Stacked Sandwich Shop Will Serve its Last Oxtail French Dip on December 19

When chef Gabriel Pascuzzi announced he would be opening a new restaurant in 2017, a sandwich shop was not what most people who knew his name had anticipated. Pascuzzi’s experience had largely been in fine dining, including a gig at Copenhagen’s famed Noma, often considered one of the world’s best restaurants. But Pascuzzi wanted to put that experience to use between slices of bread — Stacked Sandwich Shop would cure, brine, smoke, and grill all of its sandwich meats, preparing everything in-house. Sandwiches like the oxtail French dip and a turkey Reuben with purple sauerkraut helped him snag the 2017 Chef of the Year accolade, and build a solid fanbase. However, after trying to weather the challenging years of the pandemic, Stacked will serve its last sandwich on Sunday, December 19.

Pascuzzi announced the closure on Instagram with a heartfelt thank you to his customers and his staff, including Stacked chef Lindsay Fuller. He cited now increasingly familiar reasons for the closure, including supply chain issues and rising meat costs. “We’d have to charge $17, $18 a sandwich just to break even,” he tells Eater PDX. He explains that while the food was well received, people still complained online about the prices, even early on—despite the quality of the meat meaning it should have been priced higher, like with a $14 oxtail French dip, he saw complaints about it in reviews.

Diners will have until December 19 to grab a last smoked turkey hero or Cobb salad, and Pascuzzi said there might be a chance of some previous favorites making a return for the last few weeks. As for the future, fans of Pascuzzi’s cooking can still find it at his roasted chicken restaurant Mama Bird and his recently opened whole grain bowl shop Feel Good. He’s also hosting a steakhouse pop-up at Mama Bird on December 10 and 11—depending on how it goes, it might become a regular thing.

Pascuzzi encourages diners who want to see places like Stacked stick around to visit their favorites when they can. “What makes Portland great is our small and independent restaurants,” he says. “If that’s what you love about Portland, go out to them. They’re going to be gone if you don’t support them.”

• Stacked Sandwich Shop [Official]
• Mama Bird [Official]
• Feel Good [Official]
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