There’s A New Place for Lebanese-Influenced Cocktails in Northwest Portland

Orange blossom lemon drops and tamarind margaritas have arrived on NW 19th. Pettygrove Station is part sport’s bar, part Lebanese restaurant, but it’s also home to a menu of Lebanese cocktails incorporating orange blossom water, the spiced fruit syrup jallab, and tamarind.

Pettygrove Station comes from Joseph Kortbaoui, who has owned food carts in Portland since the early 2000s, including the now-defunct Mr. Falafel, Cornucopia Joe’s, and Yaba Yabaa. Kortbaoui grew up in the Beqaa Valley in Lebanon before moving to the United States, and many of the drinks at Pettygrove Station pull inspiration from ingredients found there. In particular, he’s fond of the jallab, a rosewater and date syrup he remembers drinking with a sprinkle of pine nuts.

This weekend, the restaurant will begin serving the cocktail menu, which includes drinks like the Khalil Gibran, a prosecco and jallab cocktail named for the Lebanese-American poet. Jallab appears in a few drinks, like the Jallabgroni, made with gin, apricot liqueur, and orange blossom water. Other drinks use a foundation of apricots, like the a vodka cocktail with orange blossom water or the tamarind margarita.

Pettygrove Station isn’t the only place to find Lebanese flavors behind the bar: A handful of Lebanese restaurants in Portland serve the anise-flavored arrack, like Karam in Southwest Portland. Still, Pettygrove remains one of the few spots to find jallab in cocktails — especially ones served alongside hot wings and hummus. Pettygrove Station is now open at 1401 NW 19th Avenue.

• Pettygrove Station [Facebook]