New steakhouse planned for the Pearl
The building, last home to Oba!, finally lands a flashy new tenant
The building where Oba! Restaurant died in 2017 is being fixed up to make way for a flashy steakhouse. The concept is an ode to Portland, according to a source named “Secret Sauce.”
The restaurant’s owners are James and Brian Malarkey, the brothers who own Hawkeye & Huckleberry Lounge, a “modern cowboy” themed steakhouse in Bend that draws Central Oregon’s bedazzled jeans and bolo tie set. Hawk and Huck, as its called, sources its meat from the Malarkey farm located in Tumalo just northwest of Bend.
On Friday, a new roof was going up onto the building, located at 555 NW 12th Ave., which had been a neighborhood eyesore and frequent target of vandalism.
The new restaurant should open in June.
The Malarkeys have other four restaurants in San Diego and a vast food portfolio.
The charismatic Portland-born and Bend-raised Brian Malarkey may be familiar to fans of Bravo’s “Top Chef,” on which he appeared during Season 3. Malarkey also co-hosted ABC’s “The Taste” along with Anthony Bourdain.
Attempts to reach the Malarkeys were unsuccessful.
Malarkey’s website states that “the group will debut its second highly anticipated concept in Portland, continuing its expansion into the Pacific Northwest.”
Hooray! Finally!!! I am a former General Manager of Oba back in its heyday, and it was such a fun time in my life and an eminently rewarding professional role. I've been waiting all this time for the next iteration of this building I have such fond memories of!!
Good news. If there's one thing I dislike more than businesses closing it's the building remaining vacant for months or as in this case, years. And there's A LOT of that happening in The Pearl these days. I remember that the old Jimmy Mak's had announced in 2019 to reopen a new club there but that obviously never happened.