Suburban Staple Gustav’s Is Temporarily Closing All Its Restaurants Due to the Pandemic

Nearly 98% of the chain's revenue comes from in-house dining, and it could not survive on takeout alone.

Gustav's spinoff Bargarten in Beaverton. IMAGE: Liz Allan.
By Andi Prewitt

A longstanding local chain of restaurants is halting service—at least temporarily.

German staple Gustav's announced today on its website and social media platforms that it was closing all of its restaurants because of the ongoing COVID-19-related restrictions on in-house service. That includes three locations in Tigard, Clackamas and Vancouver, Wash. as well as its newer spinoff Bargarten, which is established in Beaverton and Keizer.

"Nearly 98% of our revenue comes from in-house dining," the statement read. "With the governor's recent extension of the indoor dining ban, it is not viable for us to continue to operate on takeout alone."

The Gustav's brand actually began in Portland as the popular Der Rheinlander on Northeast Sandy Boulevard. Founded in 1963 by chef Horst Mager, who immigrated to the United States from Wiesbaden, Germany, the restaurant became one of the city's dining institutions, famed as much for its cuckoo clocks and singing waiters with accordions as its fondue. Rheinlander closed in 2017 after a developer purchased the property.

But the German cuisine lived on in dishes at Gustav's, first established in 1992, and then Bargarten—a flashier version of Gustav's, which typically has a take-your-grandma-to-birthday-lunch vibe.

The company says it will reopen all of the restaurants as soon as possible. Anyone who wants to continue to support Gustav's and Bargarten during the closure can purchase gift cards from their websites.

Related: At Bargarten, Oktoberfest Never Ends

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