Javelina (restaurant)

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Javelina
Javelina logo.png
Javelina (restaurant)
Restaurant information
EstablishedNovember 12, 2023 (2023-11-12)
Owners
  • Alexa Numkena-Anderson
  • Nicholas Numkena-Anderson
ChefAlexa Numkena-Anderson
Food type Indigenous
Location Portland, Multnomah, Oregon, United States
Coordinates 45°33′26″N122°37′13″W / 45.5572°N 122.6204°W / 45.5572; -122.6204

Javelina is a restaurant in Portland, Oregon, United States. [1] Chef Alexa Numkena-Anderson and her husband Nicholas Numkena-Anderson launched the business as a pop-up in November 2023, initially serving meals at Morchella in northeast Portland's Sabin neighborhood. It began operating at Lil' Dame in January 2025. It is the city's only Native American restaurant as of 2023.

Contents

Description

The restaurant Javelina serves pre-colonial and post-colonial cuisine. Javelina's logo depicts a rainbow-colored javelina, a pig-like ungulate. [2]

History

Javelina was launched by chef Alexa Numkena-Anderson and her husband Nicholas Numkena-Anderson, who manages front-of-house operations. The restaurant's menu reflects her Indigenous and Mexican heritage. The restaurant's first meal was served at Morchella, in northeast Portland's Sabin neighborhood, on November 12, 2023. [2] [3] The business is among several Indigenous-owned and operated restaurants in the Pacific Northwest serving Native American cuisines in recent years, and has been described as Portland's only Native American restaurant. [2]

Javelina has been a vendor at the Indigenous Marketplace. [4] In 2024, Javelina was featured on Oregon Public Broadcasting's food series Superabundant. [5]

Javelina moved into a brick and mortar location at Lil' Dame on January 23, 2025. [6] In March, owners announced plans to leave Lil' Dame early and relocate to Northeast 42nd Avenue in the Cully neighborhood in May. [7] [8]

Reception

Oregon Public Broadcasting has said that Javelina "blends Indigenous comfort foods and non-colonial ingredients creating a uniquely Indigenous fine dining experience". [9] Andrea Damewood included Javelina in the Portland Mercury 's overview of the "best bites" from restaurants and pop-ups in Portland in 2023. [10]

Eater Portland 's Zoe Baillargeon included Javelina in a 2025 list of the city's best new restaurants and food carts. [11]

References

  1. ↑ "Javelina is bringing Indigenous cuisine to Portland". Oregon Public Broadcasting . Archived from the original on May 29, 2024. Retrieved September 11, 2024.
  2. 1 2 3 "Javelina, Portland's only Native American restaurant, is slinging frybread to eager crowds". Street Roots. Archived from the original on May 14, 2024. Retrieved September 11, 2024.
  3. ↑ Jackson-Glidden, Brooke (November 15, 2023). "New Portland Pop-Up Javelina Is an Eclectic Portrait of Past and Present Native Cuisine". Eater Portland. Retrieved September 11, 2024.
  4. ↑ "The Best Things the Eater Portland Team Ate This Week". Eater Portland. May 17, 2024. Archived from the original on May 24, 2024. Retrieved September 11, 2024.
  5. ↑ "Superabundant dispatch: Sichuan style fiddleheads, a shiny new episode and this week's news nibbles". Oregon Public Broadcasting. Archived from the original on April 7, 2024. Retrieved September 11, 2024.
  6. ↑ Hamilton, Katherine Chew (January 28, 2025). "Javelina Just Became Portland's Only Indigenous Restaurant". Eater Portland. Retrieved January 28, 2025.
  7. ↑ Cheadle, Harry (March 19, 2025). "Portland's New Indigenous Restaurant Is Already Moving". Eater Portland. Retrieved March 19, 2025.
  8. ↑ Dinh, Elizabeth (March 19, 2025). "Portland embraces Javelina, first indigenous restaurant". KOIN.
  9. ↑ Frybread tacos and Indigenous cuisine with Portland’s Javelina pop-up . Retrieved September 11, 2024– via www.opb.org.
  10. ↑ Damewood, Andrea. "Best Bites From Portland Restaurants in 2023: Tuna Toast You Can Share (But Won't) and French Onion Soup That Lives Rent Free in Our Heads". Portland Mercury. Archived from the original on May 27, 2024. Retrieved September 11, 2024.
  11. ↑ Baillargeon, Zoe (April 2, 2015). "The Best New Restaurants and Food Carts in Portland, June 2025". Eater Portland. Retrieved June 5, 2025.
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