Bigs Chicken is on the move.
Big's Chicken is on the move. Michelle Mitchell

First, the good news.

We got word that the owners of Piazza Italia plan to open a bar/de facto waiting room next door to its Italian restaurant sometime this summer, and that Taco Pedaler is opening its second brick-and-mortar in the old Pollo Norte space in Concordia, possibly by the end of this month.

Portland Monthly reported that Bollywood Theater’s Troy MacLarty has plans to open Churchgate Station, an intimate Indian supper club that will host Friday and Saturday night family dinners starting this summer right next door to his Division Street restaurant.

Willamette Week learned that Big’s Chicken is rising from the ashes of the fire that temporarily put it out of business last summer—but this one will be in Beaverton, not Portland.

Eater reported that John and Renee Gorham have opened a second Shalom Y’all in the old Taylor Railworks space next door to their Plaza del Toro space, and that Eugene and Salem-based 22 Below is bringing Thai ice cream to Goose Hollow in the coming months.

The Oregonian had both good news and bad news. The bad? Associated, the pizza restaurant, is closing on SE 11th. The Good? It’ll soon be the permanent home to Holdfast Dining and it’s turning Deadshot, its craft cocktail pop-up, into a nightly operation.

And finally, everyone reported on the announcement of the 2018 James Beard Award semifinalists. In all, 18 Portlanders were picked including Han Oak’s Peter Cho, Departure’s Gregory Gourdet, Coquine’s Katy Millard, and Nong’s Nong Poonsukwattana, all of whom were nominated for Best Chef Northwest. Because everyone reported on it, we’ll link to… Eater, where you can find the full round-up.

Okay, now the bad news...

A tipster alerted Eater that the French food cart Le Pantry appears to have closed at NE 28th, which later appeared to be confirmed when a second tipster informed the website that the owner has packed his bags and moved to LA.

Eater also had the news that after 23 years, the Wild Abandon diner will close its doors on SE Belmont on February 28. Matt Vicedomini, the pitmaster of the eponymous Matt’s BBQ food cart, took to Twitter to report some news of his own: He’s getting booted from the N Williams parking lot he smokes from. The upside? He has until August 1 to find a new space.

And we just learned that Chinese Village the decades-old Chinese restaurant located at 520 SE 82nd in Montavilla, has permanently closed its kitchen. The restaurant's bar, however, will remain open.