Portland Restaurant: Donnie Vegas

What: Donnie Vegas
Where: 1203 NE Alberta 
When: Daily 4pm - Close
Honeys Heart: Roll the Dice!

Adam and I got bikes for my birthday and decided to put them to good use right away. I know, Adam got a bike for my birthday too, but don't worry, I'll be getting something for his birthday now that I know this is a thing. I'm a fan of riding to a rewarding destination so we biked to Donnie Vegas on NE Alberta for a drink and a hot dog.

Isn't my bike cute? Adam says I'm too matchy matchy with my white and teal bike, and black and teal helmet, but I'm okay with it. 

Lucky for us sweaty bikers, Donnie Vegas has an awesome back patio area where we started with a couple cocktails. Moscow Mule ($7) for me and a whiskey tea cocktail for Adam.

After settling in with our cocktails, we decided to try their $5 hot dogs. Adam chose the Dirty Hawaiian with teriyaki, pineapple, and scallions. The hot dogs aren't particularly special on their own, just a simple beef dog, but the toppings, price, and patio make it a nice, low key place mid-bike adventure.

I chose the Banh Mi Dog with hoisin, pickles, and cilantro. I preferred mine to Adam's but they were both good!

So you may be wondering how we ended up with four drinks on our table...

Well, a fun drink option at Donnie Vegas is to roll the dice for a $4 drink. I can't remember all six options but they included a tequila shot, pickle back, featured cocktails, and a few other options. Each is associated with a number and you get whatever it lands on. Risky, but for only $4 we were in. We both happened to get featured cocktails and ended up with another bourbon tea cocktail and a mojito. 

This would definitely be a great spot for a drink and hanging out with a group. Everyday they have happy hour including a drink special, $1 off drafts, and $2 plain dogs. Oh and they give fair warning on the site, that "Donnie changes the menu whenever he wants, ya dig", so don't be surprised if none of this is relevant.

Portland Happy Hour: Aviary

What: Aviary
Where: 1733 NE Alberta Street
When: Mon-Fri,  5-7 PM, "Classy Mondays" all night in the bar
Honeys Heart: Bread and Bagna Cauda 

Arriving 15 minutes early to meet a friend for happy hour at Aviary left me three options: Sit in my car and probably look at Instagram, walk around Alberta, or just go in the second they open (at 5pm) and drink wine. I obviously went with the last option. 

The restaurant was empty. Granted they had only opened 30 seconds before, but I felt like the first one at the party and it's awkward because no one you know is there yet. Oh well! Happy hour is in the bar so I made my way to the back. 

I was the only customer, so bartender Corey had plenty of time to put final touches on the bar and hand me menus and offer suggestions. Corey turned out to be a critical part of our quiet Aviary experience. He was super helpful with happy hour menu suggestions, wine picks, and ultimately partaking in our poor driving stories - he didn't share his own, but he did laugh and act like ours were interesting. He also learned how instead of saying "another" to me when my wine glass is empty (which I will almost always say yes to) that he should say "you're good, right?" Good job, Corey! 

Starting out with generous $5 house wine pours was not only appreciated, but gave us time to ponder the menu. Sarah (friend from college, not sister) and I ultimately settled on the tempura green beans ($6) with a curry sauce. Be sure to mix it all up to get the sauce on the beans!

We also kicked things off with the Brussels sprout nachos ($5). Brussels sprouts are so hot right now and I'm digging it. These were odd - not sure Sarah was a huge fan - but I still liked the concept. The Brussels sprout leaves acted as the "chips" with a mole sauce, cojita cheese, and a couple other things. 

Last minute I added a $2 oyster and was pretty happy about it. That's a good price and it was tasty. 

After another round of wine and sufficient holiday updates, we decided we were still hungry. Corey recommended the slaw dog ($5) and at this point I think we were doing whatever Corey recommended food/drink-wise so we went for it. The dog is house-smoked, accompanied by a pickle, and topped with a papaya slaw. I loved that the bun was classic and soft - super good!

After some additional catch up, mostly covering the latest from the Bachelor premiere (that's important, okay), and maybe another glass of wine, we ordered the pulled pork sliders ($5). Sadly I forgot to document, but this has the papaya slaw as well with some sriracha and was a generous portion. Definitely a little spicier and heartier. 

We might have also thrown in the bread and bagna cauda ($2). I mean, only $2 and the description sounded pretty great. Bagna cauda is a warm dip from Italy made with garlic, anchovies, olive oil, butter, some kind of cream, and I heard something about tomato oil (or something). Regardless, I would recommend it. If you order something off their dinner menu this is complimentary so keep that in mind! 

Aviary also features a $6 happy hour cocktail which that night was bourbon based. The trotter n eggs ($5) was also highly recommended.

Overall we had plenty of food and three drinks each totaling $26 each (plus tip). Not bad! I don't know that everything was incredible but it was really satisfying and unique compared to many hh offerings. There are definitely items I would go back for. Plus everything was fairly priced and the service was great!