Lardo Closes on North Williams Avenue

Opened February 2014, Lardo North brought owner Rick Gencarelli's creative sandwiches, potent craft beer program, and hard rock soundtrack to North Williams Avenue, but as of today, June 29, it's closed for good. Lardo is part of the ChefStable restaurant group and still has Downtown and Hawthorne locations. Speaking with Eater, ChefStable's Kurt Huffman blamed the closing on slow business.

"The location had less foot traffic than we expected," he says, "and that didn't seem to be changing." He says Lardo fans can rest assured that no major shakeups are in store for Lardo's other locations.

A long-time restaurant on the Eater Portland 38, Lardo has been mired in controversy of late centering on a disagreement among investors, one of whom says he was cut out of the deal when Lardo North opened.

Lardo North shared its space with the ChefStable wholesale bakery, Philippe's Bread, and Huffman says it could take over the space. "The landlord has been really understanding," says Huffman. "We'll either expand the bakery into the space or leave that part of the business to someone else." If someone does move in, Huffman doesn't predict it happening until this fall.