Grazing at a “Bite of Oregon”

H50 BBQ Shrimp

H50 BBQ Shrimp

This is worth doing, for several reasons: 1) it’s cheap 2) it’s rather compact, unlike, say “A Taste of Chicago”, 3) you have a chance to sample a great many a) Oregon restaurants, b) Portland food carts, c) Oregon microbrews, and d) Oregon wines. (And visit the Pepto Bismol booth to boot!).

We would have gone anyway, but our attendance was helped by the fact Mrs. BurgerDogBoy won us free weekend passes when we were rockin’ out to Steve Riley and the Mamou Playboys at the Oregon Zoo earlier in the week.

So we gathered up our nickels and dimes, took Portland’s fabulous transit system downtown to avoid the parking/traffic mess, and made our way to the “Bite of Oregon” event happening in Waterfront Park.

There are plenty of activities for the chillun’, and as with most happenings in Portland, your canine friends are invited as well.

Mrs. BDB went straight to a brew queue, and had a Ninkasi Total Domination IPA, while I quenched my thirst with soda from Thomas Kemper.

Say “barbecued shrimp” to someone who has lived in New Orleans, and they

Tillamook Cheddar & Chorizo Mac N Cheese

Tillamook Cheddar & Chorizo Mac N Cheese

automatically think “butter, oil, herbs, pepper” but our plate at Bite (H50 Bistro) was a tasty skewer of medium sized grilled shrimp, with a sweet bbq sauce, and a smattering of blue cheese slaw (heavy on the slaw part, light on the blue part), and a cup of Tillamook Cheddar Mac N Cheese with crispy chorizo bits.

Moved on to Gustav’s booth for some cheese fondue w/ bread cubes, and a Bavarian pretzel on the side. In my head, I’m thinking that fondue is a “winter” dish, but even on a hot summer day in Portland, this creamy deliciousness hit the spot. I have a craving for more.

Chaquita Bananas

Chaquita Banana Tattoo

A quick stop at the Chaquita Banana booth to have our pix taken in banana costumes, and add temp tattoos to our arms, then over to Adam’s Rib & Smokehouse, from Salem, for the gianormous rib plate, and a beef slider. The ribs were slightly sauced, but came with a ramikin of their sweet but vinegary sauce on the side, and the BBQ’ed beef slider was an ample serving on fresh soft bakery roll.

Things I didn’t get to try? Rogue’s was serving Kobe slider and dogs, but I had run out of room.

We hit a couple of bars downtown, and ended our excusion at the Red Star, where Mrs. BDB was feeling a might peckish, so she ordered the happy hour version of the carnitas street tacos, and while carnitas usually have a nice lemony/cilantro flavor, these were enhanced to be over the top good.

Think we’ll do volunteer duty at Bite next year, and that way, have even more time to enjoy the food, quaffs, and friendly people.

Gustav's Cheese Fondue

Gustav's Cheese Fondue

Adam's Rib Smokehouse Beef Slider

Adam's Rib Smokehouse Beef Slider

H5O bistro & bar on Urbanspoon

Adam's Ribs Smoke House on Urbanspoon

One comment to “Grazing at a “Bite of Oregon””
One comment to “Grazing at a “Bite of Oregon””
  1. Pingback: Tweets that mention Some of the great foods you are going to miss if you don't hit Portland's last day! #pdxeats -- Topsy.com

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