First look at Gigantic Brewing Hawthorne Pub & Portrait Room
Gigantic Brewing’s third location is now open at 4343 SE Hawthorne Blvd, Portland, OR 97215 in the former Hawthorne Fish House. In a departure for the 10 year old Portland, Oregon based brewery this will be their first foray into a full on pub with it’s own kitchen and a food menu inspired by casual bar snacks of the world.
Both Gigantic Brewing co-owners Ben Love and Van Havig had been into Hawthorne Fish House multiple times during it’s nearly 20 year tenure on Hawthorne. Havig only lives about 7 blocks away, and both of them were fans of the neighborhood and the vibrancy of the streets many shops, restaurants and bars. When they heard the building was up for sale it was a no-brainer to invest long-term in the property and open a third taproom.
“We thought the hawthorne building was a fantastic location. It had a kitchen so someone needed to do food. Our friends who own brewpubs do food, as well as some friends who own restaurants, so we thought "we can figure this out too"“ says Ben Love.
The restaurant had a locals tavern feel to it with a centerpiece “U” shaped bar and an underused back patio that wasn’t obvious from the street or even the regular patrons. Ben and Van began by tearing out much of the interior of the space, starting with the center bar and building a new “L” shaped bar against the west wall with sliding windows to serve directly to customers on the patio. The patio itself was inaccessible from the street, so they added gates from the sidewalk marked with a Gigantic white “G” in a red crest. The walkway between the buildings and street goes north down the side of the building and ends in a back beer garden area surrounded by mature bamboo, trees and plants that give it more of a secluded garden oasis ambiance. The well worn tile floor was pulled up for polished concrete, new tables were brought in and booths were saved but repainted with the Gigantic colors.
Like the other two Gigantic Brewing locations (the flagship Champagne Room in SE and the Robot Room satellite pub in NE) the Hawthorne pub is well lit and colorful with limited bar seating, booths, and the biggest patio so far. The color scheme is Gigantic’s signature patriotic blue, red, and white.
From the start Gigantic Brewing has been a flexible brand, capable of any range of styles and events with an emphasis on travel and cultural experiences exemplified in art and culinary adventures. Ben Love and Van Havig have never hesitated for an outrageous tongue-and-cheek photo op or visual representation, and rarely miss an opportunity to show up at any invitational beer festival or far flung collaboration from Denmark to Japan. Their travels directly inspired the food from their first ever kitchen, but remain approachable and still familiar to the average Portlander.
The Gigantic Hawthorne signature dish? The “Flaeskasteg” which is basically a Danish version of a midwestern American classic pork loin sandwich. Inspired by a visit to the Isted Grill in Copenhagen, Denmark during the Mikkeller Beer Celebration. Ben and Van recreated this classic using Carlton Farms pork, pounded into a dense slab, then breaded and roasted until it’s crackling, served on a local bun with braised red cabbage, remoulade, and housemade dill pickle coins.
The Japanese Fried Chicken is where it’s at however, this is a take on Japanese Karaage, served regular or spicy (choose spicy) as either a bowl of bite sized sharable nuggets with a housemade yuzu mayo for dipping and pickle coins, or full size thighs in a fried chicken sandwich. And for vegetarians/vegans they make a firm tofu substitution as appetizer or main course.
“I had spicy karaage at Shiga Kogen Brewery's Teppa Room near Nagano, Japan,” says Ben Love. “We were there for the Snow Monkey Beer Festival. Our version is a variation on what we had there, we use a hot oil and then dust with togarashi.”
A significant amount of the menu is dedicated to Jim Parker approved loaded tots or crinkle fries starting at just $6 and available gluten-free or vegan. For the basic no nonsense whimps, you can choose a sauce: ketchup, buffalo, house bbq, ranch, general tso, burger sauce, or vegan burger sauce. But the main menu highlights a list of 5 specialty versions all with the options to add bacon, chicken, or fried tofu for a surcharge:
Cheesy AF : topped with our baller grilled cheese sauce, plus extra cheese (gf)
Totchos : cheddar & jack cheese, pickled jalapeños, olives, tomato, onion, salsa, sour cream, and guacamole. (gf)
Buffalo : buffalo sauce, ranch, gorgonzola, scallions (gf)
BBQ : house BBQ, pickled jalapenos, crispy fried onions, sharp cheddar (gf)
General Tso : general Tso sauce, scallions, cilantro, pickled thai chilies (gf)
From their initial launch in 2012, Gigantic Brewing promised not to repeat themselves by making only one year-round beer - Gigantic IPA. These days they make a few exemplary styles year-round like Kolschtastic, a great northwest German-style Kolsch, and LP Stout, an equally great English/American Stout that they serve from one of two cask engines at the new Gigantic Hawthorne location tentatively titled the Gigantic Pub & Portrait Room.
Gigantic Hawthorne is tentatively titled the pub and picture gallery for the as of yet unfinished back room which will serve as a spillover and event space with a more polished and British-style pubby vibe. The room will be wood paneled with grandiose oak tables and portraits of Ben and Van presiding over picture gallery like lords of the hall. Over time, Gigantic plans to add more painted portraits of important or longstanding members of the brewery family, but that’s a project for another time and Gigantic Brewing’s third location is for today.
Gigantic Brewing Hawthorne (Pub and Portrait Room)
4343 SE Hawthorne Blvd, Portland, OR 97215
Days/Hours:
Mon-Fri 3-9pm
Sat-Sun noon-9pm