Bamboo Sushi Opens Downtown Location; Olympia Oyster Bar Open on Mississippi

WEST END—The folks behind the sustainable sushi restaurant, Bamboo Sushi, opened their fourth—and presumably, final—restaurant last week at 404 SW Stark Street in downtown’s West End. This newest spot comes with a few twists, too: It will accept reservations, deliver dinner to you via Postmates, and come January, will serve lunch, too. The new space gives the sushi giant locations in each of Portland’s four quadrants, but according to founder Kristopher Lofgren, further expansion probably won’t include Portland—although he’s yet to name which city he hopes will be home to Bamboo’s fifth shop.

MISSISSIPPI—Melissa Mayer and Marilyn Chavez’s highly anticipated Olympia Oyster Bar has finally opened its doors at 4214 N Mississippi Avenue. A quick glance at the opening menu includes a plate of "naked" oysters served with a smoked avocado purée, pickled serrano jam, morimoto dust, and micro cliantro. Oven and Shaker barman, Ryan Magarian, has designed the cocktail menu, but you can naturally look for the proper white or bubbly pairing, too. Right now, casual oyster bar is open from 4 to 11 p.m., Tuesday through Saturday, as well as from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Sunday for brunch. Look for lunch coming in 2016.

LISTICLES—The Washington Post’s Tom Sietsema thinks Portland is America's best food city. In a story published Monday that is sure to get some critics and industry insiders scratching their heads and wringing their hands, Siestema says Portland outranks San Francisco, New York, and even his beloved Washington D.C. He praises Stumptown for its "abundant quirks," and adds that Portland is the city he’d most like to live in if he didn’t have his dream job in the nation’s capitol. Two of his points most likely to draw the most fire? That during his week stay, he (impossibly?) never even once heard a car horn honk, and that Portland’s servers—a thorny topic for people outside (and even inside) of what's sometimes seen as an entitled service industry—are "Minnesota nice."