On March 17, 2020, Bijou Cafe, one of Portland’s oldest breakfast restaurants, celebrated its 42nd birthday by announcing it would close for “at least four weeks, or however long this will take to get through,” promising to return.

“WE WILL BE BACK!,” the cafe at 132 S.W. Third Ave. posted on social media. “We’ve weathered many storms and refuse to go out like this.”

In the weeks that followed, Bijou Cafe staff donated 1,500 eggs to Blanchet House, painted its freshly boarded-up windows with colorful flowers and a “Black Lives Matter” slogan, then briefly reopened in the spring with a new takeout menu and brunch boxes for Father’s Day.

But it was not to last. On July 13, 2020, Bijou announced it would close temporarily once more to “reevaluate our current business model.” Despite fan comments wishing the restaurant would reopen, including some posted as recently as last month, it would prove to be the cafe’s last message.

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Despite the rough end, Bijou had an enviable run. The restaurant, which Hagberg opened with friend Bonnie Allen in 1978, sought out organic ingredients before they were readily available, with staff sometimes driving to a Eugene co-op to pick up produce. (Allen, who left Bijou to open a natural grocer in Port Orford, died in 2009.) The restaurant, which expanded into its full corner space in 1980, took the occasional crack at dinner, including a memorable run in the 1990s under chef Leather Storrs, but the neighborhood struggled to support evening hours, Hagberg said.

Bijou’s breakfast menu, on the other hand, felt almost timeless, prominently name-checking local producers and growing regions, in a style that would eventually take hold at many newer Portland restaurants. Over the years, the restaurant became known for its small-batch granola, good Nueske’s bacon, fried Willapa Bay oyster hash and deceptively simple French omelets, which Bijou made long before they became cool again. As recently as 2019, Bijou Cafe was still one of Portland’s best brunch spots.

July 2021- Per https://pdx.eater.com/22240842/portland-restaurant-bar-cafe-closings Bijou Cafe

Bijou’s potential closing had been on our radar for weeks, but the Oregonian got the confirmation: After more than 40 years in downtown Portland, Bijou Cafe has closed permanently, making way for Creole cart PoBoyz’s brick-and-mortar. Owner Kathleen Hagberg told the O that the lack of tourist traffic downtown, combined with a lingering desire to retire and the fact many breakfast foods don’t translate particularly well as takeout, made it so she felt she needed to close the cafe. Bijou — known for its omelets, egg-topped hashes, and hardcore biscuits and gravy — first opened in 1978.

In 2022 PoBoyz Cajun-Creole restaurant took over the space.

Lower Right-hand ad is from the 1990 Right to Privacy Program - Lucille Hart Dinner ad Page 04.