Blackbird Pizza

1935 SE Hawthorne Blvd.

Open 12 pm -2 am daily

503.236.5223 for delivery

blackbirdpizzapdx.com

 

Not only is Blackbird Pizza a good place to go for food and beverage but they offer entertainment and a visually-stimulating atmosphere, thanks to the walls of iconic pop art created by local artist Ace Troy.

Cory Jones
Cory Jones

When Cory Jones and Robert Thomas bought the place a little over a year ago, they closed to improve the kitchen, upgrade the menu and rebrand the already happening business.

They came up with the name Blackbird Pizza, one all of the partners could all agree upon that fit well into the iconic Portland bird theme.

Thomas is a former chef from New York City who worked at the prestigious Gramercy Tavern with Tom Coliccho, one of the hosts and judges on “Top Chef”.

At one point Thomas grew weary of keeping up with the next big thing and headed to Portland and opened the Swift Lounge on Broadway.

Jones was a long time employee of Vincente’s (the Blackbird’s previous business) before going to work for Thomas at the Swift Lounge in 2009. He’s learned the business from the ground up by doing every job imaginable and understanding the details of a demanding business.

ablack outHaving a sense of humor and the right attitude is a good combo in the service industry. These two have plenty of both and it’s reflected in the atmosphere at Blackbird.

Artist Ace Troy has covered the walls with imaginative and thought-provoking art work and the game room calls to you with the blinking lights and the otherworldly sounds emanating from within.

There’s exciting pinball games – Indian Jones, Star Trek and World Cup as well as games of skill like Big Buck, X-Man, Mortal Combat and even an ancient Ms. Pac Man. It doesn’t get much better than that at least until they finish the new game room upstairs with 12 new pinball machines. Blackbird recently hosted the Oregon state pinball championship.

In keeping with the good traditions of the previous owner’s menu, some of the pizzas have remained the same. “We didn’t go crazy changing everything. What we are doing differently is locally-sourcing ingredients, making more in-house, and including a gluten free crust, adding desserts, doing a New York style crust and expanding the menu,” Thomas said. “We just want to offer pizza and other dishes  that are approachable and done really well.”

Starting with pizza, both Jones and Thomas had to agree that the Lamb Sausage was one of their favorites with a basil pesto base, whole milk mozzarella, artichoke hearts, lamb sausage, green olives, pickled peppers.

The Vegan Delight is served with a cashew cream base with mushroom, red onion, green olives and roasted artichokes, Daiya vegan “cheese”, topped with fresh basil and wilted arugula. According to Jones, the vegan cheese is tasty.

The whole menu is available online and includes the ingredient options for the build it yourself style. It includes starters, salads, sandwiches and pasta.

“We keep it all fresh by ‘cross pollinating’, in other words using meats, cheeses, veggies prepared daily for pizza to use in the pasta and sandwiches,” Thomas said. This way the menu is more expansive and can offer something for everyone.

Happy Hour is daily from 2 – 8 pm with reduction in some choice drinks. The bar menu has some ornithological sounding drinks like the Chimney Swift, Guilty Sparrow, Cheeky Owl or the Kentucky Blackbird. Which one of those names doesn’t sound good?

On draft is the once-again famous Rainier, and all manner of other brews including ciders plus bottles and cans, wine, non-alcoholic drinks and even a classic Shirley Temple.

They have a Pizza of the Day, many selections of slices, carry out and delivery until 2 am. This is a place for families and friends to hang out at and enjoy the atmosphere and good vibes.

Blackbird Pizza

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