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Old Town Pizza
5201 NE Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., 200-5988, oldtownpizza.com. 11:30 am-10 pm Sunday-Wednesday, 11:30 am-11 pm Thursday-Saturday.
[NEW PLAZA BEER] Old Town Pizza is a historical landmark,
sitting in the former lobby of the Merchant Hotel, atop the Shanghai
Tunnels. But Old Town Pizza's brewery isn't actually in Old Town.
Rather, it's in Northeast Portland's Vanport Plaza, where there are no
ghost hookers or subterranean tour groups. They're trying to keep a
similar vibe, though, with dark wood paneling everywhere, a fireplace
and couches downstairs and a spacious balcony that has a big glass
window into the brewery. On a slow Sunday night, two TVs hanging over
the brass bar were playing Bridesmaids as a young couple quietly
split a pizza in the dark. In December, Old Town lost brewmaster Bolt
Minister, who put the brewing operation on the map by winning medals at
the past two Great American Beer Festivals. He's rumored to be opening
his own spot in southwest Washington, and the brewery was tight-lipped
on his replacement.
DRINK THIS: Either Paulie's Not Irish Red, which is creamy and surprisingly light, or the Union Pils, which has a sweet, honey notes and the grainy flavor of a better pils.
WWeek 2015