Pause Kitchen and Bar on Interstate Avenue Closes After 10 Years

It'll re-open as a bar called Patton Maryland under new owners.

By Matthew Korfhage

No more free pasta.

After 10 years on Interstate Avenue, Pause Kitchen and Bar called it quits on Sunday, July 17.

The family-friendly pub on an otherwise sparse patch of North Interstate Avenue, was best known for its spacious patio, meatloaf, and half-pound hamburgers—not to mention free pasta with butter and cheese for kids under 12—announced July 11 that they had sold their business.

The space will be taken over by new owners James Hall and Josh Johnston, whose bars should already be well-known to Portland bargoers. The pair own whiskey-happy pubs in all four other quadrants in Portland—including Circa 33 on Belmont, Irish pub Paddy's downtown, North 45 on Northwest 21st Avenue, and The Station on Alberta.

The new bar, Patton Maryland, will be the North Portland jewel in the crown— making them almost certainly one of the only non-McMenamins to own bars in all of Portland's five quadrants. Johnston and Hall have tendency to name their bars historically—Circa 33 after prohibition, The Station after the building's former use as a power substation—and Patton Maryland is no exception. It'll be named after two former names for the street currently called Interstate.

Johnston tells WW that they're still fleshing out plans, but they plan to maintain the family-friendly patio vibe, and hope to re-open in mid-August.

Willamette Week

Willamette Week’s reporting has concrete impacts that change laws, force action from civic leaders, and drive compromised politicians from public office. Support WW's journalism today.