Carlita's is a restaurant in Portland, Oregon, United States.[1] Urban Restaurant Group opened the restaurant in the Pearl District in 2017, followed by the outpost Carlita's Rooftop in Eugene in 2021.
Description
The 80-seat Mexican-themed restaurant Carlita's operates on Northrup Street in northwest Portland's Pearl District.[2][3] The business has billed itself as the city's first "spirits-forward taco bar".[3]Fodor's has described Carlita's as "a modern take on a Mexican cantina", serving "Northwest-meets-Mexico fare".[4] The outdoor patio seats an additional 20 people.[5]
The menu includes tacos with pork belly, salmon, and wild mushrooms, as well as Pacific ahi ceviche,[4] apple-smoked carne asada, green-mole chicken, and tortilla chips with lime salt.[3] Among salsas, which are made in-house, is a ghost pepper crema. Drink options include cocktails with agaves,[5]mezcals, tequilas, and whiskeys.[4]
History
Carlita's is operated by Urban Restaurant Group. It opened in 2017, in the space previously occupied by Streetcar Bistro & Taproom.[2][5]
As of July 2020, the outpost Carlita's Rooftop was slated to open on the seventh floor of the Gordon Hotel in Eugene in 2021.[6][7][8] The outpost was nominated in the Best New Restaurant category of Eugene Weekly's annual "Best of Eugene" poll.[9]