Bartini and Urban Fondue Plot Comeback in Oregon City and Eugene

Bartini and Urban Fondue, the connected Portland nightlife institutions that shut their Northwest Glisan Street doors for good in February, are plotting a comeback — but not in Portland. According to the restaurants' parent company, both concepts are reopening in new locations in Oregon City and Eugene, though exact addresses and opening dates haven't been released.

The original Urban Fondue opened at 2114 NW Glisan St in 2004, with Bartini following a year later at the same address, and the two operated side by side for more than two decades with shared staff and what was described as a connected dining experience, according to WhatNow. Urban Fondue built its menu around cheese and dessert fondues, cooking broths, and shareable entrees, while Bartini became known for a martini list with more than 100 options. That drink menu ranged from classic gin preparations to sweet dessert cocktails like the Thin Mint Cookie and French Kiss, and the bar racked up multiple top-three finishes for Best Happy Hour in local reader polls, per Portland Monthly.

Why the Northwest District Location Closed

When Urban Restaurant Group announced the permanent closure of the Glisan Street spot, co-owner Mark Byrum pointed to local city taxes, what he called “untenable landlord demands,” and “ongoing neighborhood decline” as the factors that forced service to end on February 22, according to Willamette Week. Both businesses operated for more than 20 years in Portland's Northwest District before that closure. Hoodline previously featured Bartini as a trending spot back in March 2020, citing SafeGraph foot-traffic data that showed monthly visits at the address jumping more than 50% year over year at the time.

The closure also came after a difficult stretch for the businesses. Jacob Hartley, who served as general manager for both Bartini and Urban Fondue and had worked with Urban Restaurant Group for over 15 years across venues including Brix Tavern and Swank & Swine, passed away unexpectedly in February 2024, according to KGW. His death marked the loss of a key operational leader during a period of expansion for the group.

A Company Still Expanding, Just Not in Portland's Core

Urban Restaurant Group, founded by Mark and Carla Byrum, has continued expanding even as some locations have closed. The couple also own Brix Tavern, Swine Bar, Carlita's, and Fuller's Coffee Shop, and the group opened a third Portland-area Brix Tavern location in Hillsboro's Reeds Crossing development in June, joining its flagship Pearl District spot and a Tualatin site after the earlier closure of its Keizer Station location, KGW reported. Urban Restaurant Group also took over food and beverage operations at downtown Portland's Benson Hotel, including the Palm Court Restaurant & Bar, room service, and banquet facilities, in April 2024, and it acquired and reopened the 35-year-old Southwest Portland Mexican restaurant Chez José in December 2022 after its founding owners closed due to post-pandemic industry disruptions.

Fuller's Coffee Shop, the historic Pearl District diner known for its M-shaped counter and dating to 1947, is also part of the group's portfolio; it reopened in November 2023 after an extended shutdown caused by a kitchen fire. Taken together, the moves suggest a company reallocating resources toward suburban markets and hospitality partnerships rather than scaling back overall.

Why Eugene Makes Sense for the Revival

Eugene is not new territory for Urban Restaurant Group. The company already operates Gordon Tavern, 86 Speakeasy, Carlita's Rooftop, and Kennedy's Steakhouse in the city's 5th Street Market area and Gordon Hotel. Its catering arm, Pearl Catering — founded in Portland in 2003 as a single-van operation before growing into a regional caterer — expanded directly into the Eugene market in 2025 alongside its event venue management umbrella, Urban Venues.

That existing footprint gives Bartini and Urban Fondue a built-in base of operations as they relocate away from the neighborhood where they spent more than two decades. No addresses or timelines have been released for either the Oregon City or Eugene locations, and it remains unclear whether the fondue and martini concepts will share a single storefront in their new cities the way they did on Glisan Street, or open separately.