Felida Vancouver WA Summer Guide: What’s Changed in 2026

Most Felida residents carry a mental map of the village that is roughly two years out of date. The anchor tenant on NW 119th has closed, the corner at 10722 NW Lakeshore Avenue is about to change hands again, and the summer rhythm along the Salmon Creek Greenway has quietly shifted its center of gravity toward the western trailhead. If you have lived here through the last two summers, the block you think you know is not quite the block you are walking into this July.

The thesis is simple. Felida Village is in the middle of a lineup change, and the neighborhood's summer routine, from a wood-fired pizza on Friday to a paddle at dawn on Vancouver Lake, is reorganizing around it. This is the current-resident version of the map.

The Lakeshore Avenue Address That Keeps Changing Hands

The most-watched piece of Felida real estate this summer is not a home. It is a restaurant space. Silk Nife, a new bistro concept, is set to open at 10722 NW Lakeshore Avenue in Felida, a community just north of Vancouver's city limits near Vancouver Lake, taking over what many residents still refer to as the Los Potrillos corner in the Erickson Farms area.

The operator matters more than the address. The restaurant comes from Pearl West Restaurant Group, led by Jorge Castro, the hospitality team behind several well-known Vancouver concepts, including Margarita Factory, DOSALAS, and DIOSA. Anyone who has eaten at DOSALAS downtown knows that Pearl West runs a polished, design-forward room, and Silk Nife has been described as a bistro with an aesthetic similar to DOSALAS, the upscale Latin kitchen and tequila bar, with a culinary tradition that traces back to Castro's family in Guadalajara.

Two useful cautions for locals watching the plywood come down. First, the new restaurant will take over the former Los Potrillos space, but staff have confirmed Silk Nife will be something entirely different, so this is not a Mexican-menu revival. Second, additional details about Silk Nife's menu, opening timeline, and overall concept have not yet been announced. Treat the summer 2026 opening as a rumor with a good pedigree, not a reservation you can book yet.

What Filled the Gap When Mt. Tabor Closed

The other reason the village feels different is subtraction. Mt. Tabor Brewing's Felida pub, the wood-fired pizza anchor at 3600 NW 119th, is closed. Its old marketing copy still floats around review sites talking up hand-tossed pies and a family-friendly patio, but the shutter is real, and it has redistributed weeknight traffic across the rest of the village lineup.

Here is the current working set for a Felida resident who does not want to drive to Salmon Creek or downtown:

• Farrar's Bistro at the heart of the village, which is running live music on the patio from 7 to 10 pm with Chad Wilson returning this summer.
• Cork & Bubbles in Felida Village, described locally as a charming, rustic-glam wine and champagne bar in Vancouver, WA, useful when the pub crowd is looking for something quieter.
• Mahoney's Public House at 10714 NW Lakeshore Avenue, the family-owned neighborhood pub that has effectively inherited the casual-Friday role.
• Local Asian Bistro, a family-friendly Thai spot just north of the village.
• Mar's Chinese Cuisine, the takeout-first Chinese-American room known for large portions.

That is five sit-down or takeout options, four of them within an easy walk of one another, and one high-profile bistro opening on the way. For a neighborhood that Trulia reviewers still describe as having 4-5 restaurants within walking distance of most homes, with any nearby coffee shop, eatery, or tap house less than a 5 min drive, the density is holding steady even with the pub gone.

The Trailhead Most Residents Drive Past

Ask ten Felida residents where the Salmon Creek Greenway starts, and most will tell you Klineline Pond. Technically true, from the east. The version that matters if you live here is the western terminus, which sits inside the neighborhood itself.

The western endpoint of the Salmon Creek Greenway Trail sits at NW 36th Avenue just after NW 138th St and follows the outskirts of a residential neighborhood before entering Cougar Canyon. From there, the paved trail runs 3.9 miles between NW 36th Avenue and Salmon Creek Park, following Salmon Creek through a slice of Vancouver's nature lands. The interpreted version for a resident: you can walk out of your front door, hit the Felida Bridge trailhead, and reach Klineline Pond on foot without touching a car park fee.

That fee is worth naming, because it is the friction most people run into. Parking at the main lot near Klineline Pond costs $3 per vehicle per day, via mobile app or kiosk, while alternative access points such as along NW 138th Street or near Felida Bridge offer free street parking with no time limits, though spaces are limited. If you have a summer morning routine, starting from the Felida side saves the fee and usually the wait for a spot.

Two useful notes about the payoff at the far end. The splash pad is on for summer 2026, automated to turn on between noon and 6 p.m. when the forecasted high temperature is above 80 degrees. And Klineline Pond's sandy beach has lifeguards on duty typically from 11 am to 7 pm daily, beginning July and running through Labor Day. So the window when you can walk from Felida to a lifeguarded swim is essentially the same window you have to enjoy it: July into early September.

One planning note for August. The parking lot surface at the softball fields is beyond its useful lifespan; crews will repave and update the curbing in the parking area in August, and the lot will be closed for two to three weeks until the work is completed. If you drive from a friend's place in Salmon Creek to meet family at Klineline, expect that overflow to push into the main lot for a stretch of the month.

Vancouver Lake at Six A.M.

The lake side of the neighborhood is easy to forget until the first genuinely hot week arrives. Lake Shore and Felida share a close tie to Vancouver Lake, whose calm, shallow waters are ideal for kayakers, canoeing, and stand up paddleboarding, and whose two-and-a-half miles of sandy shores draw dog walkers, picnickers, collegiate rowing events, and dragonboat races in summer.

For residents who want to be on the water rather than beside it, the Vancouver Lake Rowing Club runs learn-to-row programming through the summer and fields a Dragon Boat team, all launching from the Vancouver Lake Aquatic Center on the Felida side of the lake. This is not a hidden club, but it is one of the few local recreation options where the barrier to entry is a summer session rather than a season ticket.

A Simple Summer Week in Felida

If a friend from Portland asked how to spend a July week living the neighborhood, this is roughly the answer:

Nothing on that list is more than about ten minutes from the middle of the neighborhood. The point is not the itinerary itself. It is that the village, the greenway, and the lake now function as a single connected campus for a Felida summer, and knowing which entrance to use for each is what separates a resident's summer from a visitor's.

What This Means If You Are Just Watching From the House

The most useful thing to know about Felida this July is that the neighborhood is in a short transitional window. Mt. Tabor is out. Silk Nife is coming. The greenway trailhead at the west end of the neighborhood is the summer amenity most residents underuse. The lake and the pond bracket a workable weekend from either direction. None of this is on a portal listing description, and none of it will be in exactly this shape next summer.

If you have been thinking about how the village's evolving lineup, or the greenway's foot access, or the lake frontage translates into what your Felida property is actually worth to a buyer paying attention, that is the conversation we have every week. Reach out to Oxford Street Partners and book a consultation with Leigh and Harvey. We would rather have that conversation over a coffee at a village table than over email.