Javelina Indigenous Dining
About us
Being the eldest of six, Alexa taught herself to cook in order to take care of her siblings, thus finding her passion in cooking. After high school in 2012, Alexa moved to Portland, where she attended Le Cordon Bleu Culinary School while working as a line cook. Her experience took her through several acclaimed Portland restaurants and after a decade of hard work, she became the Chef at a well-known restaurant, where she ran operations and menu development.
In September 2023, just six weeks after giving birth to her first child, she started the Javelina: Indigenous Dining pop-up with her husband Nick. And after a year and a half of pop-ups, she opened her first brick and mortar location in May 2025.
Chef Alexa makes it a priority to create a welcoming and representative space to gather for the Indigenous community which resides in the Pacific Northwest.
Chef Alexa Numkena-Anderson’s food draws on her Hopi, Yakama, Cree, and Skokomish heritage while pushing to revise what North American cuisine is understood to encompass. Javelina stands in Portland’s noticeable gap of restaurants serving Indigenous cuisines, but it’s also, outside of any great expectations, a kitchen putting out delicious, considered food on its own terms, from the tepary bean dip, bison steak, and oysters at dinner to the lunch-only “Powwow Burger,” served between two slices of frybread.
Chef Alexa Numkena-Anderson was always amazing. Tonight we witnessed the miraculous. Please come experience it for yourself.
When I first walked into her restaurant, (Javelina in Portland) I felt something sacred humming in the air. This wasn't just another dining spot. It was an invocation. The scent of cedar smoke and sweet corn lingered like a blessing, and I knew before the first bite that what she created here was more than food. It was Relationship.
Listening to her explain each dish, their ingredients and origins was telling a story. Each enamel plate, cup, and artworks had intentionality behind their choosing. She carried a deep respect for the Indigenous traditions that shaped her, each ingredient treated like a relative rather than a resource. I am profoundly moved by what she has built. Javelina is more than her restaurant. It's her offering… a living, breathing expression of Indigenous food sovereignty and love.
Portland has many wonderful restaurants, but none that bridge heart, heritage, and hospitality quite like Chef Alexas. Javelina's is gift - to the city, to her people, and to everyone lucky enough to sit at her table.