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!

Sweat & Sip: Sip & Bootybarre at Aspire Total Fitness

What: Sip
Where: 2210 NE Alberta St & 3029 SE 21st Ave 
Honeys Heart: Cute little seating area

I know, I know this is all backwards. Sweat & Sip was all about working out and earning that happy hour cocktail, but class times and locations aren't always conducive to this and it turns out when you exercise a lot sometimes different sips sound really good. In this case we were headed to a 7pm Bootybarre class at Aspire Total Fitness after an appointment with Katie's wedding florist (less than a month out!) and we needed something to tide us over.

Sip (how perfectly named) has two locations. We headed over to their Alberta cart to sit in the sun for a few minutes before our drive to the fitness studio.

Katie ordered the Greensicle ($5.50 16oz) smoothie packed with kale, spinach, banana, fresh OJ, vanilla, dates, and ice, while I went with a The Sweet Green ($7 160z) juice with apple, kale, parsley, celery, cucumber, lemon, and ginger.

Here's the deal.

Pros: Healthy, refreshing, no full tummy before working out.

Cons: $7. I know local and organic can be expensive and she essentially juiced a salad into a cup, but juice doesn't stick with you the same way solid food might and the price is just a bit hard to swallow (pun intended). Shaking the juice with ice would have been a nice addition to cool it down for the hot day too.

We also hit up Greenleaf in the Pearl on occasion for options like this granola bowl with fruit on top for $6.50, and that just seems a bit more doable (and filling) than a $7 juice.

Are we a fans of fresh juices? Yes! Sip is cute and the juice was good, it's just a bit on the spendy side. As long as you're expecting that, you're good to go!

And a word to the wise: don't take a sip of your leftover juice when you get out of your workout class and it's been sitting in a hot car for an hour and a half. Katie learned that the hard way.

What: Bootybarre at Aspire Total Fitness Studio
Where: 14210 SE Sunnyside Road, Suite 600, Happy Valley
Honeys Heart: Everything Bootybarre! 

Revocycle was the first Sweat & Sip that we returned to (we've been back 4 times so far), but Bootybarre marks the second return class. Since this initial visit together, we've gone back at least 3 times and have plans for more- especially since Aspire recently become a sponsor of Katie's dance team!

Katie was introduced to Aspire Total Fitness' Bootybarre class by our friend Allie, who Katie danced with in college. Katie was so impressed by it that we had to make it our next installment of the Sweat & Sip series.

We've both tried Barre3 in the Pearl and while there are aspects of those classes I like (proximity to my apartment being one of them...), this barre version is a bit more dance centric and the tempo of the class is faster and more varied, which I appreciate! Katie also mentioned that since the moves are rooted in ballet (feet in first position!), it's a great way for her to build up the muscles that she uses for dancing in a way that her body is used to.

Since listing pros and cons is fun, here it goes.

Pros: So many! Full-body workout, great teacher, fun moves, challenging, and disco lights (in the evening class).

Cons: It's a bit of a drive (from us, not if you live in Happy Valley...)

Here's the official description:
"A sexy, energetic, fun workout that fuses fitness techniques from Dance, Pilates and Yoga, that will tone, define and chisel the whole body. And get this …you don't even need any dance experience! The bootybarre® method is the perfect combination of strength and flexibility with added cardio to burn fat fast. Barre workouts have also become a popular choice with many celebrities!"

The class is taught by Mackenzie who grew up in Clackamas and went to PLU to receive her Bachelors in Health and Fitness Promotion. She's energetic, and encourages you to have fun, while working your toosh off. We recommend you get your booty to this class ASAP!

Sweat & Sip:

• Burncycle & Pink Rose
• Vega Dance Lab, Water Ave Coffee, & Canteen
• YoYoYogi's Boot(y) Camp & Coopers Hall  
• Revocycle & Sisters Coffee Co. 

Portland Restaurant: Stella Taco

What: Stella Taco
When: 2940 NE Alberta St
Where: 11am - 10pm Daily
Honeys Heart: The vibe

Katie and I made a deal when we started the blog. We would use it as an excuse to regularly go out to eat and drink (you know, "for the fans") and we would always be honest in our posts. The being honest part kind of sucks sometimes, but it must be done.

Katie and I attended Stella Taco's launch party on Tuesday evening and here's the deal: owners Ian and Becky Atkins and Chef Matt Fields (formerly of Little Bird) seem/are great, the vibe is really laid back and welcoming, but the food - at least what we sampled - left us wondering "would we leave our usual taco spots (Uno Mas, Por Que No) to come here?"

The answer: no, not based on what we had.

We started our Stella Taco experience with a Paloma de Juarez ($5.50) made with Olmeca Altos Blanco tequila, triple sec, grapefruit Jarritos, and lime. Definitely a funky take on a marg, maybe something for next year's 4th of July party?

The Frozen Margarita of the Day ($5.50) was a pineapple margarita. Tart and tasty. Not sure either were better than Por Que No's margaritas, but the price point is way more reasonable!

At the opening we tried the Elote ($3.50) which is roasted corn with fresh crema topped with lime salt, chili powder, and cheese crumbles. Katie and I both like corn, so we thought this was good- even if it was a fairly simple dish.

For tacos, Stella started us off with the Cancha ($2.50) made with crispy organic corn kernals, re-fried black beans, sliced red onions, and crema. It was sort of like a corn nut taco... which was weird, but sort of good, but really just hard to chew. I think the corn kernals either needed to be a little softer or a little crispier because our jaws felt a little sore. We wondered if we were being overly critical, but the man next to us voiced his agreement without any prompting.

The second taco we were served was the Brisket de Matamoros ($3) made with Painted Hills brisket that is dry-cured, coarse-ground, and slow-roasted and then topped with toreados chiles and pickled red onions. Not a bad flavor, but the choice to grind the brisket seemed a little strange to us. Why not slice it to show off its tenderness? Points for uniqueness though? I would also be curious about portion size. The taco seemed a bit small to us for $3- but this was just a sampling so maybe that was intentional.

Looking at the other taco offerings, I wish we could have tried the Lamb Barbacoa ($4.50) or the Chile Colorado ($2.75) with pork shoulder stewed with red chiles, tomato, and onions and topped with matchstick potatoes. It seemed Stella picked the more unique tacos for their tasting, but that might have been a risky decision, at least from our standpoint.

There were also Flautas ($8) floating around with a tomato broth for dipping. We didn't end up getting to try these though. They looked crispy...

Oh yes, and for dessert we had a Sopapilla ($3.50) which is a fried tortilla pillow with cinnamon and sugar and local honey.

The take-a-way here: Stella Taco was good, not great. It didn't convince us to give up our usuals, but it was an opening and we know those can be stressful and don't always reflect all that restaurants can do. We may need to give it another try and get some additional opinions. Stay tuned - there may be an update to this one!