Shari’s Cafe & Pies closes Portland-area locations: Chain is done for good in Oregon

Shari’s Cafe & Pies, a family dining chain founded in Hermiston and long known for its pies, hexagonal buildings and 24-hour service, has closed its Portland-area restaurants and appears to be done in Oregon for good.

The Sunday closures affected restaurants in Beaverton, Gresham, Hillsboro, Oregon City, Portland and more. Locations elsewhere in the state have been slowly closing for weeks.

Shari’s once claimed to be the largest sit-down restaurant chain based in the Pacific Northwest. As recently as 2017, it boasted 95 locations across six states.

In an email sent to employees on Sunday and later reviewed by The Oregonian/OregonLive, Sam Borgese, managing member of the restaurant chain‘s parent company, said all Shari’s locations in the state would close as of 5 p.m. that day. Borgese, who did not respond to a request for comment, wrote that all employees would receive pay for work up to closing time.

“I personally thank the Shari’s employees, especially those that during the past 14 months worked tirelessly to overcome the constant challenges of an ever changing and uncertain business environment with hopes their efforts would result in a different outcome than the one we face today,” Borgese wrote in the letter.

Shari’s restaurants in California, Washington and Idaho remained open as of Monday evening, according to employees there.

Shari’s opened in Hermiston in 1978. In its heyday, Shari’s was known for its extensive pie offerings, bottomless cups of coffee and being open 24 hours a day. In smaller towns, the restaurants became a focal point of the community.

In 2023, the company announced that MGG Investment Group had invested in the chain‘s Oregon restaurants. At the time, it said there were 42 in the state, and Gather Holdings founder Borgese touted MGG’s “deep knowledge of video lottery gaming operations.”

The Oregon Lottery reported Monday that it had heard Shari’s was closed for good. According to a letter from lottery director Mike Wells to staff, officials were already working to retrieve terminals and other equipment from the shuttered restaurants.

“Shari’s was an Oregon institution, and a long time Lottery retailer,” Wells wrote in the letter. “I’m sure many of you have memories of late-night comfort food, Sunday breakfast, or tasty pies.”

Willamette Week was first to report on the Lottery letter Monday afternoon.

According to Wells’ letter, when Shari‘s locations closed over the weekend, play largely shifted to neighboring retailers, signaling that revenue is unlikely to fall dramatically due to Shari’s closure. Still, Melanie Mesaros, spokesperson for Oregon Lottery, acknowledged an impact to Oregon Lottery revenues is “possible.”

Shari’s generated just over $34 million in video lottery sales in fiscal 2024, according to figures provided by Mesaros.

Mesaros said Shari’s has been closing restaurants over the past few weeks. As lottery officials have learned of the closures, they’ve gone in and retrieved their equipment, Mesaros said.

Oregon Lottery learned Shari‘s was closing permanently in Oregon on Monday morning, she said, after officials had been hearing of more potential closures and Oregon Lottery reached out to a company representative. By the Lottery’s tally, the chain started the year with 42 locations and was down to 17 by this weekend.

Borgese told Oregon Lottery by email on Monday, “I can confirm that at this time that all Oregon Shari’s restaurants are closed.”

In his note to Lottery staff, Wells wrote, “A closure this large is uncharted territory for all of us.” Mesaros said the director was referencing the fact that Lottery hasn’t seen a major retailer that does lottery games close like this before.

In August, KGW News reported that the Beaverton-based chain was facing a litany of unpaid bills, back taxes and eviction notices, with at least seven Shari’s restaurants in Washington and Idaho closing unexpectedly in the five months previous.

Shari’s owes Oregon Lottery more than $900,000, according to Mesaros.

“Each week, our retailers deposit money into an account for what‘s called our ’draw‘ or the revenue that’s due to us for Video Lottery play,” she explained. “When a retailer fails to pay their weekly electronic fund transfer draw and the bank does not pay due to ‘non sufficient funds’ or NSF, they are required to pay us immediately or our equipment will be disabled.”

Oregon Lottery learned the chain this month had an NSF “and was unable to repay us or provide a bond required by administrative rule. They will also owe us for the remainder of time the terminals were open through this weekend,” Mesaros said.

That brings its total outstanding due to $902,341.98, according to Mesaros.

On its website, Shari’s still boasts of being the “largest full-service restaurant chain in the Pacific Northwest,” with locations in Oregon, Washington, California, Idaho, Nebraska and Wyoming. At its peak, the company had around 4,000 employees, including 1,600 in Oregon, according to the website. Those days are numbered.

An out-of-date Shari’s map shows 16 restaurants remaining in Oregon. The map includes eight in the Portland area, plus a lone Vancouver location at 11717 N.E. 76th St. The Oregonian/OregonLive was first to confirm that several of those locations had closed as of Sunday.

Over the past month, Shari’s locations in Keizer, Redmond, Bend, Medford and Pendleton have closed, according to local news reports.

Last Friday, The Oregonian/OregonLive spoke with employees at six metro area Shari’s locations. All said they had been informed by management that their locations were “safe” from closure.

One longtime Shari‘s employee at 11335 N.E. Airport Way estimated that around 50 restaurants had already shuttered throughout the company. But their location — with its popular video lottery machines and proximity to the airport — would be the last in Oregon to close, they were told. As of Friday, that location was also the last in the chain to remain open 24 hours a day.

On Monday morning, calls to the Airport Way location went unanswered.

A decade ago, the Shari’s at Airport Way ranked as the fourth-largest retailer for Oregon Lottery by sales, logging nearly $1.5 million in sales in 2014, according to the Oregon Lottery’s annual comprehensive financial report. No Shari’s store made the most recent rankings.

— Michael Russell; mrussell@oregonian.com

— Jonathan Bach; jbach@oregonian.com