PORTLAND, Ore. — Restaurants sought stability after the pandemic year of 2020. But extreme heat, a labor crunch and rising prices and tight supply chains, on top of a Delta-driven Covid surge, did not make 2021 an easy year for the dining world.
Last week, more than 3,300 restaurants nationwide, including hundreds from Oregon, signed a letter to Congress saying they were in danger of closing without another $60 billion for the federal Restaurant Revitalization Fund. That program launched this year but quickly burned through its $28.6 billion, leaving nearly 200,000 applicants without grants.
Portland businesses that signed on to the appeal include major names like RingSide Steakhouse, Higgins and ChefStable.
"Our elected officials did not adequately fund this wildly successful grant program and now time is up for thousands of restaurants and bars who applied and did not receive relief," Erika Polmar, the coalition's Oregon-based executive director in a news release.
The past year has already seen several notable Portland restaurants close for good. Here is a rundown of some of the closures covered by the Portland Business Journal in the past year.
- Cheese bar
- Bailey's Taproom
- Masia
- Ataula
- Bijou Cafe
- Holy Trinity BBQ
- Paley's Place
- Stacked
- Botanist
To read more about each restaurant and closure, click here.
Editor's note: the video in the media player above aired on October 10, 2021.