SteepleJack Brewing Pizza & Beer pub opens in southwest Portland
Less than a year after opening their original northeast Portland brewpub, Oregon’s best new brewery of 2021 is opening their second location SteepleJack Pizza & Beer on Monday, May 16th, 2022. As first reported by the New School back in February, SteepleJack Brewing has purchased the former home of IBU Public House on SW Beaverton Hillsdale Hwy in the Hillsdale neighborhood and has converted it into a multi-floor, 200+ seat showcase of their exceptional ales and lagers but with an all new menu of pizza and salads. The pizza pub is the first of two new locations scheduled for 2022, the second being a production facility and taproom in Hillsboro.
SteepleJack Brewing is already well known for their beautiful build-out that restored a 110+ year old church in northeast Portland’s Sullivan’s Gulch neighborhood. Beyond putting the money on display, they followed-up with hiring the first all female brew team in Oregon, and then recently winning a Gold medal at the 2022 Oregon Beer Awards for their Alewife dark mild as well as the New Brewery of the Year Award.
With SteepleJack Pizza & Beer they wade into uncharted territory, outside of the confines of their destination worthy historical church brewpub, the second location aims to be more of a locals neighborhood spot for the southwest side of town and their Beaverton neighbors. Though it doesn’t have the palpable sense of history, the grandeur of arched ceilings, or the majestic stained glass, SteepleJack Beer & Pizza does have a similarly old world beer hall feel and impressive scope.
An entryway leads down a short hallway opening into the main bar, a ground-floor level seating arrangement with a small floor plan and much less bartop seating then the NE Broadway pub. They have opened the bar-area up from the former IBU setup and now have an extensive spirits collection, house cocktails and vintage classic cocktails. The taplist is virtually the same as the original pub, and that’s a good thing because the variety of styles is very much on display from lagers to hazy IPA’s and classic English ales to offbeat European obscurities from 15 draft lines. They haven’t forgotten the cask conditioned ales either, two different beer engines are ready to serve you up a British-style Pint of SteepleJack’s newly Gold medal winning Alewife dark mild ale.
But if the bar is not the focal point of the Pizza pub, it’s definitely the sunken main floor dining room with skylights and an entrance/exit to the enclosed patio. The English-style Pub layout features a staircase that takes you up to a second floor dining area and game room that looks down onto the main level, with a third dining space below that. On the top corner of the attic level there is a game room down the hall, featuring big live wood table slabs, a gas fireplace and lounge chairs, TV and shuffleboard, an even smaller room has an intimate spillover bar that could host special events and private parties away from the rest of the tavern.
With it’s own expansive parking lot that wraps around the building is not enough reason for those who struggled with finding a space near the main location in Hollywood/Sullivan’s Gulch, visiting SteepleJack Pizza & Beer slices out it’s own identity with an elevated patio deck and completely different food menu.
Executive Chef Laurence Gable is flexing his muscles firing dough and spinning pies as the name suggests. It’s a big change of pace from the bowls, burgers and tacos that dominate the menu at the original pub. Based on the early industry preview ahead of the May 16th opening, Gable has nailed the classic Tavern-style pizza with it’s bready chewy interior with spotty charred bubbles and a medium-thickness to the slices heavier then New York-style but much thinner than any deep dish. Toppings are minimal, but carefully and evenly distributed over every slice. Bubbly cheesey, lightly oily fat content, and fresh peppers, local meats, and classic flavor combos are the name of the game and aim to be crowdpleasers rather than showstoppers. Each pie is single size 14” inch wheels, ranging in price from $14-$20.
Cheese - mozzarella, marinara, herbs
Pepperoni - ezzo pepperoni, mozzarella, marinara
Margherita - fresh mozzarella, tomato, basil, marinara, and pesto drizzle
Sausage - fennel sausage, shaved fennel, parmesan, mama lil’s peppers, marinara, mozzarella
Meatball - house-made pork and beef meatballs, parmesan, basil, marinara, mozzarella
White Pie - white sauce, wild mushroom blend, herbs, garlic confit, shallot, garlic oil
Hawaiian - pineapple/jalapeno/pork belly lardon jam, fresh jalapeno, canadian bacon
The Lawrence - prosciutto, marinara, mozzarella with arugula and mama lil’s drizzle
But don’t ignore the creamy polenta, arancini, meatballs, or wedge salad. And they haven’t forgotten desserts in the form of cookies (chocolate chip, oameal cookie w/icing, creme brulee cookie, and a brookie half cookie/half brownie.)
Back in February when we first reported SteepleJack Pizza & Beer owner Brody Day told us, “The great thing about the space is it’s really large, it’s almost 9,000 sq. ft.” says Day, and that provides options for gatherings and more intimate experiences in it’s rich dark woody interior, outdoor patio seating, mezzanines, fireplaces and private dining spaces. “We are putting a lot more effort and energy into this space, just as far as rehabbing the space. Our design intent is to restore the building to highlight these attributes,” he said.
Mission accomplished, because this space may not be a 110+ year old church but it does have a similar vibe when taking in the full space from the interior. It’s a rare example of a pub that looks fairly non-descript and imposing from the exterior, but inside it actually opens up to reveal a real European-style pub vibe transformed into suburban Americana. The type of space that you can bring large groups, pub night gatherings, after-work beers, or the whole family for pizza night and a few adult beverages.
4439 SW Beaverton Hillsdale Hwy, Portland, OR 97221
(503) 719-6241
Monday - Friday: 3pm-10pm
Saturday - Sunday: Noon - 10pm