Foster forges a new identity

Trib Town • New businesses, affordable housing revitalize neighborhood

By steve law

The Portland Tribune, May 8, 2008, Updated Oct 30, 2009 (32 Reader comments)

KATIE HARTLEY / TRIBUNE PHOTO

Southeast Foster Road, previously inhabited by pawn shops and fast food restaurants, is showing signs of new vitality. New businesses like Speedboat Coffee are popping up and encouraging locals to hang around.

When Rob Hergenrader opened his Mocha Master coffee shop on Foster Road six years ago, he could tell some of his customers were hooked on meth.

It wasn’t a very good neighborhood, Hergenrader recalled, with “a lot of meth and theft and graffiti.”

But in the past couple of years, it seems, the meth addicts along Foster have been replaced by caffeine addicts.

Oh, sure, there are still several windowless, smoky taverns along Foster between Southeast 50th and 90th. There’s still a pawnshop, a “Gentlemen’s Club,” an adult video store and a cocktail bar offering “stripper karaoke” on Sundays. You can still shop for guns and beer-logo mirrors on Foster.

But there’s an unmistakable transition under way in what has long been one of Portland’s seediest commercial arteries.

Cava, which opened in October, may be the first Foster Road restaurant to attract foodies and other diners from miles away. There’s also a hip new tattoo parlor, a trendy breakfast spot (Bar Carlo) a trendy nightspot (Slingshot Lounge), and several new cafes and coffee shops.

You can now buy sushi on Foster and 82nd Avenue. You can even spot Martha Stewart’s smiling face – no lie – on a billboard near 90th Avenue, pitching her line of “easy and elegant wines.”

And Hergenrader’s drive-through coffee shop, under the tutelage of new owner-operators from Seattle and Brooklyn, is undergoing a renaissance of its own.

Any day, co-managers Angela Kelly and Valerie Young said, a spiffy new sign will go up heralding Foster’s newest attraction: Speedboat Coffee.

The sisters-in-law took over from Hergenrader 2 1/2 months ago, and are transforming his former coffee shop into a lively neighborhood hangout.

The interior is decked out with vintage photos and paraphernalia with a speedboat theme. Kelly and Young are fantasizing about mounting a real motorboat on the roof. The theme was chosen because it evokes an image of fast service, Kelly said, an important asset for a coffee shop relying on drive-through business.

They also hope to lure more customers in to sit for a spell. Outdoor seating is being added on the wide sidewalk along Foster. They’ll expand their hours into early evening, supplementing their popular smoothies and coffee drinks with a new menu of soups, sandwiches and paninis.

1 | 2 Next Page >>

Facebook	Digg	Del.icio.us
Newsvine	Stumbleupon	Reddit