In the words of the band that shares the same name, “I’m here without you, baby, but you’re still on my lonely mind”: the 3 Doors Down Cafe has closed. Active since the 1990s, this is another instance of “old Portland” leaving—and yet another restaurant closure in these strange economic times.
Online Reports on the Closing
Reports have come in from various online sources:
- “I know an employee there and they were not given any notice. She showed up for work and the doors were closed.” (Nextdoor)
- “We had reservations and showed up and closed with no sign as to why.” (Nextdoor).
- “It JUST happened last week. I went to go to the happy hour on Thursday, and they were all closed up. No menu in the window anymore.” (Reddit)
- “Tried to pop in last night, I’ve been going off and on since the late 90s. Sad to see it covered up and closed.” (Reddit)
Yelp indicates that they have closed. I gave them a call to check in on them and their voicemail box is full, which does not bode well. However, their website and OpenTable reservation page are still accessible as of the writing of this article; so is their social media presence. I have reached out to the restaurant’s PR team for more information and will pass that on when I receive it.
A Little Background on 3 Doors Down Cafe
As one of the sources mentioned, 3 Doors Down has been operating in Portland since the 1990s, “over 30 years,” according to the website. It was founded by Kathy Bergin and Dave Marth, who ran it for 25 years. Michael Galloway and Jeff Saulsbury bought it in 2019.
It has been a dependable place for pasta, salads, seared, grilled, and roasted meats, desserts, and they have had a very nice happy hour. It’s been considered a good date night spot. You could have called it a mainstay, and a nice option for date night. It made a number of lists over the years. (Though it is missing from the latest Eater map on best Italian restaurants in Portland, despite the restaurant linking to it on Instagram.)
Is this another case of a sit down restaurant not being able to survive in this current economic climate? I hope not, because I find myself disturbed by the idea of “bye-bye sit down restaurants.” I’m a diner who likes the “normalcy” of this setup. But perhaps it’s just not going to become the norm after the rise of alternate options (e.g., counter service).
Only time will tell. In the meantime, farewell 3 Doors Down.
3 Doors Down Cafe [closed November 2024]
1429 SE 37th Avenue, Portland
3 Doors Down Cafe website | Instagram | Facebook
Meg Cotner
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What will happen to $100 gift cards?
That’s a good question – I will try to find out.
I had seen on a website, theirs or someone else’s back in October that they were going to close, but I can’t find it now. I remember it stating something about closing on Oct 24 being their last day, so I wasn’t surprised on reading this, more surprised it wasn’t sooner. Sad to see another one happen like this!
Very interesting – thanks Molly. I looked for any evidence of a closing but didn’t find it. Perhaps they removed it. Agreed that it’s unfortunate that this place had to close down.
This was not an economic thing… this was an EXTREMELY poor, disgraceful and pathetic management of the 2 newer owners! The chef and all staff should be praised for keeping what should have been the owners responsibility afloat! No one has gotten paid for what they were owed. No one not even the head chef had notice. All showed up to work and weren’t even told they were closed. The fact that the new owners Jeff and Michael have not only ran one of the best restaurants in Portland to the ground is gross. Yet to not even call any staff to explain ANYTHING is absurd and insane and still as of today November 12th 2024 not one person has been told or have gotten an explanation. No one knows how to go about unemployment or anything! Everyone has real life problems and needs and I say to the owners shame on you!These people deserve the money they are owed!!! This was a staple on Hawthorne and all the regulars loved it there. The owners owe so much money to the city to their employees to vendors to rent it’s crazy! I’m sorry to everyone that has been affected by these 2 losers. The head chef(Zachary Beach)sous chef , and all kitchen staff and waitresses and waiters should be held on a pedestal . Ty for listening to this(reading).
As someone who worked for a company whose CEO ran it into the ground, I know the feeling. Very sorry to hear these assertions. I hope the chefs, cooks, and waitstaff have been able to find places to land. I know it’s not easy.
There are a lot of slanderous accusations here that I don’t believe are true. I know the active owner, and no one, NO ONE, has ever worked harder in a difficult economy to keep a restaurant open and staff employed. To say they “ran it into the ground” is certainly an uninformed slam unless you literally know all the details. Have you run a restaurant? A sit-down, white tablecloth restaurant you purchased 3 months before COVID? It is hard to run any restaurant, but the challenge here was a herculean task – and they succeeded for 5 years out of determination, chutzpah and creativity. Shame on people who judge entrepreneurs from an ignorant pedestal.
Thanks for adding your voice to the mix. I have had subsequent conversations with folks involved with different perspectives on the situation. As a result I am looking on putting that together to give additional depth to the conversation. Stay tuned.
Mia, you’re absolutely right about it not being fair–or necessarily accurate–to say that the current owners ran the place into the ground. We, the largely ignorant public, don’t know the details. However, as anonymous says, there is no excuse for treating your employees badly. It is inexcusable. Yes things were tough, yes they probably had good reason for closing the restaurant, yes they probably did everything they could to keep it going. But treating your people so terribly in inexcusable. All kinds of things were probably beyond the owners’ control–but that wasn’t. They made a conscious decision to treat their employees like sh*t and for that the deserve nothing but contempt. As anonymous puts it, this was “poor, disgraceful and pathetic” behavior. I’ll add despicable and cowardly.
I am very saddened to hear about the closing of 3DD, a restaurant where me, my family and friends celebrated many a special occasion. I first went there in July of 1994 and thought I had died and gone to heaven or at least back to New York, where I was born and raised. That first visit started a love affair for me, my family and many of our friends that lasted over 30 years. I remember bringing my daughter there when she was 6 years old (1994) and Kathy/Dave comping us her dinner (pasta and butter) and then 22 years (2016) later where we celebrated her engagement to her husband and Kathy/Dave Comp’d us a very expensive bottle of champagne.
I have nothing but thanks to Kathy Bergin and Dave Marth, who ran it for 25 years and Michael Galloway and Jeff Saulsbury who bought it in 2019 and had to sheppard it through the pandemic. A sincere thanks to all of you and your staffs for providing me, my family and friends with one unforgettable experience after another. I will never forget what you did. Thank you and I owe all of you at least one cocktail. With much love and appreciation.
Tom