In 2000, well before the cocktail bar boomed across Portland, Peter Bro of Broder Café opened his Scandinavian design-themed lounge on the corner of 34th and Belmont. Named for Finnish architect Alva Aalto, Aalto Lounge evolved into a local institution, drawing youthful crowds for its late-night DJs, minimalist cocktails, cozy-chic vibes, and killer happy hour. The bar had thrived since 2011 under the stewardship of its second owners, Kate and Alex Wood — bar manager and co-owner Andrew Moore won “Best Bartender” in Willamette Week’s readers’ poll numerous times. Then it temporarily closed in early May. Now, on Friday, May 29, the bar will reopen under new ownership, with a cocktail list of playful classics and a menu of Filipino-influenced
bar food.
This new Aalto Lounge comes from bartender Olivia Ennis Hilton and chef Meesh Fennimore. The couple sports an impressive CV: Ennis Hilton spent the last three-plus years tending bar at the Woods’s Beaumont spot, Wonderly, while Fennimore has cooked their way through some of Portland’s top restaurants including Han Oak, Jeju, Afuri, and Berlu. In 2025, the two launched their pop-up Nomida, with Fennimore cooking dishes inspired by their home country of the Philippines and their upbringing in Japan and Hawaii. Kate Wood encouraged the pair to hold the inaugural pop-up at Aalto as a way to get them interested in the space; she and Alex were already looking to sell Aalto to focus on other priorities, and felt that Ennis Hilton and Fennimore would be ideal candidates to take over the storied bar.
“Aalto is more than just a place,” Kate says. “It’s where people met their partners, celebrated anniversaries and birthdays. It means a lot to a lot of people. Olivia, she’s a badass. She truly is so great at her job. Meesh has a great pedigree and is so well-regarded. I’m so happy for them to continue on in the Aalto name.”
When the doors open on Friday visitors will find plenty of familiar sights, with some tweaks. New art adorns the wall, made by local queer artists. The bartop now sports stunning red tiles that the team painstakingly installed. But the biggest changes are on the menu: Ennis Hilton expanded the cocktail offerings, employing the time-honored “classics, with a twist” format. She spruces up an Old Fashioned with pandan; fat-washes her Manhattans with brown butter infused with Milo, a powdered chocolate malt; and gives the margarita a Filipino twist with sweet-tart calamansi, coconut cream, and chile-infused tequila. “Grown up” espresso and Pornstar martinis, a black sesame mai tai, and a white Negroni help fill out the menu.
Food historically took a backseat at Aalto. While diners would snack on grilled cheese sandwiches and hot pretzels, it was rarely seen as a dinner spot. But this new era may change that: Find items like sinigang-seasoned shrimp chips, romaine and radicchio salad with coconut-calamansi dressing (pair that with the margarita), and mapo tofu Frito pie for snacking. Heartier fare includes an adobo chicken melt and bistek frites. “Bistek steak traditionally is thinly sliced beef marinated in calamansi and soy sauce,” says Meesh. “How my mom would make it, at least, is to cut thick onion rings and saute them ’til they’re soft, then throw the beef in. It’s really nice and tangy and beefy and buttery.” Fennimore’s approach involves preparing the marinated steak sous vide-style before searing it and serving it with an onion sauce and fries.
Fans of Aalto’s popular happy hour might be disappointed (but unsurprised) to see that the $3 drink specials are disappearing. The team is keeping happy hour going with more basic cocktails priced from $6 to $8, $8 glasses of wine from local queer and POC winemakers, and snackier foods like the sinigang shrimp chips and half sandwiches served with fries. They plan on keeping happy hour from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m.
Late night DJs will also be returning. The pair hopes to bring in Ennis Hilton’s father, a major musical influence on her, to guest DJ, and maybe even resurrect “DJ Kate” — as Kate Wood was known to spin records at the bar before she and Alex bought it. And Aalto will remain, proudly, a queer bar. “I don’t want it to be exclusive in any way, but I want it to be a queer space.” says Ennis Hilton.
“Our whole staff is queer,” adds Fenniman.
Aalto Lounge is located at 3356 SE Belmont Street; open 5 p.m. to 11 p.m. Thursday, Friday, and Monday; 5 p.m. to midnight Saturday and Sunday.
