We’ve all seen it. The cursed retail or restaurant location. Nothing can last any longer than a few months..maybe a year. I walked by such a location the other day and was flabbergasted that yet a new restaurant is making it a go.
This building on the corner of SW Taylor and Yamhill has seen its share of restaurants. I remember when it was Harvey Wallbangers with the dueling pianos. A friend once told me it was the place to be and be seen. That didn’t last long. Most recently, it was Chayote Grill. I think Chayote closed before it opened. Now, there is a new awning, fresh paint, window coverings and a sign – Ibiza.
I guess I wonder if when restaurant owners choose a location, do they look at the history of the building and what has worked and what has failed. I don’t know why the other ventures closed up shop. It could have nothing to do with location. I guess I should wish Ibiza luck. Heck, maybe they got all of Chayote’s items for cheap.
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here’s the link: Ibiza!
Portlandfood.org has a thread full of snark awaiting it’s opening and eventual failure.
I don’t think it’s a cursed address so much as it’s a high rent, high traffic address that only attracts idiot investors. Cursed addresses, to me, only apply to honest and earnest places. Fad club after fad club is more of a parade of idiocy than anything else
I always thought it would be cool to check out some of the top floors of this old brick building. It kind of has that ‘abandoned’ feel to it. There is a lot of history soaked into those brick walls I’m sure. Anybody know anything about it’s past?
This place is right next to my work, and I’d like to see a restaurant succeed, but with all the fast food and chains within a block of it (Chipotle, Subway, etc) there will never be a lunch crowd big enough to keep a real restaurant profitable enough to stay in that area of downtown.
I *live* on SW Taylor, in downtown, and I’ve never eaten in that place. I have eaten at pretty much everywhere other place around it. It’s just not a place conducive to a restaurant, with so many lunch spots around.
Funny, it’s not just restaurants that do this.
I’ve wondered the same thing about businesses time and time again – ever since doing the exact same thing myself when i moved my computer store in 2000 to it’s ill-fated destination on NE Halsey, which had seen years and years of failed businesses move in antd out.
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