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The Tupai room at Andina, a restaurant in Portland, Oregon. This is the space most commonly sold for weddings. The multi-colored napkin option is no longer available unless you want to pay for the additional linen colors; the red color napkin is included in the rental. **Photo**: Courtesy of Andina

It was an accident that I found out Andina does weddings. As a long-time fan of the iconic northwest Portland restaurant, I was checking out the menu ahead of a recent reservation when I saw “weddings” at the top of the homepage.

Visions of bottomless pisco sours and piles of empanadas danced through my head as I clicked the link to learn more. What I found delighted and surprised me.

But what about you? Is it a good idea to get married in a restaurant and particularly one as busy and well-known as Andina? What about parking in northwest? Is it even worth it?

Here’s my take as a professional wedding planner.

The basics

Address: 1314 NW Glisan St., Portland, OR 97209
Fits: Andina has four event spaces: three rooms downstairs, one room upstairs. The three downstairs are called Runa Wasi, Kumbe Mayo, and La Bodega. The one upstairs (and the one they most commonly sell for weddings) is called Tupai.

Each room has a different capacity. From lowest to highest headcount: La Bodega (14 seated); Kumbe Mayo (20 seated at one long table); Runa Wasi (22 seated at one long table or 36 at three round tables plus a small entryway for standing); and Tupai (up to 72 seated, 90 standing). Per Andina’s special events and private dining director Jessica Potter, Tupai most comfortably fits 40 to 50 seated but that 72 number still works well.

I focus on Tupai in this article but the three other rooms would work very well for weddings with smaller headcounts and/or wedding-adjacent events like post-rehearsal meals, welcome gatherings, day-after gatherings, etc.

Jessica also kindly shared with me that the downstairs courtyard is going to see its first wedding in April 2024. The goal is to seat 30 guests in rows of two to three chairs for a ceremony hosted before the restaurant opens at 5 p.m.; then, for the reception, guests will proceed upstairs to Tupai.

The courtyard isn’t technically available to book as of publishing but, pending on how April’s wedding goes, it could be a really nice alternative to having a ceremony in the same room as the reception.
Costs: Like many restaurants that also do events, Andina waives any kind of room fee charge in lieu of a food and beverage minimum. In Tupai’s case, that minimum is $2,500 plus 26 percent (20 percent for gratuity and a 6 percent service fee). That’s an estimated minimum total of $3,150.

This number isn’t small. It’s also not particularly large in a city where a room fee can easily be $2,000 to $3,000 before rentals, food, and beverage. With Andina, those last three are included (give or take any rentals you might want to source in addition to Andina’s inventory, as listed below).

The catch is that Andina’s food doesn’t come cheap. This means you’re likely going to hit that minimum no problem. It also means that you could easily go over budget if you don’t plan accordingly.

If you, like me, adore the regular menu this next part will be good news: Andina doesn’t really have a menu specific to events. It’s pretty much their excellent normal menu, but slightly tailored. Typically, at least in Tupai, they do a $110 per person family-style meal that includes two entradas (or starters) including the delectable empanadas, a selection of three entrées, and two desserts.

Vegetarian and gluten-free options are baked into that menu and the kitchen can accommodate vegan and other food preferences and/or allergies.

To do a bit of back-of-the-napkin math, at $110 per person for food and a room minimum including gratuity and service fee of $3,150, you’re going to clear that minimum if you have 29 people eating. Remember: That’s before alcohol at a place where the pisco sours cost $16 a pop (full alcohol menu here).

Those numbers might sound scary but for anything bar, Andina charges by consumption (so you’ll only pay for what you drink) and there’s nothing wrong with setting a bar cap (i.e. a number that once you hit, you move to a bar where your guests pay for their own drinks).

At weddings I work, I communicate with the bar managers as we approach that cap and then, as needed, I relay the information to the client so they can decide if they want to move to a cash bar or up the cap. You can also 100 percent appoint a VIP to monitor that number or, as you feel comfortable, give them the power to make the call without bugging you.

This pricing also includes family-style service (vs. plates or buffet service). In many cases, folks prefer family-style but it’s worth noting in case you had something else in mind. You will likely pay more for labor.
Includes: One of the benefits of getting married at a restaurant, and particularly one that’s been around for 20 years like Andina has, is that they typically have a lot of chairs, tables, linens, barware, and cutlery laying around. Andina is no expectation.

Specific inventory numbers weren’t readily available but roughly, there are at least 12 72-inch round tables (each fitting an estimated seven to eight guests) and “a lot” of six-foot and eight-foot rectangular tables including the skinny version often favored by bar or catering.

The chairs pictured in the photos in this article are included, as are the linens. Note that, at least in Tupai, multi-color napkins are no longer an option unless you want to pay an additional fee to have Andina source those colors for you. The standard and included color napkin is the red one pictured in the photo of Tupai.

Tupai also has a sound system where you can plug in a music-playing device or default to the restaurant’s chosen playlist.

This is Tupai at Andina set up for a ceremony. Note the column in the middle of the aisle (workable but notable). In this scenario, the room would need to be “flipped” post-ceremony to make space for dinner. **Photo**: Courtesy of Andina

Timings: The sense I got during my tour was that the restaurant is the priority, which, you know, makes sense. As such, rental windows are built around the restaurant’s hours (5 to 9 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays). This means that, per Jessica, access to the space begins 30 minutes before the event begins.

That’s very tight. For reference, I typically recommend a set-up window of at least two hours and potentially three or four hours depending on how much floral and decor are on order. Also remember to include one hour after guests leave for clean-up.

What does this mean for your wedding? It means that you’ll probably need to buy more time than the standard four-hour window that Andina sells. Roughly, I estimate needing seven to eight hours for a wedding. At $250 per additional hour, that’s likely a total cost of $750 to $1,000 in addition to the food and beverage minimum.

That’s still a pretty great deal, particularly for a smaller headcount, but it is a line item to budget for as it’s unlikely the four hours included in the food and beverage minimum are going to cut it for a wedding.

The restaurant is closed Sundays and Mondays so I assume events likely couldn’t take place on those two days.

As for a rehearsal, this technically isn’t included but, per Jessica, is flexible pending the restaurant’s schedule. I typically recommend an hour for a rehearsal and it doesn’t have to happen in the ceremony location (here’s a script for how to run your own rehearsal).
Parking: Northwest Portland is notorious for limited parking and for good reason. It’s a popular area with few dedicated lots. That said, if you’re hosting a wedding at Andina, my hunch is that you and your guests are familiar with ride-sharing and/or OK to walk from one of the many nearby downtown hotels.

If that’s not a fit, there are two nearby parking lots. One is affiliated with Andina neighbor and shoe company Keen; the other is a few blocks away (I, unfortunately, didn’t grab the address during the tour but Andina should be able to help). Pricing wasn’t available though a quick google of “Keen parking lot” will pull up a variety of resources.

Paid street parking is also available through Parking Kitty and, according to Jessica, not terribly hard to find later in the evening.
Accessibility: There’s an elevator that runs between all three floors (Tupai at the top, the main restaurant in the middle, and the three other event spaces on the bottom floor). The floors are smooth and even, and there are no stairs into or out of the spaces once you reach them.

I’ll also note the two restrooms specific to Tupai. They were labeled as “WC” vs. gendered titles, a small but important detail that I don’t always see at venues.
Sustainability: Andina’s known for sourcing locally and organically, and while I don’t have specifics about composting, this seems to be a priority in the kitchen, according to Jessica.
Vendor note: On its weddings page, Andina calls out the work of local flower shop Solabee, a spot I also recommend. The wording makes it sound like you have to hire Solabee as your florist, if you want a florist, but that’s not the case. Jessica said you can hire whomever you want as a florist (there’s no required vendor list for any vendor types); Andina just has a long history with Solabee and the shop is familiar with the location.

One of the three rooms available to rent on the ground floor of Andina, Runa Wasi sits 22 to 36 and includes a small entryway with additional space. **Photo**: Courtesy of Andina

The pros

Award-winning food
No need to decorate
Centrally located in downtown Portland

Who would get married at Andina? Someone who loves it. And, as a longtime fan myself, I can personally say that there’s a lot to love.

Tupai, in particular, is perfect for the client who has a smaller guest count (again, ideally 40 to 50 guests but potentially up to 75), loves quality food and beverage, and wants to embrace the beautiful Peruvian-inspired decor. (I’ll particularly note the murals on the wall in Tupai, which are by artist Buckley.)

Andina’s also a great fit for a client who loves the ease of a centrally located venue. Multiple hotels, not to mention other well-known restaurants, are within easy walking distance of Andina, while the Pearl District’s many parks and iconic views of the Willamette River are a mere few blocks away.

For a client who loves Portland and/or wants to treat their guests to a (literal) taste of the city, there are few spots better situated.

The cons

Challenging flip if you stay in the same room
No getting-ready area(s)
Limited space for larger events

Andina is, first and foremost, a restaurant so while you’re going to get A-plus food, beverage, rentals, and service, it’s going to be more challenging to host a wedding here than at more wedding-speific venues. In particular, be honest with yourselves about where you want to have the ceremony.

Per my conversations with Jessica, Tupai is available for a ceremony and reception (vs. “just” a reception). Typically, the ceremony is hosted against the north wall (so, murals on your left and main entrance on your right). There is a large wooden column in the middle of the room that I could see making the processional challenging, though not impossible.

The more significant challenge to Tupai is flipping it (or changing the layout) post-ceremony. In most situations, during a room flip, the guests go elsewhere to give the catering team and any other vendors (such as a planner and, if hired to attend the flip, a florist) space to re-do the room.

That’s not super easy at Andina. Jessica’s suggestion was to send guests outside for 20 to 30 minutes. That timing is on the low end for what I’d recommend for a flip (typically, I’d use any kind of full post-ceremony cocktail hour though, you could probably easily get away here with 30 to 45 minutes pending decor and florals and if you’re open to some of the dinner tables being “pre-set” against the wall pre-ceremony).

I’m also wary of sending guests outside without any specific destination. The area is scenic but busy and, of course, there’s always the weather.

Instead, if you’re hosting a ceremony in Tupai, the better logistical bet would be to have your guests sit at their tables during the ceremony (vs. having no tables out and just chairs for the ceremony). This can sound weird but actually works quite well both for your guests and your vendors. Your guests get the benefit of knowing where they’ll be for most of the evening and your vendors don’t have to worry about as extensive a flip.

Another of the three rooms available to rent on the ground floor of Andina, Kumbe Mayo sits up to 20. **Photo**: Courtesy of Andina

Guests could stay in the room after the ceremony rather than leaving as the furniture gets rearranged. If you’re feeling so inclined, have the bar and some apps available pre-ceremony and your guests will be even more comfortable.

If sitting at guest tables just isn’t a fit, there’s the potential to rent one of the rooms downstairs for a post-ceremony cocktail hour (pending head count) and, of course, if the courtyard-as-ceremony-location idea mentioned earlier in this article becomes a viable option, you won’t have to sweat a flip at all.

On the topic of space, it’s worth noting that Andina doesn’t have any dedicated getting-ready area(s). That’s not abnormal; I’d say only half of the venues I work have such spaces and even fewer have spaces that aren’t mired in toxic gender norms.

For you, that means you’ll likely want to get ready for the wedding somewhere not Andina like a hotel, Airbnb, or private home before either heading to the neighborhood for photos or straight to Andina for the ceremony.

The third and final room available to rent on the ground floor of Andina, La Bodega has the feel of a wine cellar and sits up to 14. This room, Kumbe Mayo, and Runa Wasi encircle a central indoor courtyard. **Photo**: Courtesy of Andina

The bottom line

I love Andina. I loved it before I visited as a wedding planner and I love it even more now that I know that there’s a small chance I could do my job and eat an empanada at the same time.

If you also love this restaurant and are planning a wedding, you’re in luck: Andina does weddings and they have all of the tools they need to do them well. You’re going to get a different vibe than at a venue that primarily makes its money from weddings (vs. a restaurant that has other irons in the fire) but that’s not necessarily a bad thing.

In fact, in my experience, it can often be a good thing for a client because you’re less likely to hit the wedding-specific roadblocks that more “traditional” wedding venues have in place. At Andina, you’ll want to be cognizant of your guest count, the room minimum, and the layout but, with the right conversations, this famous spot has a lot to offer a wedding client who loves the food, the space, and the history.

Learn more about Andina: andinarestaurant.com/weddings and @AndinaPDX

Check out the other wedding venues I’ve reviewed.

Do you know of a venue that I should visit? Tell me: elisabeth@elisabethkramer.com.