Your Daily Guide

The Battle of the (Not) Choco Tacos

Two Portland ice cream brands are in the midst of a legal battle over the production of a nostalgia-imbued ice cream treat. Back in September 2025, Salt & Straw released the Tacolate, their version of the now-discontinued Klondike Choco Taco. For those unfamiliar, the Choco Taco was essentially an ice cream sandwich made with a waffle cone resembling a hard taco shell. After Klondike stopped making the Choco Taco in 2022 (RIP), Salt & Straw developed their own version of an ice cream taco, filled with cinnamon-ancho ice cream and coated in a dark chocolate shell with puffed quinoa crunch. They partnered with Taco Bell to take the Tacolate national, and enlisted another Portland ice cream brand, Ruby Jewel, to help them scale up production. But on Oct. 5, Salt & Straw filed a lawsuit against Ruby Jewel for breach of contract. Let’s break down the conflict. [Oregonian / Eater / Portland Business Journal]

• The Claim: In their breach of contract complaint, Salt & Straw said they began a co-packing manufacturing agreement with Ruby Jewel in February 2025, with the ice cream sandwich company agreeing to make the Tacolate for three years. Salt & Straw says they invested $2 million in production equipment to help Ruby Jewel tackle the taco demand. But the lawsuit alleges Ruby Jewel announced they would halt production of their ice cream sandwiches and the Tacolate starting Oct. 6. [Portland Business Journal]
• Ruby Jewel’s Rebuttal: In an email to Salt & Straw leadership disclosed in the complaint, Ruby Jewel CEO Eric Koppelman said they planned to wind down operations after Salt & Straw reduced its demand projections by more than 60 percent between October and March. According to the lawsuit, Ruby Jewel originally offered to sell the manufacturing facility to Salt & Straw for $5 million, an offer Salt & Straw rejected. Salt & Straw wants Ruby Jewel to keep production going through 2028, to fulfill their original agreement. Koppelman hasn’t responded to the Oregonian’s requests for comment. [Oregonian]
• No More Ruby Jewel? The story beneath the story here is that it appears Ruby Jewel’s killer lemon lavender ice cream sandwich may be going the way of the OG Choco Taco. Ruby Jewel, which began as a farmers market ice cream sandwich company, had something of a heyday in the 2010s, opening multiple scoop shops around the city. In 2021, Ruby Jewel decided to focus exclusively on prepackaged ice cream sandwiches, to be sold at grocery stores and snack bars. It’s unclear if Ruby Jewel will truly disappear, depending on how this lawsuit shakes out; the email in the complaint insinuates that all production staff were laid off Oct. 8, but the company hadn’t made a public, formal closing announcement. [Ruby Jewel / Eater Portland / Oregonian]

An Influencer Election

Gov. Tina Kotek is taking a page from New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani: She’s giving interviews to social media influencers as a way to rally her base during a nail-bitingly tight race. Among the influencers she’s courted: Andy Neal aka @AndyFilmsandHikes, as well as Brittney Mast, aka @momsforOregon. [OPB]

• Related: Stay tuned for City Cast Portland’s interview with the Republican gubernatorial candidate, state Sen. Christine Drazan — out on Monday. We previously interviewed the Democratic incumbent, Gov. Tina Kotek. [City Cast Portland 🎧]
• Related: Today is the deadline to register to vote in the November election — if you’ve somehow eluded all of the various methods Oregon has to make sure you’re enfranchised. You can double-check your registration status there as well. [Oregon Secretary of State]

Sizzle Pie Closes Another Location

Sizzle Pie will no longer offer its pizzas at the Hollywood Theatre. As of Oct. 17, just two of the once vast chain’s locations will remain — on Southwest Oak and at the airport. Sizzle Pie once had locations in New York, Seattle, and Eugene as well as Portland and Beaverton. It closed its East Burnside location in 2025, one month after staff there unionized. Hollywood Theatre has yet to announce the new pizza vendor it’s selected. [Willamette Week]

Fallout From a White Nationalist Brunch

After protests that damaged their Central Eastside restaurant, the owners of Clarklewis have issued a public statement: They didn’t know “the group that booked brunch … was affiliated with white nationalists,” and have apologized to their staff for “putting them in that position.” I talked about it on the podcast today. [City Cast Portland 🎧]