First look at Backwoods Brewing in Hillsboro
Backwoods Brewing is opening their third taproom, and second location in Oregon, this Monday, November 6th in Hillsboro. The Carson, Washington based Backwoods Brewing, joins a multilevel food and beverage collective redevelopment with a roof top bar and European-style plaza at 206 E Main St. Hillsboro, OR 97123
Backwoods in Hillsboro is part of the $8.25 million redevelopment project the Main Street Commons in old downtown Hillsboro, Oregon. If the location seems familiar, it was originally a large US Bank Building, and was slated to become the third Oregon location of Ex Novo Brewing before they pulled the plug to focus on New Mexico.
Backwoods Brewing has made a quick turnaround on getting the Hillsboro pub open since their announcement of taking on the lease in late June. Ex Novo Brewing had brought it halfway or more to the finish line, allowing Backwoods to step in for the final leg of the race and making it their own with all of the log cabin, mountainous outdoorsy vibe that the brand has exemplified from their beginnings in 2012 as a small brewpub in the gorge.
The Main Street Commons is so large that it has been split up into four separate leased spaces over a 24,000-square-foot food hub.. On the back half of the building is a new location of Grand Central Bakery with an extensive indoor cafe, and a Sizzle Pie location with it’s own courtyard patio shared with Grand Central on the back of the building. An as yet unnamed fourth tenant rumored to be a Mexican/Tapas-style small plates and cocktail bar will be sandwiched in the middle of the building, and share half of the expansive rooftop patio with Backwoods Brewing.
“Hillsboro has so much vitality,” said Travis Henry of Henry Point Development, developer of the Main Street Commons restaurant-retail space. “Bringing high-quality established food operators to this growing suburban area provides even more reasons to be in Downtown Hillsboro.”
Backwoods Brewing is the prime anchor tenant of the Main Street Commons, their pub takes up the entire 7,800 sq. ft front Main Street facing side of the building and 3,000 square feet of a 5k sq ft. rooftop which has it’s own smaller bar. The rooftop should prove to be a huge draw for gatherings, even year-round, as it is both wide open on the sides but with a slanted angular rooftop that protects from the wetter elements without fully enclosing the space. From either side of the building wide rooftop you can look down onto the main street and Giant Sequoia Heritage Tree Site outside of the county courthouse, or south on 2nd avenue towards the Hillsboro Artists' Regional Theatre.
“With elevator access and taps in the rooftop area, it will definitely be the popular spot to have a beer and people watch from up above,” says Jason Ogden, Backwoods regional General Manager.
The main Backwoods Hillsboro pub is marked by a wide entrance displayed below their logo that opens into a foyer-style entry with beer to-go and a check-in host stand with string lighted canoes hanging overhead. While the building is more functional concrete metal in design, Backwoods has done a lot in warming the space up to give it their signature brand of woody atmosphere.
The bar is a polished and finished live edge oak slab, the back bar looks assembled from wood panels, and the lighting fixtures chosen to reflect the more lodge-like pacific northwest atmosphere. A dining area is a little more prototypical modern American pub, with lots of large and small tables to accommodate groups. One side has floor to ceiling windows with great people watching to main street, the other a display of prints featuring the brewhouse, kegs, and facilities of Backwoods photographed in black & white. Along the west side a lineup of flat screen TV’s that are hung high enough to as not be obtrusive, but are visible from just about any angle so no one has to miss a game.
The food menu is virtually identical to Backwoods in the Pearl district of downtown-area Portland. It is a large menu created to please a wide audience and leave everyone satisfied, that makes it safe but also comforting. There are no less than 6 burgers and 13 non-burger sandwiches on the menu. If you are looking for something somewhat healthier, there are 4 different sizable wraps on the menu available with side salads or house soups. There are also 5 full entree size salads that can also be ordered as smaller side salads.
We started out the meal with a shareable size portion of the ‘Fried Pickles' ($10.75), these are spear sized pickles in a buttery crust that were really excellent with ranch and served in a larger basket than we anticipated. For the main meal we went with the ‘Fiesta Chicken Wrap’ ($15.50) Fajita chicken with spring mix, pico, black bean salsa, mix cheese, tortilla strips and avocado with our jalapeño ranch dressing, with a cup of a ‘Chicken Tortilla Soup’ on the side. This was a mammoth wrap, extremely well constructed and easy to eat with just the right amount of sauce so as not to get too drippy, the soup was solid but safe on the spicing. And we couldn’t help but try the ‘Pulled Pork Nachos’ ($16) because the photo used online looked so good and I cant resist a good nachos. I found out they are available with chips or as tots instead, but for me the tot option can just be too over the top so I went with the chips. The entree sized plate is topped with pulled pork and Backwoods own Copperline Amber barbecue sauce, with house made tortilla chips, shredded nacho cheese, diced tomatoes, onions, cilantro, jalapeños and sour cream.
The bar at Backwoods Hillsboro features 21 drafts, primarily housemade beers including a few IPA’s both hazy, juicy, and clear, a light lager and their slightly hoppier pilsner, a rotating seasonal sour and other fruited beers, plus a handful of more strong and dessert-driven offerings like the currently in season King Size Stout, S’Mores, and the Comfy Womfy Winter Ale. And yes there is a full bar with 8 house cocktails from spicy margaritas, to their own takes on a Moscow Mule, Old Fashioned, Lemon Drop and Bloody Mary. If there is a wine drinker, they have you covered with 4 whites, 4 reds, and 2 bubbly. And as all Backwoods locations, they are kid friendly with plenty of non-alcoholic options.
Backwoods Brewing has a lot going on, they have their original brewpub in Carson with an expanded outdoor area and covered pavilion for private events. Their main brewery is on the river in Stevenson, Washington. They are developing the Backwoods Party Acres with fully furnished cabins that are soft-opened now. And interestingly the Backwoods Hillsboro pub on top of their NW Portland Pearl District location gives the brewery more public presence in Oregon than Washington.
Backwoods Brewing in Hillsboro
206 E Main St
Hillsboro, OR 97123 (503) 713-5630
HOURS: Mon–Thu, Sun 11:00 am–9:00 pm Fri, Sat 11:00 am–10:00 pm