Musubi Leaves a Hole in Portland’s Hawaiian Scene

Musubi may be heading back to its roots — which is bad news for Portland Hawaiian food fans.

Musubi, the hole-in-the-wall Hawaiian spot on Division, has decided to close its doors March 18. Owner Darrell Yuen announced on social media that the restaurant will no longer serve its version of the Hawaiian and Japanese rice snacks.

Yuen told Eater that he does not plan to open another shop in Portland, though he and his partner JJ Needham may open in Honolulu sometime in the next year.

“Musubi was an incredibly cozy beach blanket for us, and hopefully for you, our incredible friends and customers,” the post reads. “We have absolutely loved crafting fun musubi flavors and introducing them to Portland.”

Musubi opened next to Bar Avignon in 2016, serving squares and triangles of packed rice with savory fillings and toppings (think: onigiri). The two made spam for the musubi in-house, as well as konbu for the Umami Bomb musubi.

The two will also open an online store, delivering tools and ingredients for Portlanders to make musubi at home. The store will sell hard-to-find Hawaiian ingredients, as well as a melange of merch.

• Musubi [Facebook]
• Hole-In-The-Wall Musubi Spot Opens Beside Bar Avignon [EPDX]
• Hawaii Shave Ice Spot Opens in Portland [EPDX]