Of the 50 Best New Restaurant Nominees, Bon Appetit Was Only Impressed by One Portland Spot

It’s Friday, which means it’s time for the weekly EaterWire round up of all those news items we didn’t quite cover. With the gargantuan food festival Feast hitting Portland this weekend, some restaurateurs decided to open new restaurants in time for the party. Still, some other news tidbits got lost in the pre-Feast buzz. Read on for more:

HOT ONE — National food magazine Bon Appetit released its 2019 “Hot 10” nominees, which is its version of a best new restaurants list. Only one Portland spot made the top 50: Matt’s BBQ Tacos, the new Austin-style barbecue taco cart on SE Hawthorne. On the local side of things, the Oregonian just named its restaurant of the year: the Thai barbecue bar Eem. [BonApp, The O]

SCAB ON AISLE ONE — In August, United Food and Commercial Workers Local 555, the grocery workers union representing Oregon and parts of Washington, voted to authorize a strike. Pacific Northwestern grocery chain Fred Meyer’s response was to advertise for replacement workers over the weekend. Photos of posted flyers indicate that the workers would make $15 per hour; that’s more than many Fred Meyer employees currently make. In a written statement, Fred Meyer says that its “goal is to avoid a strike, and reach a fair and balanced agreement that works well for our associates and our stores.” [Portland Mercury]

BEER ME — The travel site Wanderu named Portland the third-best craft beer city in the country, using a combination of data sources like BeerAdvocate scores and high-quality breweries and craft beer bars per capita. Surprisingly (or perhaps not to hardcore beer geeks), the number-one city is San Diego, followed by Minneapolis. [Wanderu]