Mussels at La Moule, in meta fashion. Photo credit: La Moule
Via Michael Zusman’s Facebook page I was tipped off to the impending closing of La Moule, a sweet European-style spot in SE Portland (described on their Instagram as “Frenchy food, beautiful cocktails, famous wallpaper & a penchant for quirk”) serving mussels, Belgian beer, and more. They will close at the end of July.
Their post says, “We’re going to be closing our doors at the end of the month, sad to say. It’s been a good run with tons of memories and too many people to thank. We hope to see you again one last time — help us go out in style the La Moule way: darker, louder, boozier.” They are much beloved spot on SE Clinton, not far from the Clinton Street Theater, Jacqueline, Bar Norman, Broder Café, and the cute little Piccolo Park. For many, it was their local; for others, a place to celebrate important moments. No matter how you slice it, it will be a loss for Portland.
La Moulem ca. 2016. Photo credit: La Moule
The owner of La Moule, Aaron Barnett, has been involved with St. Jack for a number of years and was part of Lac St. Jack in Lake Oswego, which shuttered in October 2022. He opened La Moule in 2015, when of course the pandemic wasn’t even a glint in anyone’s eye, and the PDX restaurant scene hadn’t taken a proverbial shiv in the ribs from the disruption from the virus. There was a lot of well-deserved fanfare surrounding La Moule’s opening, way back then. The website Cyties called it “a sexy southeast neighborhood brasserie offering an array of traditional Belgian provisions in typical Portland fashion” and gave it high praise. The Oregonian, Willamette Week, and Eater all have good articles about La Moule’s early days.
Barnett was also interviewed on Think Out Loud in January 2022 regarding the challenges restaurants experienced during and right after the COVID pandemic (and, to be honest, elements of those challenges remain to this day). COVID forced La Moule to close for the better part of a year, and they reopened in 2021. He said it was particularly hard to find hourly employees. But they continued on, business was “hot and heavy” for a while, then calmed down. Pandemic funding for restaurants, for whatever reason, was not possible for them.
They tweaked their concept and did their best. Costs went up, inflation reared its ugly head. (At the time of the interview he said it cost $120 to fill the deep fryer with oil.) It was heartbreaking to see restaurants slowly drop off the map and in the end, La Moule has decided to close. As mentioned in the interview, “A restaurant like Aaron’s is difficult to replace.” And the small farms, distilleries, and breweries around Oregon that were a part of La Moule’s world will also feel the effects of their closure.
So stop on by if you can before the end of July. It’s a great little spot in town and Portland will miss them.
La Moule [closing July 2023]
2500 SE Clinton Street, Portland
lamoulepdx.com | Instagram | Facebook
Meg Cotner
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Saddened, but not surprised. The last couple years, they eliminated mussels from the menu, kinda showing that they were casting about for a new path. Clearly they didn’t find one.
Yes, the owner said they had made some changes and whittling down the mussels offering to one line on the menu must have been part of those changes. I’m sorry to see them go.