Happy Hour, Patios and Sunshine: The Bent Brick

1639 NW Marshall & 16th Ave • thebentbrick.com • 503.688.1655

Hours: Daily 4-10pm; Happy Hour: Daily 4-6:30pm

What is up with this amazing weather? Is it really May and 85 degrees? (Speaking of, how is it May already?!) Not that I am complaining at all. I mean look how gorgeous this city is when there is blue skies and the sun is shining!

Whenever it gets nice out, I’m in a constant search of restaurants, bakeries and coffee shops with great outdoor seating. What is better than enjoying the nice warm weather with delicious food or a tasty beverage? Not much, in my opinion.

This past week, I was introduced to the perfect summertime spot at the Bent Brick up in NW Portland. I was lucky enough to be invited to a super fun food blogger happy hour hosted by Little Green Pickle, a PR firm that represents some of the best Portland restaurants. Along with three other fabulous Portland bloggers – Jenni, Michelle and Marisa, we got to drink up, eat tons and chat about food, blogging, Facebook vs Twitter and even some exercising routines.

The Bent Brick is somewhat tucked away from the hustle and bustle of the Pearl and 21st and 23rd Avenues, so they have the space for a large patio area, not just some tables on a busy sidewalk. You can choose from the small two-top tables for a more intimate dinner or the large picnic benches for a fun afternoon snacks with friends.

The indoor space is bright and cheerful, with big windows and doors letting in the fresh Oregon air. Their interior design is a mix of rustic with birds scattered throughout and fun additions like the “Jenga” space, couches around a wood column that totally looks like that block game in the entryway.

Their recent menu revamp has been great. Naturally, with a group of food bloggers, we ordered one of everything off the happy hour menu. (Side note: this is what I want to do nearly all the time, but would feel like a glutton if it was just me and one other person. Perhaps I should roll with a posse everywhere I go just to make that happen…)

The happy hour menu was filled with a wide variety of options that were generous in portion and also extremely reasonably priced (items start at just $1). The cuisine is essentially down-home American with a gourmet twist. But everything is still very approachable.

Some of my favorites included the Duck Fat JoJos, those lovely crispy thick-sliced potato fries and the Steelhead Roe Tea Sandwiches.

Also fun was the TBB hotdog plate. I usually am not a big fan of hot dogs, but these were a great take on the Fourth of July classic, primarily because they make their own hot dogs! How cool and Portland is that?

Cocktails were impressive and unique. I started with the house-made rhubarb soda and vodka, a simple and refreshing summertime drink. The most popular drink at our table was certainly the “Seeing Things Clearly” made with vodka, honey, chamomile bitters and some rhuby and white verjus. Not sure what all those things are but they certainly tasted good when mixed.

I was really impressed with their new menu and absolutely loved the space so I definitely see another visit in the near future, especially if this nice weather holds up!

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A BIG, BIG thank you to Carrie and Frances from LGP for putting on such a fun event and for giving me an invite! Check out the blogs from the lovely ladies I dined with:

Jenni from A Well Crafted Party

Marisa from Margaritas in the Rain

Michelle from Hummingbird High (also read up her post on this event with some stunning pictures)