First things first. I’m talking about Portland in Louisville, not Oregon or Maine.

And a lot of business owners are starting to point their eyes at this neighborhood as the next frontier in fancy redevelopment à la NuLu on East Market Street.

Hillbilly Tea (which I reviewed back in the day — four years ago!) will open a location at 2425 Portland Ave. and a West End location at 1023 Dixie Highway, according to the Courier-Journal. The restaurant will join the good folks at Gelato Gilberto, who are setting up a wholesale operation in Portland.

Kudos to these local eateries for looking past Ninth Street to operate new outposts. It makes my heart happy to see Louisville business owners taking a chance on an area that’s not Bardstown Road or Frankfort Avenue (no shade to these areas, just sayin’ that they already have a lot).

What Louisville restaurant do you think needs more local restaurants/coffee shops/eateries?