Vortex Eatery + Taphouse finally open after year of renovations

After a year of renovations, the mysterious Vortex Eatery + Taphouse is finally soft - opened , with limited hours.

Morris "Mo" Chappell owns the restaurant with his brother Eric Chappell as general manager . It's the newest addition to the south Salem dining scene. The brothers wanted to take on a new venture and decided to team up to create a restaurant they "could get excited about." Mo has a business background and is a general contractor, while Eric has worked in restaurants for over a decade.

The two brothers had been looking at restaurants for sale across Portland and the Mid-Valley for a year before they found the former Heroes Taphouse space. They decided it needed renovations as they wanted a different layout and much of the space hadn't been updated since it was built in the late 70s. Renovations began late last summer and they originally wanted to open in January. However, unexpected delays in construction pushed the opening back to June, and then July.

The name "Vortex" was a name that took a while to come up with, Eric said. Inspired by their interest in video games, "vortex" was cool to say, easy to remember and contained Eric's favorite letter, 'x'. In the end, their vision of Vortex is that it would be "central on everything": your experience coming in can be as casual or upscale as you want; come in for a drink and small bites or as a group for a meal.

The interior has a distinct wood-and-dark-metal aesthetic. Walking in, you'll notice the dark wood dividers, whose planks can rotate to close off or open to peer through. This separates the restaurant into roughly half, as the left side of the room has the bar. A few photos hang on one wall and some plants by the bar, but its overall vibe is akin to a hotel restaurant with the chic metal light fixtures and lack of a centralized light source. The bar has glass shelves showing off growlers with the restaurant's logo and pretty bottles of spirits among them. The seating is a mix of booths and tables, plus the bar.

Health or comfort food?

For Vortex, the two wanted to offer healthier food options than the other establishments in the area.

"One of the things I would look for (when wanting to go out to eat) was what looks good but is healthy to me?" Mo said. "We're just trying to have the fine balance between health and comfort food."

Eric described the menu as American cuisine with a loose Asian influence, with the offerings rotating seasonally. Standard fare primarily consists of burgers, steaks, salads and sandwiches, with specials like banh mi, grilled Hawaiian sandwiches and poke bowl. The pricing is on the moderately high side, with most dishes over $15.

Another dining priority was to have plenty of vegetarian and vegan options. There is a dedicated vegan menu, with options like house-made veggie burger, meatball sub sandwich, "chick'n" sandwich salads, pasta dishes and appetizers.

The taphouse component of the restaurant is the left side of the restaurant, which has a full bar and local taps. The idea was also that Vortex could serve as a family-friendly establishment and a late-night spot. Vortex will be one of the few establishments open past 9 p.m. that is not a bar.

For updates on the restaurant's grand opening, check out the website, vortexeatery.com , Facebook and Instagram page, @vortexeatery .

Hours: 11 a.m. to 10 p.m., Sunday to Thursday; 11 a.m. to 11 p.m., Friday and Saturday.

Address: 4435 Liberty Road S.

Em Chan covers food and dining at the Statesman Journal. You can reach her at echan@gannett.com and follow her on X @ catchuptoemily.

This article originally appeared on Salem Statesman Journal: Vortex Eatery + Taphouse finally open after year of renovations