For better and for worse, the food and drink industry is one of the most volatile out there. While there are plenty of exciting restaurant openings to look forward to, lots of restaurants are also closing their doors, from neighborhood gathering places to fine dining restaurants. Here’s our roundup of the food and drink openings and closings you need to know from the past few weeks.
Say Hello To…
Vya
A new tapas bar, Vya, opened on February 26 in the space that formerly housed Cuban eatery and bar Palomar (which moved across the river to Nob Hill in March 2025). The chef behind the project, Connor Gallaher, is an alum of long-standing tapas restaurant Urdaneta, so we have high hopes for the caliber of their cuisine. The tapas menu includes classics like cheese plates, jamon iberico, and jamon croquettes, plus some more unusual dishes like beet tiradito with tiger nut and octopus carpaccio. Paella makes up the menu’s heartier offerings, including vegan paella with mushrooms, artichokes, and garrofón beans. Cocktails include red and white sangria, plus ingredients that go far beyond Basque country and Spain, including Sichuan green pepper, charred poblano, and arrack.
Vya, 959 SE Division #100, Wed-Sat 4:30 pm-11 pm, vyapdx.com, @vyapdx
Bun Bandits
An unlikely doughy combination takes shape at Bun Bandits, a new food cart with a Wild West theme that opened in Multnomah Village on March 4. The cart offers kolaches every day—pastries brought to Texas by Czech immigrants that have become an integral part of Texas food culture. One filling combo, the Lone Star Looter, includes cheddar, jalapeño, and sausage; another, the Gravy Train, is filled with sausage and gravy. On Fridays and Saturdays, you’ll find kolaches alongside Hawaiian-style malasadas, round fried donuts brought to the islands by Portuguese immigrant laborers with fillings like haupia (coconut pudding) and lilikoi (passionfruit). Pair them with a Coava coffee or a Desi Chai, but get there early—last Friday and Saturday, the cart sold out within two to three hours.
Bun Bandits, 4419 SW Multnomah, Wed-Sat 7 am-sold out, bunbandits.co, @bunbandits.co
Ponto
In other bready news, Ponto, a Korean salt bread bakery, opened on Alberta Street on March 4. For the uninitiated, Korean salt bread is kind of like the cousin of a croissant, only the butter is baked inside the bread in a solid log, leaving behind a butter hole. They can be savory or sweet, with fillings ranging from strawberry milk to squid ink. If that sounds too good to be true and you want to get your hands on one right now, we’ve got bad news: the bakery is currently closed while they adjust to the unexpected high demand. Stay tuned for updates on a reopening date.
Ponto, 1483 NE Alberta, temporarily closed, @ponto.pdx
Honorable Mention
It’s about Dame Time someone opened a fancy sports bar in Portland, don’t you think? Trail Blazers star Damian Lillard opened Honorable Mention, which he and the bar’s co-owners refer to as a “sports lounge,” on March 6 in the basement of the Benson Hotel downtown. There are plenty of TVs around the bar for catching a game without being too in-your-face, and there are several cozy banquettes for groups. At a media event, we enjoyed several dishes from their menu—zhuzhed-up versions of bar classics and steakhouse fare, from corn ribs to braised beef nachos to tomahawk steak. The cocktails were also solid, particularly the figgy take on a Manhattan.
Honorable Mention, 309 SW Broadway, Sun-Thurs 4 pm-11 pm, Fri-Sat 4 pm-midnight, honorablementionpdx.com, @honorablemention
Dick’s Pizza
This self-described New York-style pizzeria softly opened in Sellwood on March 12, brought to you by the same folks behind jazz club The 1905—operator Chris Pfeifer and chef Jon Wiley. During their first week, the menu was limited to slices and soda, but an expanded menu of full pies, salads, cocktails, beer, and chocolate cake are coming soon.
Dick’s Pizza, 7738 SE 13th, Thurs-Sat 4 pm-8 pm, dicks.pizza, @dickspizzapdx
And Bye/Welcome Back to…
República
This influential tasting menu restaurant, which described itself as “Mexico-forward,” announced in late January that it would be closing, marking an end to the restaurant’s nearly six-year run. In a Substack post, owner Angel Medina cited rising costs, decreased demand, and the safety of his staff in the current immigration climate as reasons for the closure. Tasting menus here leaned heavily into storytelling, from the significance of pre-Hispanic ingredients to folk tales. On March 8, the restaurant served its last dinners—but on March 15, an Instagram post announced that República wasn’t quite done yet. Now, it’ll b e returning to the dishes it served when it first opened in 2020: quesadillas, tacotes (giant! tacos!), guisados, and pozole, available only during lunch hours—but be warned, it’s not necessarily long term. “Just show up while it lasts,” the post reads.
República, 100 NW 10th, Thurs-Sun 11 am-2:30 pm, mexico-forward.com, @republicapdx
And Farewell for Now to…
Phaya
This steam-table service Thai restaurant on SE Hawthorne announced on Instagram that it would be “taking a big pause” after its last day of business on February 27. Phaya was the most recent endeavor from restaurateur Nan Chaison, who also owns Mestizo, Norah, and Libre, serving a menu of gluten-free dishes including steak panang curry and stewed pork belly with egg, plus several variations of made-to-order pad thai. However, Chaison says this isn’t the end for Phaya: “You’ll definitely see us around—especially at the Thai Festival in July (stay tuned for the dates!).”
Elephants Deli NW 22nd
A fire broke out at the flagship location of Elephants Deli at 1 am on March 10, with nearly 60 firefighters showing up at the scene. The fire damaged the building’s exterior, interior, and roof. Elephants Deli CEO Martin McClanan wrote in a statement that “we are assessing the damage and doing everything we can to rebuild.” The fire was determined to be human-caused, and a suspect was arrested the following day. Portland Fire & Rescue’s report stated that the fire was started when a person was using a torch lighter to look through garbage cans and unintentionally ignited combustible material inside.