SteepleJack Brewing’s The Union on Hawthorne opens
Portland and Hillsboro, Oregon founded SteepleJack Brewing opens their fourth location The Union on Hawthorne on Monday, February 3rd, 2025. The Union on Hawthorne combines the SteepleJack Brewing brand with food trucks, and their spinoff business Harder Day Coffee, and the coming out party for their under-the-radar bakery concept Musette, all in one location.
The Union is the first to open from our Most Anticipated Upcoming Breweries & Taprooms of 2025 preview and is a rare instance where the space is actually much more visually appealing then the earlier digital renderings would lead you to believe. Located in a former Bank of America location at the corner of SE 38 and Hawthorne Blvd. The Union has the benefits of a vintage old Portland construction and the most central location for SteepleJack yet, with prime people watching and shopping options just outside the door.
Designed to appeal to appeal to adult, kids, and contemporary tastes, the Union opens at 7am every morning for Harder Day Coffee and light breakfast service with a full espresso and coffee bar, beans to-go, and pastries and baked goods from Musette. Unlike larger brands that outsource spinoff products, SteepleJack’s owners Brody Day and Dustin Harder have been working diligently to setup brands that have individual artisans touches with their own standalone independent identities.
Harder Day Coffee launched in April 2024 at 4229 SE Woodstock Blvd as a cafe and roastery that was previously Reforma Coffee and Esperanza Trading Company. Here they roast their own beans, and have thoughtfully built the brand around quality but approachable beans and versatile roasts for custom drinks as well as pour over and drip. The Union will be the 5th location of Harder Day, with the recent additions of Beaverton, NE Sandy Blvd., and SW Macadam Ave.
Musette is SteepleJack / Harder Day’s so far under-the-radar bakery, which quietly launched mid-2024 to make both savory and sweet pastries for their first coffee shop and ramp up to be able to handle bread for sandwiches and buns at the brewery pubs. The Musette baking space is in the basement of SteepleJack Beer & Pizza location near SW Hillsdale, but The Union is the first fully branded debut of the bakery which gets their own counter, pastry bar, and window on SE Hawthorne.
SteepleJack Brewing’s outpost at The Union operates with a separate staff than Musette and Harder Day, and differing hours starting at 11am to 9pm serving their house-beers and a small full liquor bar with custom cocktail menu that will soon utilize the upcoming Harder Day Distilling spirits. The opening cocktail menu features: Rosemary Pear Fizz (wild roots pear vodka, lemon, rosemary syrup, rocks, soda), Amaretto Ol’ Fashion (bourbon, amaretto, bitters, rock, orange peel + cherry), Orange Jalapeno Margarita (tequila, OJ, jalapeno simple, lime, orange liqueur), The Broken Plane (gin, lemon, amaro, elder liqueur), Espresso Martini (vodka, coffee & coffee liqueur, cinnamon syrup, orange bitters), Cinnamon Whiskey Sour (bourbon, lemon, cinnamon syrup, fee foam, black walnut bitters.)
A new focus of the beer program at SteepleJack Hawthorne is an extra emphasis on lagers rather than cask beer as originally planned. From the faucets they are pouring 12 drafts, 11 of them SteepleJack Beer, and 1 guest cider flavor. 5 of those draft beer lines will be devoted to lagers, 3-4 to hoppier offerings, and single lines devoted to a rotating dark beer, pale ale, and English-style beer. And yes there will be a happy hour! From 11am - 4pm daily its $1 off pints, $8 select cocktail special, plus a shot and beer for just $10.
Like the other SteepleJack locations, The Union sports a large assortment of seating options from beer hall to cozy lounge chairs and couches with limited bar seating as well as a back counter bar with high-def TV’s to catch games, and a few pinball machine for kids and adults alike.
The Union will be SteepleJack’s first location without its own kitchen, with a backlot food truck pod instead. Trading in the pizza, burgers, tacos and comfort food of the three original SteepleJack locations, The Union will debut 5 different food trucks on a weeklyish basis over their first month of operation.
Tacos Fita is the debut food truck at The Union for opening day 2/3. This taqueria also specializes in burritos, tortas, and excellent ribeye. Their new location on Hawthorne will have breakfast food as well.
Mama Chow’s Kitchen joins The Union on 2/14 bringing their Chinese dumplings, noodles & wings relocating from their previous location at the Farmhouse Carts off of SE Division and 34th. The reopening for Mama Chow’s is especially poignant, as the beloved food truck owner Jeff Chow slipped while hiking Wahclella Falls and fell over 10 feet landing headfirst on a rock outcropping last fall.
Shera Punjabi, is a spinoff of the Shera Indian Food truck located at the Farmhouse Carts on SE Division. Shera will offer cuisine inspired by the northern India Punjabi people who’s food is known for creamier, dairy based dishes like butter chicken, using ghee, paneer, and other rich and hearty food. Opening date TBD in mid-February.
Gyro World is yet another food truck relocating from the Farmhouse Carts on SE Division. Shawarma, House made hummus, falafel, salad, rice, and of course gyros are on deck for your middle eastern food fix. Opening date TBD in mid-February.
Ali’s Hot Chicken & Smashburgers will open their 6th (!) location in the metro-area with a new custom built food truck where the name kind of says it all. Expect lots of fried chicken and hot Nashville spices, greasy burgers, Mac & cheese, fries, and more of the food you hate to love. Ali’s is opening around the 1st of March at The Union.
The Union on Hawthorne grand opening is on February 15th 2025
Location: 3757 SE Hawthorne Blvd. Portland, OR 97214
SteepleJack Brewing at The Union open 11am to 9pm daily.
Harder Day Coffee and Musette bakery open 7am to 4pm daily.