8 Notable Restaurant and Bar Closures to Know in Portland for July 2025

BUCKMAN — Bottle Rocket Burgers, a long-running burgs and beer spot at the Cartopia Food Carts pod, has closed for good according to Mike McKinnon. The former owner of fellow Cartopia cart Potato Champion, McKinnon emailed Eater Portland to say that he’d bought Bottle Rocket and was planning on turning it into a new burger place with the help of chef Andrey Sitnikov.

OLD TOWN — Sad news for Portland’s queer nightlife community: Famed gay nightclub and bar CC Slaughters is closing after “the final hour of” August 3, according to the club’s website. CC Slaughters opened all the way back in 1981 and has been owned for the last 22 years by Bruce Rice. In the closure announcement on the website, Rice said he “would like to extend his outmost gratitude for the community that has supported the club over the years.”

BUCKMAN — After a decade, the sports bar Home, a Bar will close at the end of July. In an Instagram post, the owners said that the reason was “increasing costs for power, gas, city and county permits along with other costs like insurance and a new lease.” It’s sad news for any of the fans of the teams who had made the bar their home, including Liverpool, the Browns, the Timbers, the Packers, and the Cubs.

CENTRAL EASTSIDE — As Willamette Week notes, just a few blocks away from Home, Slow Bar is closing on August 9, and taking its beloved booths with it. The owners told Keep Portland Wicked that since the end of the pandemic lockdown era, “we’ve battled a declining neighborhood, inflation, and the relentless rise of costs from ingredients to labor. The hits just kept coming. To say we’re heartbroken doesn’t even scratch the surface.”

IRVINGTON — Bridgetown Bites reports that the Spella Caffe inside the Woodblock Chocolate manufactory will close after July 25. According to BB, ownership “decided the time is right to focus their energies on their downtown location—the gravitational pull of the James Beard Public Market has much to do with that. They will be operating inside the Market when it opens.” Spella may return to the east side some day, however.

OVERLOOK — More from Bridgetown Bites: Backyard Social, a bar and restaurant known for its spacious backyard patio, will close at the end of August when its lease is up. The space used to be Hop and Vine until three employees took it over and renamed it; owner Danielle Lawrence, who was one of those employees, told BB that she’s going to get out of the restaurant industry.

LLOYD CENTER — The mall’s Orange Julius/Dairy Queen combo is closed after 42 years following the death of longtime franchise owner Bob Slayton. This was the last Orange Julius in Portland, and its closure is no doubt distressing to local fans, who are called the Julius League.

ALBERTA — Finally, we’re not sure this counts as a closure per say, but Ethan and Geri Leung are closing their Baon Kainan food cart on July 25. This is a happy occasion, however, as the Leungs are opening a restaurant called Pamana in September inside the Hoxton hotel.