Breakside Brewery downtown Vancouver, Washinton taproom
By the end of April 2025 Breakside will have their first location outside of Oregon as they take over the space formerly occupied by Locust Cider in downtown Vancouver, Washington. Breakside had been looking at opening a Washington location for some time, and got very close to securing a spot in Camas. After a tip from a friend about Locust Cider’s recent closure, the building at 700 Washington Street seemed to be a perfect fit. Location, location, location as they say, this spot is just steps from Esther Short Park and near other cool downtown spots like A Little Vice, Smokin’ Oak, Little Conejo, and the new Irrelevant Beer and Goon Burger taproom.
The Breakside Vancouver taproom is about 2,000 sq. ft., with 60 indoor seats, 10 bar seats, and 20 outdoor seats. It will operate as a full service Breakside similar to their locations in NW Slabtown and the original NE Dekum pub and with clean but similar branding with a colorful wraparound mural above the bar. The drinks will highlight 16 taps of Breakside beer, plus cider, cocktails, and soon Breakside’s own wine label Alit.
One thing that will be a little different in Vancouver, a food menu catering to the lunch crowd with stacked sub sandwiches and quality local bread along with salads and Breakside’s beloved giant pretzel.
Breakside BBQ
Dan Brownhill, Breakside’s Director of Restaurants and Taprooms, is super passionate about barbecue and has been keen to integrate it into the brewery’s food program for some time.
Brownhill finds barbecue compelling as “food that actually brings people through the door, not just something to munch on as an afterthought. BBQ and beer is an incredible pairing. We’re certainly not the first brewery to land on that conclusion, but we think there’s still room for more great BBQ in Oregon,” says Brownhill. “BBQ is truly a “craft” product. It requires skill, patience, and attention to detail. All the best things take time, and we pride ourselves in putting in the time, paying attention to the details, and ultimately creating something special. I believe that our BBQ program will succeed with the same production approach that we apply to our beers.”
The concept will pilot launch sometime this Spring at Breakside’s Astoria taproom from original general manager Kyle Chriestenson who hails from Kansas City, but won’t be focusing on Kansas City style BBQ. Instead the Breakside BBQ won’t fit into any specific geographic BBQ category. Yes the brisket will be more Texas-style with a pepper rub, but they also want Pacific seafood on the menu as the Breakside Astoria location pivots away from crab and lobster rolls to smoked salmon sandwich, smoked oysters, and other seasonal meats and specialties smoked over locally sourced wood such as Oregon White Oak, Apple, and Alder. All smoking will be done on-site in Astoria, and later in a food truck at the new Dundee winery. The BBQ menu will also include pulled pork, tri-tip, chicken, smoked mushrooms, mac and cheese with your choice of fresh smoked meat, and Saturday special brisket platters.
