Travel Portland recently proclaimed Portland #CityOfPopUps, and if that is true then Casey Armstrong must be the mayor. His NW 23rd avenue bar Function PDX has been a pop-up venue for craft beer since 2017, and has hosted over 55 different breweries and brands in that time. Next year Function will expand, not only two a second location on NE Alberta but onto the second floor of their current location as well, nearly doubling their space to feature breweries from across the country.

When Function first opened, the concept was to be an idea incubator focused around up-and-coming brands that wanted to test the retail/hospitality waters before committing the capital and risky investment. Examples include Small Bar, that used Function to host Omakase-style dinners, and now has a food truck in Multnomah Village's French Quarter. Zen Tea, a Chinese Tea shop popped up at Function for 10 days and later opened up their own place. Function was always based around a pop-up space, but it wasn’t until 2 years later after hosting pFriem Family Brewers that the vision really coalesced around breweries and other craft beverage producers.

“I realized that there was a literal thirst for a creative, temporary brewery taproom at that point,” says Function owner Casey Armstrong. “We booked out our entire year, focused around 7-10 day pop-ups with Oregon and Washington brands.”

Still, Armstrong says they didn’t really find their groove of month-long pop-ups until May of 2021 when they welcomed Alvarado Street Brewery from Monterey, California for their post-COVID reopening party to last the entire month instead of a week. “That length of time has really worked for us as it gives our consumer-base a chance to REALLY experience the brand through multiple shipments of fresh beer throughout the month,” he says.

The concept works because it is something different from the norm, says Armstrong. “I can't say enough about the great taprooms in the Portland Metro area that curate a beautiful taplist of local and non-local beer in well-thought-out and designed space.  There are too many to list.  Those places mostly rely on a heavy "regular crowd" that either go there because it's close to home, work or because of reputation.  But it's HARD out in the wild and there are a lot of options!  What I believe I've done with Function is create not just a regular crowd, but a destination for people.”

That level of success has afforded Armstrong the capital to test the concept further, while other taprooms are closing, Function is expanding onto the second level above their current sunken space at 919 NW 23rd Ave, Portland, OR 97210. The second floor, (currently Foundation, a fashion retailer), is accessible from an outdoor staircase and directly connected through big glass doors to a secluded shared patio in the back of the building. Function’s current taproom is 820 sq. ft, the upstairs will add another 850 sq. ft in addition to their 440 sq. ft. back patio.

The much larger floor plan not only will give guests the opportunity to find new seating arrangements, brighter and more open areas, but also more taps and a bottle/can to enjoy on-site or to-go. Function will expand their current 6 draft lines, to 8 downstairs, and have a separate upstairs bar with 4 more drafts. A section of the upstairs currently used as a changing area will become a “beer cave” with 8 large cooler doors of beers, cider or seltzers from their featured pop-up, and the opportunity to save some SKUs from previous months into the future. The trick is expanding the selection without overburdening the guest breweries who have to send new product shipped directly for the pop-up on a weekly basis for the month. “We'll be doubling our request from each brewery, which means an ability to go deeper with certain SKUs and hopefully much wider into their selection.  We'll need to really dig into our bottle program as it has definitely been our lowest volume category over the years,” says Armstrong.

Function teased a second location coming to the hip and more residential funky Alberta Arts District back in September, and is now ready to reveal they will be going into the former Imperial Bottle Shop & Taproom location at 2006 NE Alberta St, Portland, OR 97211. The brick laden, much more open floor plan of 1,981 sq. ft. storefront has big sliding glass windows to the street and a full size walk-in cooler for them to keep a lot more backup beers, ciders, and seltzers in larger quantities.

“I'm most excited about the customer demographics in this area,” says Armstrong of his new Alberta neighborhood. “Baerlic and Great Notion are both just 4 blocks away and have proved that there is a great beer/beverage crowd on Alberta and we'd like to expand on the robust scene.  The bar itself gives us more space than we've had over the last 7 years and a HUGE bartop that we plan on refurbishing for our consumers.”

The tall ceilings and skylights will give Function Alberta a less dungeon dweller club vibe than the original, but the still dark and boxy space lends itself well to the feeling of transporting into a brewery taproom in a different state (or even country.) Previous design flourishes like the wall art and vintage beer signs will be traded out for digital art from the featured brewery pop-ups and Function’s upcoming calendar, a few screens reserved to show intentionally selected sporting events. To make it their own,  The Plant Doctors will fill the entire ceiling around the skylights with beautiful greenery, and they will incorporate black leather and globe lighting, all signature elements of Function’s current space.

Function NW and Alberta’s general manager Logan Shurtz says that their emphasis will remain as much on their people as on the brands they feature. “Function has always been about our staff. We have an amazing team and their dedication to being knowledgeable and making genuine connections with regulars and first time customers alike is crucial to our success,” says Shurtz. “With a second location, we’ll be relying heavily on our team to continue educating patrons about what we do and why we think it's so cool.”

Shurtz and Armstrong are excited about the new opportunities to feature more packaged products from their partners. While both locations will have “beer caves,” the Alberta spot will feature a much more extensive “past partners” section with 5 full coolers. “[This is] where beer that is still fresh will live, giving customers the opportunity to enjoy their favorite offerings after we flip the space. Looking ahead to 2025, we have some awesome ideas to differentiate the spaces even further, but we aren’t ready to release those plans yet,” says Shurtz. There may even be a code-operated cooler door for their Basement Beer Club members, who get early and exclusive access to the pop-up partners before the public.

Like their NW location, the Alberta Function will lean into linking up with their neighbors and fellow pop-ups for food options. Next door to the Alberta taproom is the acclaimed Proud Mary Coffee, and also nearby is Wild Child Pizza, so you can expect their food and drinks to be available at Function. Fan favorite pop-up food vendors such as HarBQ and Champs Smash Burgers, are also in talks to join them for specific weekend events.

Both Function’s NW expansion and Function Alberta will kickoff in February 2024 featuring Highland Park Brewery, an acclaimed lager and IPA centric brewery out of Los Angeles known for having created the hot new sub-style West Coast Pilsner. All future brewery partners will be featured at both of the Function locations during the same months, this allows new neighborhoods and fans to find them, and even more pull for the brands to send product to PDX.

“The challenge with our expansion will be continuing to keep the pop-ups fresh and exciting with new beers rolling out weekly,” says Armstrong, which is a task that Function is uniquely positioned to tackle with 6 years of experience and running. To take on the next phase of pop-ups, Function will close for January 2024 as they remodel and ready for the big relaunch.

Function Pdx NW and Alberta Pop-Up Calendar:

Closed for Expansion - January 2024

Highland Park Brewery (Los Angeles, CA) - February 2024

North Park Beer Co (San Diego, CA) - March 2024

Western Collective (Garden City, ID) - April 2024

Cerebral Brewing (Denver, CO) - May 2024

Everywhere Beer (Orange County, CA) - June 2024

Dewey Beer Co (Dewey Beach, DE) - July 2024

Beer Zombies (Las Vegas, NV) - August 2024

Yakima Chief Hops (Yakima, WA) - September 2024

Henhouse Brewing (Santa Rosa, CA) - October 2024

Mikerphone Brewing (Elk Grove Village, IL) - November 2024

Function Alberta (opening February 2024)
2006 NE Alberta St, Portland, OR 97211

Function NW
919 NW 23rd Ave, Portland, OR 97210