As the city of Portland grapples with the boom of new housing on the peninsula, one dividend is food and dining venues emerge as an outgrowth. The opening of Rosemont Market at West End Place, for example, serves the densely populated West End and its need to have food shops in the neighborhood. As for dining, there’s only a few restaurants beyond Longfellow Square in the heart of the West End except for Caiola’s—still a long-time favorite for area locals—and Bonobo, the corner restaurant serving artisanal pizza.

In adjacent Bayside, that a place like Isa caught on so fast gives credence to an emergent neighborhood even though the grandness of Back Bay Grill a few doors away didn’t stem the tide when it entered this fringe environment decades ago. Plenty of vagrants and druggies still roam the streets, but now they co-mingle with ever more Mercedes and Lexus SUVs looking to park and dine at Isa or Back Bay.

Isa and Back Bay are my neighborhood restaurants. Though I’ve yet to venture to Bubba’s Sulky Lounge or the notorious Ricky’s Tavern across the street. Now there’s a true dive bar whose patrons were once labeled euphemistically by a city official “…as subjects seeking social service assets and resources in that area.” Hipsters are not welcome.

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