Outer southeast Portland’s underrated gem Montavilla Brew Works is reopening indoor seating for the first time in more than 2 years starting today. The 10bbl neighborhood favorite on SE Stark St. is known for their classic ales and lagers, and a lowkey, friendly atmosphere designed around human interaction while sharing quaffable pints rather than TV’s, events, or loud music.

Montavilla Brew Works was lucky enough to already have a nice beer garden area off the street, and it’s been a huge asset during the pandemic, in which they also started canning their beers and ramped up distribution. This past winter, they worked out one of the better systems for year-round outdoor seating with a covered and insulated beer garden that still kept warm and the air moving by pumping hot air through the billowing tents. I can personally attest that even on a icy cold day it was warm in the patio. But with the temps rising, there will be less need for that as COVID cases begin to go down in warmer temperature after the current rise in infections.

“Our expanded and upgraded space (including the beergarden) has given us 100% increased capacity,” says Montavilla Brew Works owner Michael Kora. “Apparently, Covid has been good for certain things…building out our patio wasn’t something we needed to do in the past, but it’s now a huge boon for us and our customers!”

Today, Friday, May 20th marks the official reopening of indoor seating at Montavilla Brew Works, that includes rails along the brewhouse, tall and seated group tables, and even a handful of bar seats along the live oak bar top.

“When we first designed the interior of our space, we wanted to pay homage to some of our favorite breweries that had a similar setup (notably, The Commons Brewery)” says Kora.

The last few months have been a surprising amount of work just to reopen Montavilla Brew Works indoors. In addition to even more seating options, they now have a heavy-duty HEPA-filtered air scrubber that runs 24/7 keeping the taproom air fresh and hopefully virus free. And for the first time ever MBW is looking for an on-site food truck willing to make a seasonal or long-term partnership. Previously the taproom has only offered a few packaged snacks, but with business returning and the anticipation of bigger crowds in the warmer weather a food option is more of a draw than ever.

“My philosophy is that as long as they are reliable, a food truck operator can show up as often as they want (with a proper agreement in place). A long-term partnership would be ideal if they were the right fit for us and our beer,” adds Kora on the prospect of a MBW food truck partner.

There are also new beers on tap like Tiddlywink ESB, a traditional British-style Pale Ale brewed with Maris Otter malt, caramel & chocolate malts, East Kent Golding hops and British ale yeast. Alongside fresh beers in cans like returning favorites Plywood Pilsner and Jerry Berry Sour.

MBW is 21+ only, pets are allowed in the beer garden.

Montavilla Brew Works
7805 SE Stark St, Portland, OR 97215

Hours:
Friday - Saturday 3–9PM
Sunday 12–7PM
Monday Closed
Tuesday - Thursday 3–8PM