Food and beverage options expanding in Beaverton

By: Chuck Slothower May 13, 2022 11:16 am

On a recent weekday, chef and Big’s Chicken co-owner Ben Bettinger scooped blackened Fresno chile peppers from a rotary roaster outside the restaurant in downtown Beaverton. Inside, a crowd of customers lunched on chicken sandwiches sauced in the peppers.

Also on Southwest Watson Avenue, a short line formed at the sidewalk window of The Whole Bowl. Close by, others slaked their thirst at Loyal Legion, a bar with 72 beers on tap.

It was a scene that would not be out of place in Portland’s trendy commercial corridors. But it was in Beaverton, the Washington County suburb perhaps best known as the home of Nike’s corporate headquarters.

Downtown Beaverton in 2022 looks very much like Portland circa 2019.

In addition to the three aforementioned businesses, Great Notion Brewing, Ex Novo Brewing, The Sudra, Afuri Izakaya, Salt & Straw and Top Burmese were born in Portland and expanded into Beaverton. Another, Breakside Brewery, is in permitting to open a Beaverton location.

When the pandemic hit, suburban real estate saw an uptick in popularity as urban areas were hit with rising vacancies and lower rents. Businesses such as restaurants followed their customers by opening in Beaverton, Hillsboro, Lake Oswego and other suburbs.

In Beaverton, the trends were sharpened by recruitment efforts and grants from the city government. Restaurateurs said they were lured by opportunity – fewer competitors and a large employment base led by Nike and Intel – and a red-carpet welcome from the city.

“At the time, it just seemed like a pretty untapped area,” said Bettinger, co-owner of Your Neighborhood Restaurant Group, which owns Big’s Chicken, Laurelhurst Market, Ate-Oh-Ate and other restaurants.

Big’s Chicken opened first on Northeast Glisan Street in Portland in 2017 before expanding to Beaverton in August 2018. The business was aided by a Beaverton storefront improvement grant that paid for a neon sign made by Ramsay Signs in Portland’s Holgate neighborhood.

“Every step of the way, the city (of Beaverton) was there to support us,” Bettinger said. “It’s not like you feel in Portland sometimes.”

Beaverton’s efforts to lure restaurants began about six years ago, said Michael Williams, economic development manager for the city. In meetings with Washington County’s top employers, the business officials told city staff that Beaverton needed more to do to attract top talent.

“They wanted it to have more restaurants and food carts and breweries,” he said.

The city of Beaverton offered matching grants for tenant improvements to convert non-restaurant spaces into restaurants. The city spent approximately $1.5 million on 30 grants, which flowed from federal funds.

“It’s been wildly successful,” Williams said. “I think we had a good strategy and we had good timing – a little luck, too.”

Loyal Legion overcame competition from other interested parties to lease a historic former bank building at the high-profile intersection of Southwest Farmington Road and Watson Avenue. The beer hall was planned before the pandemic, but didn’t open until November 2021.

“We moved on this space once it became available,” General Manager Adam Keefe said.

Both Bettinger and Keefe mentioned unprompted that Beaverton diners, accustomed to table service, had some trouble getting used to counter service. Eateries have increasingly moved to counter service to save on labor costs.

The boom in Beaverton’s restaurant sector is inextricably tied up with other social and economic trends. Population growth in Washington County has outpaced that of Multnomah County and the state. Washington County grew 0.8 percent from July 2020 to July 2021 to 605,036 residents, according to Census data collected by the Portland State University Population Research Center.

Beaverton opened the 43,000-square-foot, $55 million Patricia Reser Center for the Arts in February. The cultural showpiece is near The Round, where government offices and a MAX light-rail stop come together. A food cart pod, BG Food Cartel, is a short walk away. The cart pod includes some food carts that left Portland for the suburb, including The Frying Scotsman, a fish-and-chips cart that was displaced by construction of the Block 216 Ritz-Carlton tower.

Some multifamily developers have invested in downtown Beaverton in recent years – most notably Rembold Properties, which has built four projects in the area since 2017. Williams said the city is hoping for more development spurred by restaurants and other amenities.

“Now we’re hoping it will bring high-density housing near the MAX stops and maybe an office or two, because offices are looking for amenitized spaces,” he said. “It’ll be tax base for the city, and I think the residents are liking the choices they have.”