Everything has to come to an end, those are words we are all very familiar with. Unfortunately, in the restaurant world that means closed spaces. In turn that leaves communities with fewer choices on where to spend time.
In Vancouver, WA, recently several places have closed. If you look for information on who, what, and why, it’s not always that easy to find.
Welcome to that list. This is the Vancouver, WA list of restaurants, bars, coffee shops, and more that have closed down. Some places are chains, and others are local places that decided it was time to try something else.
The aim is to provide a somewhat comprehensive list of places that left the downtown Vancouver location. The hope is to expand the list to all o Vancouver when information can be found.
The Vancouver location of Big Town Hero closed at some point in February. On their location page, currently, it says they are temporarily closed while moving to a new location. The sandwich shop which is an Oregon-based chain was in an area that got decent traffic, but over the years has run into issues with continuing that success.
It was February 14, 2023, when IV Tea Company closed its doors in the space that housed Black Rock Coffee. This location provided a nice space for excellent tea blends, tea cocktails, tasty pastries, plus good lunch options. Even though they shuddered their brick-and-mortar location, IV Tea still lives online. You can purchase tea, plus other items there.
Interestingly enough, IV Tea and Big Town Hero were both in the same building and both are no longer there.
Woody’s Tacos — Not closed anymore, just changed owners and reopened
As this is a living breathing list, corrections will be made to the list as we go forward. Woody’s Tacos is open after being closed down for quite a while. I’m making the correction here, which will at some point just go away on later editions of this list.
Out of the location that was the Old Ivy, Mav’s opened up with an excellent idea. One spot would be your traditional bar while the other building right across the way would be a game room, with pinball machines, plus other arcade games, plus more. It was something for all ages. Sadly, on March 31, 2023, it all came to an end. The owner posted on their Facebook page that they were closing down so that they could spend more time with family.
Even though it is a sad day for all those that enjoy playing games, sitting on the patio, or just going for a nice variety of beers. The new tenant at this point is supposed to be Brothers Cascadia. No date has been announced, so who knows if and when something will happen with that space.
A smaller off-the-beaten-path juice bar, Be Well Juice Bar closed in April. The news was announced on their Facebook page. The location had a good product and plan with freshly made juices and smoothies. However, like many places in downtown Vancouver, the economics just didn’t work out.
It is also very interesting that it appeared at one point, they either were going to be expanding or moving to a location at the Vancouver waterfront, which never materialized.
When you first walked into VX74, you were either amazed, scared, or really intrigued, in some cases maybe all three. Unfortunately, those thoughts and wonders won’t be enjoyed or shared anymore. VX74, a bar that got its name, as told in The Columbian, based on the owner’s (Rodrigo Zevallos) artistic name Vol. X, and the year he was born (1974), closed its doors on Saturday, July 15th. Their location and issues were a similar tale to that of IV Tea. This makes the second unsuccessful business to vacate this location. Koi Pond Cellars out of La Center were in that location until they left at the beginning of COVID-19.
No specific reasons have been given for their closure. However, due to the bar’s location not being close to the hustle and bustle of popular attractions such as the waterfront, Esther Short Park, or areas like Uptown or Main Street, it became difficult for them to thrive and survive.
The interesting history of the building that housed the now-closed Pho Divine makes you wonder about the location in general. Pho Divine which was Pho Haven closed earlier in July 2023. No reason for the closure, other than it being marked as permanently closed on google maps as well as their Facebook listing.
This location was a popular tea shop called Mint Tea in the mid-2010s, which became Pho Haven in 2015, then Pho Divine at the end of last year. This lovely looking house will open as some interesting soon, as it is a very good location in a popular area.
That is the list for now. If you know of anywhere that has closed, let me know. The idea is to provide information, so you aren’t left wondering about a place.
On the other end, we’ll be making a list of places that will be coming soon, or newly opened as well. Change is inevitable, especially in the food service industry. The best thing to do is to embrace the change and prepare for more.
Jacob Thomas 