This year, Portland’s newest watering holes have stolen the restaurant opening spotlight. Café Olli alumnus Daniel Green is making his own gorgeous breads and cheeses for the Bauman's cider taproom. At G-Love’s smaller companion bar, the Love Shack, brioche waffles topped with roe and horseradish crème fraiche roll through the dining room on fun snack carts. And at Moonshot Tavern, an unassuming pub off the restaurant-packed SE Ankeny, chef Kevin Jones is tossing house-made pastas in seasonal sauces like springy pecan pesto.

So it’s not exactly a surprise that this summer’s buzziest openings have been bar-adjacent, even if it’s only in name. Below, find three new arrivals worth your time, including sequels from Portland culinary blockbusters and an under-the-radar, sake-and-sushi spot curing fish in-house.

---

Akizawa

Downtown

At this tiny Japanese restaurant tucked into the Morgan building downtown, diners sit in mismatched chairs under a row of sake bottles mounted to a massive chalkboard wall with descriptions etched beside them. Here, owner Rosie Shen delivers sake flights and fried shrimp heads to tables, while her husband, Z, slices buttery o toro and rich hamachi belly for platters of sashimi. Sushi is certainly special here, but it’s far from the only draw: Z marinates mackerel in a seaweed-salt brine, air-drying the fish and grilling it to order. Ultra-delicate cups of silken chawanmushi come studded with mushrooms, and a beautifully executed tamagoyaki (Japanese omelet) hides a core of tender, sweet-savory eel. The specials board is crucial—a recent visit involved aji three ways, including yuzu-fragrant tataki and the crispy-fried tail as a capper. Call to make a reservation; even without a website, the restaurant has started to book up fast on weekends.

Bar Loon

Belmont

The former Sweet Hereafter space on Belmont is now adorned with eucalyptus wreaths and dried florals, a clear sign that the team behind Bellwether Bar has moved in. For years, Bellwether Bar was Mt. Tabor’s inconspicuous gem, a neighborhood bistro meets bar and grill with understated cocktails, a killer beer list, and things like sour cream and onion deviled eggs or Calabrian chile steak tartare. Over time, a few themes emerged: seasonal produce arrives dressed with crunchy and saucy accompaniments, bar snacks get a zhuzh, and proteins like sausage and pork chops come a la carte with a few other judicious accompaniments. Bar Loon, Bellwether’s new sibling, follows a similar formula: tables should be covered with salads and other vegetables, like the cucumbers and tomatoes in a dilly, mustardy vinaigrette or singed broccoli in a cherry agrodolce with spiced seeds. Start with a plate of fried artichokes, custardy at their core and tossed in a seasoning blend reminiscent of salt and vinegar potato chips

Bar Dolly

Downtown

After the incredibly short-lived cocktail bar Icarus (the irony is not lost on us) vacated the space next to Dolly Olive, the group behind the downtown Italian restaurant decided to extend the footprint of its pseudo-trattoria. The Italo-disco fever dream décor is gone, scrubbed away in favor of brass tabletops and clean white walls. Dolly Olive has seemingly found its stride, and the restaurant’s entire menu is available next door; that means piles of house-made tagliatelle in a peppery, velvety French butter sauce can arrive alongside cheerful lambrusco spritzes and Italian-inflected bar snacks. Burrata preparations vary consistently—one day, the cheese gets a blackberry coulis; the next, yuzu vinaigrette. The stalwart is a totally messy, totally tasty burger that waterfalls garlic aioli and giardiniera from its ciabatta bun with each bite. The combination of ground chuck, provolone, and the pickled Italian condiment makes for a burger version of an Italian beef, in-the-paint delicious in a way that would only work outside Dolly’s main dining room.