop Tavern feels like a neighborhood staple that’s been around far longer than not even three years. It’s achieved that by hitting the decep-

TOP 5 HOT PLATES Where to get food in Portland this week.

1. Gumba

1733 NE Alberta St., 503-975-5951, gumba-pdx.com. 4:30-8 pm Wednesday, 4:30-8:30 pm Thursday-Monday. As a food cart, Gumba punched above its weight, serving fresh pastas, handmade burrata and ambitious snacks that made you want to linger at an outdoor table. Now it’s a brick-and-mortar in a time of takeout only—but you’ll still want to break out the candles, placemats and cloth napkins once you get the food home: No meal provides more of a “this feels like we are in a restaurant” frisson than Gumba’s beet, cabbage and endive salad, pappardelle with braised beef sugo, pan-roasted steelhead trout, and eggplant olive oil cake.

CHRIS NESSETH

2. Toki

580 SW 12th Ave., 503-312-3037, tokipdx.square.site. 4-8 pm Friday-Sunday. Anything Han Oak chef Peter Cho does is worthy of intense anticipation. In this particular case, he moved across the river, into the former Tasty n Alder space, and is using it to craft the classic, traditional Korean meals—bibimbap, bulgogi, kimbap—he generally avoided at his main spot. It’s open now for takeout-only weekend dinners. Order through the website. tively simple trifecta that many nouveau Portland bars struggle with: good vibes, good food and damn good drinks. You can now get those drinks to go— from well-made standards to house cocktails, such as the fruit-forward Paper Tiger—and pair them with the under-the-radar burger. The vibes, though? Those are up to you for now.

3. Tiny Bubble Room

2025 N Lombard St., 503-208-2660, tinybubbleroom.com. 3-10 pm daily. Growing up in Northeast Portland, Jeremy Lewis remembers family dinners at the Lung Fung Chinese restaurant. Now, the place is his. His new bar, Tiny Bubble Room, is named for Lung Fung’s adjoining oldschool lounge and gives Arbor Lodge and Kenton a “not-so-divey dive” similar to Roscoe’s in Montavilla, which Lewis also owns.

4. Hale Pele

2733 NE Broadway, 503-662-8454, halepele.com. 3-8 pm Thursday-Sunday. A faux-Polynesian fever dream rigorously appointed in layers of vintage South Pacifi c kitsch, Hale Pele is generally considered one of the best tiki bars in the country. Sadly, the simulated thunderstorms and volcanic eruptions are unplugged right now, but at least you can take the drinks home—heavy on the rum, of course, with bags of crushed ice on the side.

5. Bink’s

2715 NE Alberta St., 503-493-4430, binksterpdx.com. Order Wednesday for Friday delivery. Alberta’s homiest bar has launched its own home delivery service. At binksterpdx.com, you can order bottled bloody marys, slushy margaritas in plastic pouches, and six-packs of Portland beer, plus homemade ravioli, fl ower bouquets arranged in Mason jars5., CBD gummies, even wall art. But don’t overlook the signature take-and-bake pizzas, maybe the most underrated bar food in the neighborhood.

3. GrindWitTryz

2017 NE Alberta St., 971-865-5160, grindwittryz.square.site. Instagram: @grindwittryz. Noon-8 pm Tuesday-Saturday. As a food cart, GrindWitTryz was a near-instant sensation, its crowds and wait times harking back to the early days of Salt & Straw or Apizza Scholls, and the lines have only grown longer since owner Tryzen Patricio moved into the former Bunk space on Alberta. The most popular dish by far is the ono chicken: 12 pieces of crispy, sweet-glazed fried chicken thighs— more than a pound of meat— piled onto a double-portion bed of furikake-topped rice.

4. Prey + Tell

Delivery available through Uber Eats and Grubhub. 4 pm-2 am Wednesday-Sunday, preyandtell.com. Diane Lam’s Sunshine Noodles pop-up was one of the breakout successes of the quarantined summer, but the buzziest item wasn’t a noodle dish—it was the lime pepper wings. So while Sunshine is on a break, Lam is returning to her roots as the chef at dearly departed Korean cocktail bar Revelry, with a delivery-only project focused entirely on fried chicken, with Cambodian-inspired sauces and leaf-wrapped rice packs.

5. Lottie & Zula’s

120-A NE Russell St., 503-333-6923, lottieandzulas. com. 8 am-4 pm Tuesday-Saturday. Breakfast all day, lunch 10:30 am to close. Takeout and delivery only. Toro Bravo is gone, replaced by a punky sandwich window with New England roots. The heart of Lottie & Zula’s breakfast menu are bolo levedos, or “Portuguese mu ns”—something like a cross between an English mu n and a King’s Hawaiian roll, which makes their version of a McGriddle extra satisfying.

TREVOR GAGNIER