Produce Row Café

Coordinates: 45°31′12″N 122°39′49″W / 45.51994°N 122.663495°W / 45.51994; -122.663495
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Produce Row Café
Logo reading "produce row café est. 1974"
The restaurant's exterior in 2020
Map
Restaurant information
Established1974 (1974)
Food typePacific Northwest[1]
Street address204 Southeast Oak Street
CityPortland
CountyMultnomah
StateOregon
Postal/ZIP Code97214-1018
CountryUnited States
Coordinates45°31′12″N 122°39′49″W / 45.51994°N 122.663495°W / 45.51994; -122.663495
Websiteproducerowcafe.com

Produce Row Café, or Produce Row, is a restaurant and craft beer bar in Portland, Oregon's Buckman neighborhood, in the United States.

Description[edit]

In 2016, Martin Cizmar of Willamette Week wrote, "Before it closed in 2014, Produce Row was a 40-year tradition of beer and music—home to multiple generations of Portland's music scene, going from the de facto homebase of Portland's pre-millennial indie-rock crowd to an unlikely IDM/EDM hang in the 2000s, before being revamped in 2008 into a New Portland beer hall and unlikely patio DJ hub—hosting international hip-hop night the Do-Over."[2]

History[edit]

Signage for the cafe in 2017

The building was built in 1951 and opened as a breakfast café for produce dockworkers in 1953; it was also a barbershop at one point.[3] Produce Row originally opened in 1953 as a breakfast café for the produce dockworkers.[4]

Mike McMenamin had worked as a sandwich maker in college and was interested in a career in the food industry; after graduating from Oregon State University with a degree in political science in 1974, he and two college friends bought the landmark Produce Row Café, which was Portland's warehouse and wholesale district.[5] The brothers sold "The Row" to the employees in 1978.[6]

It was purchased by Alan Davis in the 2000s. In 2014, Produce Row closed after operating for more than forty years.[7][8]

In 2015, Davis sold Produce Row to Josh Johnston and James Hall, who reopened the restaurant and bar in May 2015.[9]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Produce Row Café". Portland Monthly. Archived from the original on 2022-02-22. Retrieved 2022-02-22.
  2. ^ Cizmar, Martin (2016-05-10). "Produce Row Cafe". Willamette Week. Archived from the original on 2021-06-20. Retrieved 2022-02-22.
  3. ^ Chilson, John (2010-06-10). "Produce Row Cafe: Rebirth of the cool". Lost Oregon. Archived from the original on 2021-03-02. Retrieved 2021-02-06.
  4. ^ "Produce Row Cafe". Willamette Week. Archived from the original on 2022-02-22. Retrieved 2021-02-06.
  5. ^ Waterbury, Margarett (2018-04-27). "Vision and Versatility: The Story of McMenamins". Spirited Magazine. Archived from the original on 2021-03-01. Retrieved 2021-02-06.
  6. ^ "Thebeerchaser". Thebeerchaser. Archived from the original on 2021-01-24. Retrieved 2021-02-06.
  7. ^ Russell, Michael (2014-09-02). "Produce Row Cafe closing after 40 years in SE Portland". The Oregonian. Archived from the original on 2016-03-11. Retrieved 2016-02-24.
  8. ^ Russell, Michael (2014-09-05). "Produce Row Cafe owner says shuttered bar 'might go on,' but not on his watch". The Oregonian. Archived from the original on 2016-03-11. Retrieved 2016-02-24.
  9. ^ Bakall, Samantha (2015-04-09). "Southeast Portland's Produce Row to reopen in May". The Oregonian. Archived from the original on 2016-03-11. Retrieved 2016-02-24.

External links[edit]