Bend’s Common Table Restaurant closing

The Common Table, a popular, unique Bend non-profit restaurant, is closing down this Wednesday.

For two years, the community cafe has offering food to those who are able as well as unable to pay. It’s citing two reasons for the closure.

The restaurant has been having trouble staying solvent, and it would also would have to close down for four months due to renovation of the building.

On Wednesday, August 8th, the restaurant will have a celebration with a “pay as you are able”-style buffet — until all the food and drink are gone.

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Here’s the posting on their Facebook page on Sunday:

Friends of Common Table:

This is a difficult status update to share.

We are closing the restaurant associated with the nonprofit, Common Table as of the end of day Wednesday, August 8th.

In addition to the day-to-day challenges of running a very unique restaurant, we’ve been informed that additional building renovations would completely shut us down for the next four months. This makes normal challenges grow to be untenable.

We’ve met with our wonderful staff and will do what we can to help them find new positions (note to potential employers!).

The restaurant will close, yet the Common Table mission, to “nourish body and spirit and welcome people from all walks of life to eat and volunteer together” will continue. We don’t know right now exactly what that looks like.

Our Steering Committee and Executive Director are pulling together and plans will be announced shortly.

Meanwhile, we thank all who have worked here, all who have volunteered, all who have provided monetary support, all who have eaten here and all who have provided food and supplies. Something wonderful has happened over these past two years and we look forward to building on that foundation.

Join us Wednesday for a celebration of the life of the restaurant. We will enjoy time together in “pay-as-you’re able” style, until the food and drink are all gone. We welcome diners during our regular hours between now and Wednesday as well.

We will be working on a plan to make sure our patrons are aware of free meal services in other locations and that our tokens will be honored in some form. We ask for your patience while we work through these details.

Sincerely and with love and gratitude,
The Common Table Steering Committee