PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — A German restaurant that has been in Portland for 53 years will be closing its doors sometime in the first quarter of 2017.
Der Rheinlander, owned by Guten Foods, announced on Tuesday it sold the building that houses the 50-year-old restaurant to Venerable Properties. The sale closes on Friday.
Employees will have the opportunity to stay on at the restaurant until it closes, and then they will be offered raises and positions at other Guten Foods restaurants.
“This decision didn’t happen overnight; we’ve been discussing it for a long time,” Guten Foods CEO Suzeanne Mager said. “I have bittersweet feelings about it, of course. But I feel it’s the right thing to do, especially considering today’s Portland food scene. It has been evolving, and so must we.”
Mager said for every entrée sold from Friday until the restaurant closes, Portland-based food service training company New City Kitchen will receive $0.25. New City provides training and job placement in the food service industry for individuals getting back on their feet. It’s the company’s attempt at ending homelessness.
Der Rheinlander was founded in 1963 by Portland’s original celebrity chef, Horst Mager. The chef appeared on KOIN 6 in the 1970s doing a weekly cooking segment. In the 1990s, Suzeanne Mager, Horst Mager’s daughter, purchased the business, keeping it in the family.
