"I don't think I'm allowed to stop making that cookie," Katy Millard told The Oregonian. She was explaining what survives as Coquine, her restaurant of 11 years, turns into a more casual Katy Jane's.
Her line also works as a summary of Portland's fall. Most of the restaurants and bars that opened this season, or are about to, are going into rooms people already know, under names that are new or newly arranged. Each operator had to pick what to keep: the menu, the floor plan, the staff, or the neighborhood role. Knowing which piece they kept tells you what to expect when you walk in.
The cookie stays, and the wall comes down
Coquine's last dinner in its current format was scheduled for Saturday, October 24, at its Mount Tabor storefront on Southeast Belmont near 69th. The restaurant opened in 2015 and expanded into a former yoga studio next door in 2020. That side became a cafe and market, and then, from early 2025, Katy Jane's Oyster Bar. Now the wall between the two spaces is coming out, and the whole operation is set to reopen as a single Katy Jane's. The target is mid-November.
The list of what stays is short and specific: seasonal salads, the roast chicken for sharing, and the smoked almond chocolate cookie. The Portland Mercury reports the chicken will be "a bit more simplified." The new à la carte menu adds pastas, soups and a seafood tower. The candy tray that ended every Coquine meal is already gone.
The business wasn't struggling. "Coquine is doing really well. We do not struggle to fill seats," Millard told The Oregonian, and the paper notes that reservations were still hard to get more than a decade after opening. She chose to change the format and keep the dishes people came for.
Coquine's influence is also showing up downtown. Bar Sprezzatura, Michael Mina's Venetian bar-bistro in the Heathman Hotel, opened October 16. Its executive chef is Justin Ramirez, who previously cooked at Coquine.
On Division, the bar kept its floor plan
The Richmond Bar closed unexpectedly in November 2025 after more than a decade. On September 3, its brick storefront at 3203 SE Division reopened as the Richmond Club. Eater Portland reports that the layout is largely the same as before. The big secluded patio is still in back, and the long walnut-and-tin bar sits about where the old one did. The look has moved from vaguely Edwardian to seaside French bistro, with chicken frites and scallop crudo on the menu.
The new owner is Dan Casto, who runs Double Dragon a few blocks away. That bar had never opened a sister location. Casto told Eater he wanted a neighborhood he understood, and lower Division is the only one in Portland he has lived in. His stated priority: "I'm focused on the utility of the neighborhood bar." That means room for groups who stay all night and for someone who just wants a cheeseburger and a beer after work. Casto kept the bar's role in the neighborhood and changed nearly everything you can see.
A few miles west, the same pattern plays out at a smaller scale. The little renovated house at SE 25th and Belmont has been the Rocking Frog, Lucky Cup and a ForeLand Beer taproom. Since October 8 it has been Patufet, a Spanish-inspired cafe and bar run by Madeline Kenney and Chris Perry, serving vermouth, Spanish wines, and pastries such as a Galician almond tart.
Some comebacks travel with the staff
Grits N' Gravy shut with little warning in June. It had taken over the former Little Bird space downtown in late 2021. It reopened October 10 under Jesús Alejandro Chipres, a longtime employee who started as a dishwasher and later moved up to serving. The Mercury reports he isn't planning big menu changes, so shrimp and grits, chicken and waffles, and chicken-fried steak are staying. This time the menu and the room both came back. The owner is the one who changed, and the new owner already knew the kitchen.
Better Half went the other way, keeping its menu and moving to a new room. The sandwich shop opened on NE Fremont in 2020. Its lease ended last November, and the owners, Alan Osborn and Kelly Haarsager, spent less than a year finding a new spot. They found it in the former Food Front Cooperative Grocery space at NW 23rd and Thurman. Breakfast sandwiches on housemade English muffins, in egg and vegan egg versions, start at 9 a.m. every day except Monday.
When the new tenant started as the adviser
At NE 47th and Glisan, the handoff happened more slowly. Original Dream Pizza closed for good on August 30. A 2025 mechanical fire left smoke damage and forced a long closure, as Bridgetown Bites reported when the shop reopened in January. The owners later told Bridgetown Bites that the business never got its momentum back after reopening. Willamette Week reports that Johnny Ricci of Atlas Pizza first came in to advise Original Dream before the conversation turned to Atlas taking over the space. He pointed to nearby Providence hospital and the dense residential neighborhood as reasons to stay on the corner. Atlas opened its fourth Portland location at 4620 NE Glisan on September 21. The corner stayed a pizza place without ever sitting empty.
The Callback, at 1607 NE 41st Ave., replaced the Hollywood Bar and Carts pod with indoor dining and a cocktail program. Bridgetown Bites named its operators as Trevor Salas and Shane Ebberts. Eater Portland's openings map lists a September 1 opening, after earlier targets moved several times. The pod's website currently lists Sakura Sushi, Pelmeni Pelmeni, The Pizza Place, Noah Halal, Beto's Taqueria, Coastal Vibes and European Job.
| Address | Was | Is now | What carried over | What changed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SE Belmont near 69th | Coquine and Katy Jane's Oyster Bar | Katy Jane's, opening mid-November | Roast chicken, salads, the cookie | One room, à la carte, no candy tray |
| 3203 SE Division | Richmond Bar | Richmond Club | Floor plan, patio, bar position, neighborhood role | French bistro look and menu |
| Downtown, former Little Bird space | Grits N' Gravy | Grits N' Gravy | Name, menu, staff knowledge | Owner and manager |
| NW 23rd and Thurman | Food Front Cooperative Grocery | Better Half | The Fremont shop's sandwich menu | The whole room |
| 4620 NE Glisan | Original Dream Pizza | Atlas Pizza | Pizza on the corner | Operator and brand |
| 1607 NE 41st Ave. | Hollywood Bar and Carts | The Callback | Cart pod format | Indoor dining, cocktail program |
Still to come, in order
Several more second acts are on the calendar for the coming weeks. The dates below are the operators' own targets, and they could move.
- Gabby's Next Door, dinner from October 23. Gabbiano's took over the dining room next door that used to be the well-known Beast and has run it as a lunch spot. Dinner service was set to begin Friday, October 23, running Thursday through Sunday, from a rotating menu that includes shrimp fra diavolo and baked manicotti. Co-owner David Sigal describes it to the Mercury as a possible waiting room for Gabbiano's, where you can get a cocktail before dinner next door.
- Chonghi Pizza's last weekend, October 31 and November 1. This one is a farewell. The pop-up's final days are October 31 at the Portland State market and November 1 at Montavilla, before its owners move back to Hawaii.
- Mossback Tavern, November 2026. Bridgetown Bites reported that Alex Gesler and Shaw Flick are opening at 3813 SE Gladstone, in the former Dullahan Pizza Pub space, with modern New York-style pizza made with Pacific Northwest ingredients. The site's October roundup reported in mid-October that booths were in place and the first keg brewed with Away Days Brewing had arrived. The tavern's site says November 2026.
- Katy Jane's, mid-November. This is the reopening described above, once the wall on Belmont is down.
- Pamana dinner at 5424 NE 30th, late fall. Geri and Ethan Leung are moving dinner to the former Expatriate space and keeping brunch at the Hoxton. They told Bridgetown Bites they won't recreate Expatriate's cocktail-bar model. Instead they plan Filipino food and wine, with dishes like lumpia, sisig and kinilaw, and mostly cosmetic changes that keep the room's footprint.
Pamana is keeping the room and changing what's served in it. Grits N' Gravy did close to the opposite.
Josh spends a lot of time on the same question with houses: which parts of a space are worth keeping, and what it costs to change the rest. If you're thinking about remodeling a room of your own, or want to know which features a buyer would pay for, Josh Halemeier is happy to walk through it with you. Schedule a free consultation.
