Cracker Barrel abruptly closes after four years on Hayden Island

PORTLAND Ore. (KPTV) - The Cracker Barrel signs have been taken down and the windows are boarded up. After four years on Hayden Island, the restaurant chain called it quits there Monday and neighbors are disappointed.

“I was surprised, they always seem to have a lot of people there eating,” Tom Dana, a neighborhood association board member, said.

“It was a shock to me when I drove by and saw it all boarded up, however not surprising as so many things are leaving Portland or not being kept up,” the President of the Hayden Island West Association, Patrick Castro, said.

Cracker Barrel’s abrupt closure is also shocking to those working there. Cyndi Betance said she was a server there until Sunday night and that the next morning they had a mandatory meeting where they got the news.

“We sat down, and they proceeded to tell us that Sunday was the last working shift the restaurant was going to be open for. That starting, effective immediately, that location was permanently closed,” Betance said. “We had no idea there was anything remotely negative going on.”

Castro thought when the restaurant opened in 2018 it would revitalize the area. Now, he and Dana wish the city was doing more to support businesses before they left town, like cleaning up the area and providing a stronger police presence.

“The homeless issue and the crime issue, that’s the main thing that needs to be addressed,” Dana said. “You can’t do that without a police force.”

Cracker Barrel sent FOX 12 a statement about their closure:

“As a standard course of business, we continually evaluate the performance of our stores, using various criteria to ensure we are meeting the needs of our guests and our business. With that, we have made the difficult decision to close our Jantzen Beach, Oregon Cracker Barrel location. Our focus right now is in assisting our employees during this transition, and we are grateful for the support of our guests and the Jantzen Beach community.

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