At the end of July, I made the biggest bet of my career. I bet on Portland. It’s the biggest because of what I put behind it. My brother and I didn’t just sign a lease. We put down the cash to buy the building.
I just opened a 10,000-square-foot, wood-fired steak and seafood restaurant in the city’s Pearl District. It’s my 27th restaurant and my first in the city where I was born. On opening night, we served more than 450 guests, and the same the following night. We turned people away both evenings, and the pace hasn’t slowed. We’re on track to top $10 million in sales in our first year.
I’ve opened restaurants all over the country, and I have never opened one this busy from day one. That is not what a lot of people would tell you to expect. During the debate over the Trail Blazers’ arena, Portland has been described as a tough city to invest in, and there is a hefty body of opinion in this country that would expect my restaurant not to be full.
Let me be honest about the risk. When I first started looking at Portland a few years back, the bones of a great city were all there but the streets were empty. Tumbleweeds. Vacant store fronts. High-rises packed with residents but not enough people walking around. I dug deeper and decided Portland was further along than its reputation suggested, and that the distance between the two was my opportunity.
I could have opened The Malarkey anywhere. I’ve built restaurants from Southern California to Hawaii to Texas. But I chose Portland because I did the due diligence and expect to turn a profit, and because I want to help build something new in a beautiful city starting a new chapter.
I’m a chef, not an economist. But after 27 restaurants, I know something about what makes a city feel alive. My restaurant in Bend does about $8.5 million a year in a city of roughly 100,000 people. Portland has 2.5 million people in its metro area. My question was simple: what would draw them out and bring them together?
So I put my money where my mouth is and built the answer.
The numbers told me the recovery was already underway. Crime has dropped significantly in recent years and continues to fall. But spreadsheets only tell part of the story. Residents’ positive impression of their downtown surged 19 points in two years. The lights are on in the city’s high-rises at night, and every one of those windows represents a customer.
I think the people investing in Portland right now are going to look pretty damn smart. The city still has challenges, but the price has not caught up to the progress. I believe we are at the beginning of the rebirth of Portland, Oregon.
And apparently I’m not the only person who sees it. Chef Michael Mina, who operates more than 30 restaurants globally, is opening his only Pacific Northwest location at Portland’s Heathman Hotel this fall. Jeff Swickard, a University of Oregon grad, bought Big Pink, Portland’s most iconic office tower, in an all-cash deal, then bought the building next door. This month, he moved to take a majority stake in a third downtown tower. His words: “This investment…it’s about reaffirming our belief in Portland and what this city can become again.”
RAJ Sports brought the WNBA back to town, and before the Portland Fire had played a single game, CNBC valued the team at $380 million, around triple what they were paid for in 2024. The Fire saw the largest debut crowd in league history. In March, the Trail Blazers were sold for $4 billion, while state and local lawmakers recently agreed on hundreds of millions in funding for a $600 million renovation of the Blazers’ home court. Sports teams ask cities to help fund arenas regardless of a city’s politics. And the vote to move forward with funding clearly shows this is a community that wants to do business.
The last few years have been brutal for businesses everywhere: pandemic hangover, tariffs, inflation and cautious consumers. No city has been spared, and judging Portland as if it struggled in isolation is selective storytelling.
My family has been here since the 1880s. I was born here, and when I was a kid, raised in Bend, coming into Portland felt like going to the biggest city in the world. Then I traveled, cooked, and built restaurants around the country. I succeeded. I failed. I got my ass kicked a few times. I learned a lot, and eventually, I came home. Now I get to stand in a restaurant with my name on the door.
Portland has heart. It has creativity, weirdness, grit and an enormous amount of pride. People want great restaurants, vibrant neighborhoods and an active downtown, and they want to support people willing to take a chance on their city.
Was it a risk? Of course. That’s what makes it a bet. I just think it’s a good one, and the reservation book agrees with me so far.
So if you’ve been told Portland is a place where business can’t be done, come see it for yourself. Walk the Pearl. Walk downtown. Meet the people who live here, work here, and invest here. Then come to The Malarkey on a Friday or Saturday night and feel the energy in that room.
Just be sure to make a reservation first.
Brian Malarkey is a Food Network celebrity chef, restaurateur, and two-time Top Chef finalist. The Malarkey, located in Portland’s Pearl District, is his 27th restaurant.
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