(Almost) Last Call for a Wildly Innovative Cocktail Bar, and Other Closures
Image: Courtesy Summer Luu
Fans of the cocktail hot spot Deadshot have a few months to enjoy a clarified daiquiri or blood orange gimlet, as the avant-garde cocktail bar will close at the end of the year. Owner Adam Robinson announced the closure earlier this week on Instagram, noting that regular service will end in early November, and that the holiday pop-up Miracle Bar will take the bar through to December 31. “The truth is simple,” Robinson wrote. “Sales just aren’t there anymore, while costs keep climbing.”
Deadshot began as a weekly pop-up at the fine-dining spot Holdfast. Starting in 2013, chefs Joel Stocks (now of L’Orange) and Will Preisch (currently at 82 Acres and Abbey Road Farm) would treat diners to elaborate, multicourse tasting menus within a dining room off SE Ankeny Street. But on Monday evenings, it was the Robinson show. Having previously bartended at Rum Club, Robinson opened Deadshot to show off his innovative approach to the craft, with drinks like the Who Is Jack Nance?, a mustard-and-sesame-infused whiskey drink, and Casper’s Ghost, a mezcal and rum number with bitter melon. In 2018, the whole operation moved to the former Associated Bar space on SE 11th Avenue: Deadshot took over the art deco–inspired dining room seven days a week, while Holdfast covered the cozy chef’s counter in back (plus the bar's food menu). Under pendulous lanterns, bartenders slid singular drinks to curious diners: the team would use a centrifuge to transform daiquiris into crystal-clear sippers and played with ingredients normally reserved for kitchens, like za’atar, cumin, and red cabbage. Despite its ultramodern approach to beverage, it also retained its status as an industry hang; hospitality workers could often be spotted knocking back shots of the eponymous Deadshot, a mix of blackstrap rum and Fernet-Branca.
Holdfast never reopened after COVID-19 shut down restaurants nationwide in 2020, so Deadshot pivoted to hosting a series of pop-ups and residencies, such as Filipino sensation Sun Rice and French-inspired Plumb Restaurant. Starting in 2021, the bar would don its finest Christmas apparel each winter and transform into Miracle Bar, customers packing the space for nog and gingerbread old-fashioneds. As it turns out, the Christmas-themed pop-up was the sole reliable income Deadshot enjoyed since COVID-19 upended the entire industry. “The one part of the business that is really healthy is Miracle Bar,” Robinson told Portland Monthly. “Miracle Bar makes us a bunch of money, and then we just lose it throughout the year… At the end of the day, it’s just numbers. It really comes down to sales not being there.”
Fans of Robinson’s bartending will be able to find him at his other cocktail haven, Too Soon, though he says he’s looking forward to some time off, maybe some traveling. And while he’s focused on the upcoming Miracle Bar installment, he fully plans on bringing it back next year, whether at another bar or an event space.
Other Closures to Know
Paradox Café
closed aug 8
One of Portland’s OG vegan spots, SE Belmont’s Paradox Café has served its final tofu-veggie scramble, citing only a vague list of “contributing factors that have been intensifying since COVID.” Open nearly 35 years, the café was never strictly vegan—eggs and sausage often appeared on the menu—but was far more vegan-friendly than most during its heyday in the ’90s and early-aughts. Servers were featured in the Mercury’s missed-connections classifieds, diners a mix of aging hippies and hung-over punk kids, the coffee cheap and bitter. Another piece of Old Portland gone to the ages.
Slow Bar
closed aug 9
Open for more than 20 years on SE Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, Slow Bar was beloved for its affordable drinks, late hours, and its cult-favorite “slowburgers.” They were so popular they even briefly anchored an eponymous spin-off restaurant. Though a popular spot before 2020, the bar reportedly has struggled since the pandemic, citing a slow recovery and a “...relentless rise of costs from ingredients to labor” in a Facebook post announcing the closure.
Backyard Social
closed aug 27
A friendly neighborhood bar fittingly known for its spacious back patio, Backyard Social originally opened in 2016. An underrated kitchen, solid drinks, and neighborly vibes earned BYS a dedicated following, the kind of bar frequented by neighborhood locals. However, owner Danielle Lawrence decided not to renew her business lease, and after nine years, the bar served its last drink at the end of August.
Image: Courtesy Epif
Epif
closing oct 5
Paradox isn’t the only vegan spot to announce that 2025 would be its last year—Epif, a family-owned bar specializing in empanadas and pisco sours, will close its doors on October 5. In an Instagram post, co-owner Nicolle Dirks wrote that, like the others, the restaurant is no longer financially viable to maintain. However, she promised that she and partner Jose “Pepe” Arancibia are already working on their next concept. “We are working on something new that we’re excited to share with you, so keep an eye out for more info coming your way soon.” She also noted the actual closure date might change.
