Noho's Hawaiian Cafe has put a date on the end of its Northeast Portland run: Sunday, Dec. 13, at 4627 N.E. Fremont St.
Owner Noho Marchesi told The Oregonian/OregonLive that rising costs led him and his wife to close the Fremont restaurant rather than keep operating at a likely loss. The cafe's website frames the same decision as a difficult goodbye after what it calls 33 wonderful years, and says it is time to say aloha to Portland. The Portland Tribune reported that a Nov. 10 social media post cited rising costs, and that the couple's Medford restaurant will stay open.
Closing Instead of Going Into the Red
Marchesi was plain about the choice. He told The Oregonian that continuing on Fremont would likely mean going into the red, and that closing was preferable to risking debt. He and his wife also said they were grateful for Portland customers over 33 years.
The public comments do not itemize which bills moved or by how much. What they do fix is the calendar. Noho's says its last day will be Sunday, December 13, more than a month after this week's announcement.
1994 on Clinton, and a 33-Year Count
The Tribune dates the Portland start to 1994. After moving to the city in 1992, Marchesi served island fare from several temporary spots, then opened a restaurant on Southeast Clinton Street with recipes from friends and family. The Tribune describes Noho's as closing after 33 years of service. The cafe is describing 33 wonderful years.
In 2019, Marchesi narrowed the business to one Portland restaurant and one in Medford. That Portland bet is the location now scheduled to end. Medford is the Noho's that remains.
Corvallis Came First
Portland was not the first kitchen. In 1991, Marchesi and his brother Roy opened Local Boyz Hawaiian Cafe in Corvallis, after Roy asked him to help establish a Hawaiian restaurant. Local Boyz is still open, and it has long been a stop for Oregon State University students.
Marchesi, who is Hawaiian, Portuguese and Italian, moved to Portland the year after that Corvallis opening. The Fremont address is the Portland restaurant now on a closing clock. The plate, at least, has stayed recognizable: The Oregonian notes kalua pork, chicken teriyaki and mac salad, and the cafe says its Hawaiian-style plate lunches and dinners come with sticky white rice and macaroni salad.
A Wider Squeeze, Separate Ledgers
Portland dining has been living with a broader cost problem, which is not the same thing as Marchesi's ledger. KGW has described owners facing food, labor, rent, insurance and utility costs against thin margins, and said the city's restaurants had not recovered their financial footing five years after COVID-19 damaged the industry.
That reporting used Coquine, a James Beard nominee that seats 60 diners on its busiest nights, as one illustration. Co-owner Ksandek Podbielski told KGW, "We can't add more seats to the restaurant, and every year, every month, costs go up." A 60-seat dining room and a plate-lunch counter are different operations. Marchesi did not tie the Fremont closing to that room.
An OregonLive roundup in October tracked other planned endings with their own stated reasons. Oakshire cited increasing costs, competition and lasting COVID-19 effects in plans to shut taprooms in Eugene, Springfield and Portland. A wood-fired Italian steakhouse from former Top Chef contestant Gabriel Pascuzzi was set to close after service on Oct. 17, with the article saying tariffs played a role. Those cases do not establish what moved the numbers at Noho's.
The scheduled fact is narrower. Fremont's last day is Dec. 13. Medford's Noho's, and Local Boyz in Corvallis, are the restaurants the family is keeping open.
