Epif
Vegan restaurant · Kerns
404 NE 28th Ave, Portland, OR 97232
Highlights
Vegan South American pisco bar with creative small plates
Vegan South American pisco bar with creative small plates
"Built around a giant tree limb, Epif offers a vegan twist on South American fare. Pepe Arancibia slings small plates like baked empanadas with house ají verde salsa, apple bocadillo with tempeh crumbles and jalapeño-Honee, and sopaipillas — fried pumpkin bread that’s also drizzled with apple juice-based vegan honey. Explicitly focused on pisco, the bar serves infusions of the spirit in flavors like chamomile and cucumber as well as cocktails like the jalapeño pisco sour. The warm, intimate dining room — accented with repurposed materials, an antique front door from Peru, and a colorful mural depicting a magical llama — makes for an excellent date night spot on 28th Avenue’s restaurant row." - Anastasia Sloan
"This vegan South American “Pisco bar” is about so much more than brandy. Visitors can enjoy one of several different nonalcoholic cocktail options here all for $10 or under. Some options play with spices or botanicals to help cut through the juicy sweetness, like the Bee’s Bonnet, with chamomile tea, coconut milk, and lavender bitters. The Tropic Tonic is a smart option for those who love a tiki bar, combining ginger beer with pineapple and lime." - Thom Hilton
"Built around a giant tree limb, Epif offers a vegan twist on traditionally meat- and seafood-heavy South American fare. Pepe Arancibia slings small plates like baked empanadas with house ají verde salsa, pimentones rellenos (stuffed pickled sweet peppers), and sopaipillas, fried pumpkin bread drizzled with apple juice-based vegan apple honey. The bar program focuses on infused pisco cocktails, but also includes thoughtfully balanced mocktails, like the pineapple-ginger-lime Tropic Topic. The warm, intimate dining room — accented with repurposed materials, an antique front door from Peru, and a colorful mural depicting a magical llama — makes for an excellent date night spot on 28th Avenue’s restaurant row." - Waz Wu
"After operating a restaurant in Chile for six years, Epif owners Nicolle Dirks and Jose “Pepe” Arancibia moved to Portland to transform normally meat-centric South American dishes into vegan marvels. Dill polenta cakes arrive with tamarind tempeh, while fried pumpkin sopaipillas get a touch of sweetness from vegan honey. While the swank dining area is inviting, the narrow bar will treat fans of pisco to the largest selection in the city, as well as a wide array of cocktails." - Thom Hilton
"A five-year-old, Andes-inspired vegan restaurant in Portland that prioritized direct online ordering and local logistics when reopening for takeout, initially refusing walk-up sales and directing customers to its website. The owners’ hands-on approach (the chef and owner doing most of the work) and menu items that travel well — notably empanadas — helped the business break even. The restaurant partnered with a local bicycle delivery service for reliable, affordable doorstep service and direct communication with couriers, which staff praise for solving problems quickly; after experimenting reluctantly with a large third-party app, orders via that channel proved sporadic and disconnected, prompting the owners to prefer local deliveries and to consider leaving the big platform if commission caps are lifted." - Kristen Hawley
