Restaurants, Bars, and Food Trucks Closing for the August 2021 Heat Wave

In the record-breaking late June heat wave, Portland food businesses struggled in ways many restaurant owners didn’t anticipate. Refrigerators and walk-ins broke down in the heat, employees experienced heat exhaustion symptoms, and dining rooms shut down mid-service. Things were even worse for food cart owners, working in close quarters within a metal box — temperatures in their kitchens climbed far higher than the temperature outside.

Now that Portland is anticipating another bout of triple-digit temperatures Thursday and Friday, many restaurants and food carts are preparing for at least a few hours of closures. Because the heat isn’t expected to reach the same record-breaking levels it did earlier this summer, many Portland restaurants and bars are still planning to open earlier in the day, closing before the temperatures reach their afternoon peak. Here, we’ve compiled a list of restaurants, bars, and food carts that have already announced closures; expect this list to grow in the coming days, and keep it bookmarked before heading out to dinner this week. Know of another business closing for the heat wave? Let us know via our tip line (note: summary lines are not appearing in tip line emails, so please include the name of the business in the text of the tip).

Fully Closed Restaurants and Carts

Ja’Das Soulful Eatz — Closed Wednesday through Friday
Malka — Closed Thursday
Mestizo — Closed Thursday through Tuesday
Bing Mi — Closed Wednesday through Friday
Gracie’s Apizza — Closed Thursday
Smokin Fire Fish — Closed Friday, closing early Thursday at 3:30 p.m.
Erica’s Soul Food — Closed Wednesday and Thursday
Radar — Closed Thursday
Mitate — Closed Wednesday through Friday
Mid City Smashburger — Closed Wednesday through Saturday
Urdaneta — Closed Thursday
Farmer and the Beast — Closed Thursday through Sunday, and closing at 2 p.m. on Wednesday
Monster Smash — Closed all week
Alecocina — Closed through the week
Matta — Closed Wednesday, open 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Thursday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Sunday

Partial Closures/Truncated Hours

Matt’s BBQ — Closed at noon Wednesday; potentially closing Thursday and Friday
Montelupo — Open noon to 3 p.m. Thursday
Jojo — Open 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Wednesday through Friday
Bark City — Open 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday
Kim Jong Grillin — Open for lunch, anticipating early closures through the week
Holy Trinity BBQ — Open 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. through the week
Baon Kainan — Open 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Thursday and Friday, 11 a.m. to sold out Saturday
Sure Shot Burger — Open 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Wednesday