Good Things Come On a Stick

From Bambuza’s grilled chicken skewers to Berry-Ka-Bob’s white chocolate covered strawberries, some of the best bites at “The Bite of Oregon” are served on a stick. The Bite of Oregon is an annual event held at the Portland waterfront that serves up some of the state’s finest cuisine, craft beers, and local wines. If that’s not enough to get you through the gates, how about live entertainment like the Oregon Iron Chef competition and local bands rocking everything from swanky jazz to “Sweet Child O’ Mine.”

The best part about the event (besides eating and drinking, of course) is walking around and checking out all of the options. There are 30 beers on tap from 14 local microbreweries as well as dozens of wines from 29 Oregon wineries! And that’s just the drinks! You’ve also got over 120 menu items from 25 local restaurants and food carts to choose from. So if you’re indecisive or easily overwhelmed, you might need to take several laps around the event to decide what to get (this may also include creeping on other people’s plates to see what they’ve found). In fact, we were creeped on several times and asked where we got our “good stuff on a stick.”

Some other interesting things we saw at the event:

          – Gourmet peanut butter and jelly sandwiches from PBJ, a food cart in NW Portland (on my list to try!)
          – Wine glass holder necklaces (one of those things you look at and think…why didn’t I think of that?)
          – Razberry Wheat beer from Cascade Brewing (literally the color of Kool-Aid)
          – Deep fried (yes, I said deep fried) pies from Whiffies, a food cart in SE Portland

Live music, good food, and local drinks seem to be the staple of nearly every event in Portland and I love that about this place. The Bite of Oregon is no exception, so cheers to this great event!