Tag: closings

Restaurant, bar, cafe, and food truck closings are the subject some of the most read Portland food news on Bridgetown Bites.

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Four Things I Learned This Week (March 29)

I may have been captured by doing my taxes this week (the reason behind my absence), but I still kept an ear to the ground on some of the goings-on in Portland. Let’s go!

Pacific Market burned. On Tuesday morning I got an email from Portland Fire & Rescue about the 3 alarm fire that consumed the building that held Pacific Market, a popular Asian market in the Madison South neighborhood of Northeast Portland. On Thursday the firefighters returned to the scene to put out any hotspots; 20-foot flames were visible during the fire. Thao Tu, president of the Vietnamese Community of Oregon, laments its destruction (the market had been around for over three decades), but said, “We hope that the owner will consider to rebuild the store so people in the community will come back.”

And remember The Snug? They are located next door to what was Pacific Market. They posted a really nice message on their Instagram (with some very sad photos) after the fire. “We are incredibly saddened by the loss of our next-door neighbors at Pacific Market. As we have built our business this last year, we have relied on them to feed us, and Pacific Market has always been a hub of the South Madison neighborhood. We will miss them terribly, and hope that all their employees, family members and neighbors in the area are recovering.” 6750 NE Broadway, Portland

Quiche Me If You Can opens this weekend. Check them out starting Saturday, March 30, in Montavilla (Sebastiano’s old location): “We’ve been working hard to get it ready and we plan to open the doors for the very first time THIS SATURDAY! We still don’t have tables or chairs but we will have quiche for you to take home, just in time for Easter.” 411 SE 81st Avenue, Portland

Espresso makes a return to Denizens Cafe. When Denizens (formerly Rocky Butte Espresso Bar, but reimagined with more food) first opened last June, they did not offer espresso drinks. I seem to remember them being concerned about space and where exactly to put and operate their machine (not that they disliked serving espresso). I’m happy to see that they found a way to incorporate their espresso machine into the cafe, and make the drinks so beloved by their community again. In their words, “Now, in addition to our all-day brunch menu, you can order a latte, mocha, croissant, sweet roll, and more! Don’t miss out!” 6912 NE Sandy Blvd, Portland

McCormick & Schmick’s (Harborside and Pilsner Room) closes after this weekend. Chatter on Facebook sprouted up this week about the closing of the last Portland location of this seafood chain, and Willamette Week spread the story. Landry’s Inc. bought the chain in 2012; they still own Jake’s Famous Crawfish, which I hope they won’t close. The location of McCormick & Schmick’s is for sale—the listing was posted earlier in March. Another farewell to an “old Portland” business. 309 S Montgomery Street, Portland

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Four Things I Learned This Week (March 15)

Work for Ota Tofu. Over on Craigslist there’s a posting about a job in the early morning, making tofu. That means “operating our soy milk machines and cleaning machines after use” and “scooping and pressing tofu.” Starts at $17/hour. Ota Tofu is the oldest tofu companies in the U.S. and it is excellent. 812 SE Stark Street, Portland

Viking Soul Food is selling their cart at The Bite on Belmont. They’ll be keeping their restaurant in Woodstock, but the cart is for sale. Asking price: $20K. Their goal is to “focus on other opportunities” now that they have a brick and mortar, plus they are looking to do farmers markets, perhaps. As for when they are leaving Belmont, they said on Instagram, “Not entirely sure yet when the last day will be as that will be dependent on when the buyer wants to take over.” 4255 SE Belmont Street, Portland

Cow Bell Cheese Shop is helping the kids. Starting today and going until Sunday, March 17, head to Cow Bell Cheese Shop to participate in a fundraiser for Sunnyside Environmental School’s 8th grade Marine Biology trip to Catalina Island. I have to say, I love the Channel Islands and have great memories of visiting there in my youth—in fact, I played my first ever game of mini golf there on Catalina Island. I remember the water being incredibly clear just off-shore. Anyway, here’s more on the fundraiser:

“We will be donating 20% off our sales from those dates to the program—but more importantly, we are using this as an opportunity to “cheesify” the next generation of potential cheesemongers … We’ll be putting them to work every day of the fundraiser: cutting and wrapping cheese, handing out samples, making and serving fondue. If you enjoy discovering new cheeses at Cow Bell, but you’ve always been slightly disappointed by how tall the cheesemongers are, this is finally our chance to rectify that issue for you.” 231 SE Alder Street, Portland

Brains. BRAINS! Le Clown, which is “celebrating the modern bistronomy of France” there in the Dame Collective, is now offering cervelle: that’s poached brain, beurre citron, fried caper, and fine herbs. “Due to popular demand we’ve done it! We will be offering cervelle in limited quantities on Tuesdays only. Off menu, by request only. Come and get it!” If you like brains, this is a not-miss for you. 5425 NE 30th Avenue, Portland

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Four Things I Learned This Week (March 8)

Viking Pancake Breakfast this Sunday. Throughout the year—except during the pandemic—the Norse Hall in NE Portland would hold what they call a “Viking Pancake Breakfast.” My husband and I have loved going and really missed it during COVID. It started up again in the past year or so, and this month’s Breakfast is a fundraiser for the Portland Nordic Chorus (which I sang with, briefly). 20% of the proceeds from entry fees will go to them and their work.

From 8:30am to noon on Sunday, March 10, you’ll get all-you-can-eat pancakes, sausage links, fruit, scrambled eggs, orange juice, and coffee or tea. It’s open-seating, no reservations. $10 adults; $6 children age 3-10; under 3 eat free. Pay cash at the door. 111 NE 11th Avenue, Portland

Closings—Rusa, Bar Norman, Bee’s (early). Some closings are happening this month and I’m sorry to see them all go. In an email entitled “A Joyful Goodbye,” Bar Norman announced their closing: “Bar Norman is closing on April 6th. We’ve had a thrilling run on Clinton Street and while I wish we could continue on, this chapter of the bar has come to a close. We’re going to spend the next month celebrating this special place and we hope you’ll join us.” They also posted on Instagram. 2615 SE Clinton Street, Portland

Rusa, a food cart serving Eastern European+Latin American combinations, announced on social media, “When you have nothing left, it’s time to move forward. Rusa is permanently closing.” They may make it to the end of month, but the real end is when the food runs out. 1027 NE Alberta Street, Portland

Bee’s Cakes closed their doors earlier this year, with the decision to stay until May, but vandals did their thing one time too many, and Rebecca is closing things down by the end of the month. Most recently they dumped out garbage all over the little parking lot, tore down some outdoor lights, damaged the door, and cut the power, leading to a significant loss of product. It does not feel safe for her and her family any more. This breaks my heart and why the city tolerates this stuff is beyond me. 7137 NE Fremont Street, Portland

Bardo, a tea room, is open. I recently became aware of Bardo, a tea room on NE Killingsworth across the street from Extracto (where I get coffee semi-regularly). I’ve wondered about this little white building for years, and I’m so curious about the interior (which I can now check out—and have tea). The folks behind Bardo have given their mission a lot of thought: “Our aim at Bardo, is not simply to offer you high quality tea, but it is also to weave the story that connects the soil, to the farmer, to the tea, to the cup.” Their hours are here. 2926 NE Killingsworth Street, Portland

Anniversaries—Higgins and Du’s Grill. Higgins celebrates 30 years and in honor of that, Chef Greg Higgins and his team have prepared a special menu for the month of March, “both in honor of his mentor [Chef Joseph Matter of Ribeauvillé, Alsace, France] and as a nod to the dishes that his loyal guests have loved the best over the years.” The menus are accessible from the Higgins website. 1239 SW Broadway, Portland

And Du’s Grill celebrates 29 years! On social media, they said, “I can’t remember the exact date of Du’s Grill’s inception. But I know it’s sometime around when the cherry blossoms start showing n the trees … Thanks for keeping us going all these years!!!” 5365 NE Sandy Blvd, Portland

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The Sad Story of the Closing of Pho Gabo

Vietnamese beef pho with spring rolls—some of the food you used to be able to get at Pho Gabo on NE Fremont. Photo credit: Pho Gabo

Over the weekend I learned about the closing of Pho Gabo via an article in Willamette Week. This modest, unassuming-looking Vietnamese restaurant has been there for the past six and a half years; the location has been home to restaurants serving Asian food for over 30 years. It’s a beloved spot in Roseway (a neighborhood restaurant, you might say), and there is much dismay among many neighbors.

Continue reading “The Sad Story of the Closing of Pho Gabo”
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Four Things I Learned This Week (January 12)

GrindWitTryz opening in old Nico’s Cantina space. Last year I wrote about Nico’s Cantina closing and that space on NE Cully Blvd being empty … again. Well, good news—GrindWitTryz is taking over the space. This restaurant is classified in various places online as a Hawaiian restaurant, but they offer dishes associated with other cultures as well, like chicken katsu (Japanese), pork bulgogi (Korean), and lechon kawali (Filipino), among others.

On January 2 they announced their closing to many sad fans … but less than a week later, they shared the news about their relocating: “If y’all thought we were closing, you thought wrong! Absolutely no one can stop us from spreading aloha in PDX! We are taking over Nico’s Catina! This space is giving us so much opportunity to grow and expand! Our grand opening will be in February.” Welcome to Cully, guys! 4318 NE Cully Blvd, Portland

New menu at Three Fifty Cafe. As they say, “New year, new menu.” The lovely little Vietnamese cafe has changed things up and you can see the new menu here. Stop in for one of the best banh mi sandwiches in town, have some fish sauce wings, and get yourself one of their excellent egg coffees to go with it all. 6205 NE Prescott Street, Portland

Get your Valentine’s treats at Bee’s. Although the cafe is closing, you can still order some of Bee’s fabulous treats for the upcoming Valentine’s Day holiday. Head to the website to order—you can order things “Bento Box” style (one of each item offered in a premade box) or build your own box with just the items you want. Orders will be open until Monday, February 6 and you can choose to pick up on Tuesday or Wednesday, February 13 or 14. 7137 NE Fremont Street, Portland

Angel’s Donuts & Ice Cream seems to have closed. A neighbor online asked, “Anyone know what happened to Angels Donuts on Alberta? I walked by Friday and it was dark during business hours, then I drove by today and still dark.” Another neighbor confirmed it. I called, no answer. Yelp also says they have closed. Bummer. If anyone has more insight, drop a comment or an email. 2805 NE Alberta Street, Portland