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Hannah Doughty, co-owner of No Doubts Wine Bar, is no stranger to pressure: she’s spent 12 years as a nurse, the last nine in the ICU. But working at “ground zero” during the pandemic burned her out. “While I still love it—I’m still working as a nurse, still have a passion for it—I got to this point where I was like, I don’t know if I can do this full time for the rest of my adult career,” Doughty tells Willamette Week.
Earlier this year, Doughty took a step back from health care and opened a wine bar in the heart of downtown St. Johns with her partner (in love and business) Jesse Martinez, the chef behind playful Northeast Alberta Street pasta spot Gumba.
Doughty developed her palate while living in Oregon wine country (her first nursing job was in Roseburg) and credits her grandmother for instilling her initial love of wine. “She and my grandpa were very independent, different people,” she says. “He would fish, she would ski or hike. They would travel separately or together, but they would always come back at 5 pm. It was 5 pm wine time—have a glass of wine, sit down, and it would start a reconnecting.”
That feeling of connection guided the bar. “It came together too easily,” Doughty says. And that sense of ease is palpable as one walks through the cozy, 800-square-foot bar, which formerly housed plant-based eateries The Groovy Floret and Brass Tacks Deli.
A DIY sign on printer paper spells out “No Doubts Wine Bar” in the window, and most of the marketing has been word of mouth. The couple slow-rolled the opening in the winter months and is steadily seeing an increase in business.
“I want my customer base to be the neighbors,” Doughty says. “I want to develop those relationships and be that welcoming, extra space.”
The wine list follows suit. It’s less of a wine bar to shop for fancy bottles and more of a neighborhood hang. Three reds and three whites appear on the glass-pour list next to a rosé, a sparkling, and an orange wine. If you’re not into wine, two daily batched cocktails, a paper plane and espresso martini, a few beers, hop water, and an herbal spritz round things out.
I opted for a crisp Hoquetus 2022 Riesling from Washington ($14) and settled into a bright red vintage booth and turned my attention to the food menu.
Despite its humble appearance, the neighborhood lounge boasts slyly elevated dishes from one of Portland’s sleeper chefs. Here, Martinez cooks outside the Italian flavors that made his name at Gumba.
An endive Caesar salad ($12) with pickled apples, dates, mint and pine nuts lands perfectly dressed. The Papaya Nacho ($12) is a fun follow up. Green julienne papaya, lime leaf queso and sugary baked beans sit atop tortilla rounds and Doritos, all of which gets the classic nacho toppings—pickled onions, sour cream, cilantro—tweaked with Thai basil to complete the papaya salad riff.
I end my courses with a Populis 2023 Jammy Red Blend from California and a vegan portobello mushroom steak on a bed of cashew hummus and coconut milk collard greens, topped with chili crunch and popping pickled mustard seeds ($18). My table neighbors opt for the meatloaf version, and keep repeating in sequence, “So good, so interesting.”
And the name? Is Gwen Stefani in the room with us? It’s a family motto, it turns out: “Never doubt a Doughty,” Doughty quips.
DRINK IT: No Doubts Wine Bar, 8408 N Lombard St., nodoubtswinebar.com. 4–9:30 pm Wednesday–Saturday.
