Shari’s Cafe & Pies, an iconic chain of 24-hour family restaurants and home to numerous lottery machines, abruptly closed all of its Oregon locations on October 20, according to multiple sources. KGW confirmed the chain’s closure after obtaining an email that Shari’s parent company CEO Sam Borgese sent to the Oregon Lottery (apparently, Shari’s was a big source of revenue for the lottery).
The first Shari’s opened in Hermiston in 1978, eventually growing to 42 locations across the state. The Oregonian reports that Shari’s locations in California, Washington, and Idaho remain open.
The Beaverton-based Shari’s diner empire started showing signs of decline throughout 2024 as it quietly closed almost a dozen locations across multiple states. According to KATU, the trouble is nothing new — Shari’s has been struggling financially for years. In August 2024, KGW reported that Shari’s was facing a bevy of financial issues including $100,000 in unpaid fees to a marketing agency, at least two eviction notices, and six tax liens from the Idaho State Tax Commission for about $220,000 in unpaid taxes.
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Restaurant Business reports that the chain’s sales in 2023 were down by 7.5 percent compared to the previous year. Deb Melina, a manager at the Shari’s on Northeast Airport Way in Portland, told KGW the location has been in “hospice” for the last few months, and at one point went to the grocery store to restock when ingredients stopped being delivered to the restaurant. A final Yelp review from September 20 of a Eugene-area Shari’s notes that the restaurant was completely out of pie — its signature item. Tiffany Johnson, a general manager at the Farmington location, told KOIN she was notified of the restaurant’s closure via text with no warning.
The closure of Shari’s — essentially the PNW’s answer to a Denny’s — is a huge loss for Oregon’s late-night dining options, filling a hole in smaller communities where few round-the-clock restaurants exist. Where will teens go now to pontificate about the highs and lows of high school football, heartbreak, and chemistry homework over a hulking slice of apple pie and a stack of pancakes at midnight?
