Jimmy Chan, Jasmine Tree bartender
photo from the PSU Daily Vanguard
The Jasmine Tree restaurant in Portland will have to either relocate or close under current plans by the Portland Development Commission, the PSU Daily Vanguard reports. The PDC is looking to bring affordable middle-income houseing to the area, for those employed by the nearby Portland State University. The plan also calls for a light-rail line, which would run through the space currently occupied by the Jasmine Tree.
The Jasmine Tree has plenty of history — besides having been in operation for 30 years, they also house many tikis from the legendary Portland Steve Crane-owned Kon-Tiki restaurant, including the three large cannibal tikis as seen in the Kon-Tiki & Luau logo.
The Jasmine Tree’s current lease is up at the end of April, and it is unknown what the fate of the location is beyond that.
- The price of urban renewal [PSU Daily Vanguard]
- Jasmine Tree Rumors [Tiki Central]
- The Jasmine Tree, Portland [Critiki]
September 6th, 2006 at 12:26 pm
[...] The questions surrounding the future of Portland’s Jasmine Tree appear to have largely been answered. Due to urban redevelopment, the Jasmine Tree had the choice of shutting down or relocating, but has to be out of its current location by the end of October. The search for a new location has not been successful; there is still a slim chance that the restaurant could move, but if it does, it won’t have a tiki theme. The owners of the Jasmine Tree have agreed to sell the tiki decor to Robert Volz, who is opening a new tiki bar in northeast Portland, called Thatch. Volz had worked with the Jasmine Tree owners to try to find them a new location; he plans to use much of the decor in Thatch, and may sell some of the decor to fellow Portland-area tikiphiles and Tiki Centralites. [...]
January 26th, 2007 at 9:32 pm
[...] Brandon at Welcome to Blog recently went on a one-night mission to take the pulse of Portland tiki, and he found a nice, strong heartbeat, indeed. After a brief lament for the loss of the Jasmine Tree, he pits the Portland grand dame of tiki, The Alibi, against brand-new upstart Thatch in a contest of Decor, Tikis, Drinks, The Crowd, The Background Music, The Bathrooms, and The Staff. Sounds like my kind of night out on the town. He gives thoughtful consideration to each location’s strengths and weaknesses — in particular, it’s great to hear that Thatch is playing Les Baxter. Which Tiki reigns supreme? Well, thankfully, one doesn’t have to win over the other — Portland is just lucky to have two great tiki bars, and hopefully that will be the case for a long time to come. [...]
August 9th, 2008 at 10:44 pm
[...] restaurant that years ago inherited tiki artifacts from the Portland Kon-Tiki when it closed. As earlier reported, the building the Jasmine Tree is to be demolished to make student housing for nearby PSU, but they [...]