New Southeast Portland pizzeria names its pies after its owners' cats

You recognize what variety of place you're in the moment you spot the mini George Foreman-style grill plugged in behind the bar.

"it be probably my favourite piece of device within the whole bar," says Char co-owner Tyler Kennedy.

Longtime bartender Kennedy and former colleague Tim Alves opened the fun-loving Char within the former Torta-landia house in July, hoping to add a pizza and craft cocktail alternative to Foster-Powell's becoming decent meals options. discovered just off Foster street, their new restaurant combines pizzas made with Alves' two-day fermented dough and cocktails from Kennedy, together with a pineapple margarita ($8.50) made with a seared-to-order wedge of the tropical fruit.

What else do you need to learn about Char? Kennedy and Alves say they obtained the keys to the house in June and opened simply forty five days later. just like the historic Torta-landia, the pizzeria has two rooms, with a couple of throwback arcade video games on the bar facet (where you order) and a huge dining room with an ordinary wood overhang and some new-searching picnic tables on the different. other cocktails contain pizza components as smartly: The FoPo lemonade has jalapeño-infused vodka; the Genovese mojito has rum and basil as an alternative of mint.

Oh, and the residence pizzas here are named for Kennedy and Alves' cats. Tiny is the cheese ($16), Bliss is the pepperoni ($17). Baron Von Streudelhaus is the vegetarian ($19). Their rotating special is the Feral Cat ($22), presently a chorizo, mozzarella, white onion and cilantro quantity with spicy marinara.

Alves frolicked at Higgins, and hopes to keep the menu as seasonal as viable. looking at pictures on their site earlier than I visited, i thought Char may be inserting out a tougher charred version of the super-skinny-crusted bar pizzas found here and there on the East Coast. The fact was just a little thicker, though nevertheless skinny and crisp, with first rate sauce and a Ninja Turtles-permitted quantity of gooey, browned mozzarella. (A menu update and sparkling picture shoot are within the works.) Pizzas are made in a relatively petite, two-deck Peerless gasoline oven, just colossal sufficient for four pizzas at a time; if Char gets busy, that oven might turn into a choke element. Slices take a seat in the back of glass, guarded by way of a small gnome donning Indianapolis Colts colorings.

"it be variety of a go between Neapolitan and ny style, but now not making an attempt to be either one of those," Alves spoke of. "We're simply calling it Portland pizza," Alves says.

i've been on a mini calzone kick when you consider that journeying the new wood-fired food cart Gracie's Apizza and studying a deep dive into some of new york metropolis superior alternate options, so I decided to drop through on a contemporary Monday, when Alves offers to fold up any pie on the menu. Char's elementary calzones are very a lot in the West Coast fashion, which means mozzarella dominates, now not ricotta. they may be additionally served on a steel tray, unadorned. Our Johnny money, with residence-made pork sausage, crimson onion and roasted garlic, become tasty (and, at $10.50, an outstanding deal), however a little sauce on the facet or a sprinkling of herbs may liven issues up.

Char might not yet crack my own list of Portland's true 10 pizzerias just yet, however it's a robust addition to the neighborhood. And it won't be alone for lengthy. As first mentioned with the aid of The Oregonian, former Trifecta barman Colin Carroll and the Atlas Pizza gang are set to open a pizzeria and cocktail bar -- dubbed 5 & Dime -- within the former O'Malley's Saloon & Grill space five blocks down Foster. Carroll is considered one of our favourite bartenders in the city, however I don't think Atlas will desirable Alves' pizza.  

Order this: A cheese pie ($sixteen) and a pineapple margarita ($eight.50).

particulars: 2 to 10 p.m. (satisfied hour 2 to five p.m.), Wednesday-Monday; 4144 S.E. 60th Ave.; 503-477-5942; charpizza.com

-- Michael Russell