Jerusalem Cafe, the long-established Mediterranean restaurant in downtown Vancouver, is permanently closed after operating for some 23 years.
The restaurant, 106 E. Evergreen Blvd., made the announcement Dec. 29 on Facebook, and the doors to the restaurant were closed and locked as of Thursday. The eastside location, 516 S.E. Chkalov Drive, Suite 45, will remain open.
The downtown location’s sign has faded to be barely legible, and the tan stone exterior of the building is stained black in places, but the owner of the cafe is still occupying the building while selling all of the business’s stock of wine at a 40 percent discount, according to the Facebook post.
Aiman Farran, who operates the Chkalov location, wrote on Facebook that his younger brother, Nidal Farran, who operated the downtown location, decided to close the business, but he did not offer a reason why.
“It’s a sad time for me and my family as that restaurant holds a lot of memories,” he wrote. “(The) downtown location is where we all started when we came to the states and then the brothers decided to branch out and have each his own place.”
The founder of Jerusalem Cafe, Fadul Farran, moved to the U.S. from northern Israel and opened the restaurant in 1996. After being naturalized a U.S. citizen, his family, including his younger brothers Aiman and Anton, immigrated and joined him in the U.S. The family opened the Chkalov location in 2002, and shortly after they opened a Battle Ground eatery. They later changed the Battle Ground menu to American food and renamed it Old Town Burgers and Breakfast.
Clark County Public Health in September scored the downtown Jerusalem Cafe with a health score of 0, a perfect score.
The closure of Jerusalem Cafe comes just after another longtime downtown restaurant, Tommy O’s Pacific Rim Bistro, closed permanently Dec. 22. The closure of Tommy O’s was partly due to increasing costs and competition from The Waterfront Vancouver restaurants, according to its owner, Tom Owen.
It’s not clear what will happen with the building. The owner, Kiggins Properties, did not respond to The Columbian’s request for comment.
This story has been updated to accurately state that Nidal Farran is the owner and manager of the downtown Jerusalem Cafe.
