Pono Brewing Photo by Andi Prewitt.
After six years with no open-to-customers home of its own, Pono Brewing just held its first weekend of service at its new pub, reviving the Hollywood District’s long-vacant Columbia River Brewing space.
Pono Brewing Photo by Andi Prewitt.
Pono Brew Lab officially welcomed the public to its restaurant and production facility at 1728 NE 40th Ave. on Friday, Aug. 26. Media, friends and family got a sneak peek at the refurbished building and menu.
Anyone familiar with the no-frills Columbia dining room and bar will immediately notice the bright new look. The walls got a fresh coat of paint in Pono’s signature shades of red, yellow and green. The booths were also torn out and covered in new vinyl and the flooring throughout was redone—the founders had to go down to the subfloors for repairs in the restroom and kitchen.
“It was pretty beat up,” Erick Russ, Pono co-founder and sales manager, tells WW, “like someone just kinda threw their hands up and walked away.”
Pono Brewing Photo by Andi Prewitt.
The building had sat empty for some time. Columbia River Brewing closed in 2019 after nine years of operations due to unspecified issues with the landlord. Spud Monkey’s Bar and Grill moved in for a short period, opening right before the first wave of pandemic lockdowns, which ultimately took out that business.
All of that hard work on the space is now paying off, giving longtime Pono fans a dependable place to find its beer on tap and accompany those pints with some stellar Pacific Island-Asian-inspired food. You really couldn’t go wrong with building an entire meal out of the starters alone, which include beef and vegetarian Filipino lumpia, kalua pork sliders, french fries topped with either more of that pig or beef bulgogi, sticky garlic shoyu wings, and crab-and-cream-cheese Rangoon. There are also more substantial mains, like Korean fried chicken, kalbi short ribs, loco moco, and slow-cooked then deep-fried pork belly.
Pono Brewing Photo by Andi Prewitt.
Pono has 24 taps, many of which will eventually pour experimental offerings made in the 7-barrel, copper-and-stainless-steel brewhouse that Pono inherited from Columbia River. It’s still located in the basement of the building, visible from the dining room’s floor-to-ceiling windows. The founders say they plan to use it to test out new hops from Crosby Hop Farm in Woodburn and St. Paul’s Willamette Valley Hops. The bulk of Pono’s beer will continue to be made at Zoiglhaus Brewing in Lents. A mixed-fermentation and barrel-aging program is also in the works.
Pono plans to fire up the system Sept. 15, barring any construction complications. When that first batch is ready—the style is still being decided—the Brew Lab will host its official grand opening party.
For now, hours are 4-10 pm Sunday through Thursday and 4 pm-midnight Friday and Saturday. Once the business is fully staffed, the founders plan to open for lunch.
Pono Brewing Photo by Andi Prewitt.
Pono Brewing Photo by Andi Prewitt.
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