The Western US Restaurant Chain That Everyone Loves For Its Pie Is Disappearing

Some restaurant chains disappear over years with clear reasons for their decline, but one beloved diner and pie chain has almost vanished over the past two years with little warning. If you don't live in the Pacific Northwest you may not have heard of Shari's, but its been a staple in the region for more than 40 years. Founded in 1978 in the town of Hermiston, Oregon, Shari's is a diner-style restaurant that once boasted of being the largest casual dining chain in the Northwest. Also called Shari's Cafe & Pies, it was known for 24-hour service, and its wide variety of different pie recipes. At its peak, Shari's had 95 locations across six states: Oregon, Washington, Idaho, California, Wyoming, and Nebraska. However, financial trouble has hit the chain hard, and there now appear to be fewer than 10 locations left.

It's actually hard to tell how many Shari's are still operating, because the closures have been abrupt, and the company's website is no longer functioning. As recently as 2023, Shari's still had 78 locations, but news broke last year that the company was not paying its bills, with some landlords issuing eviction notices in some locations. Shari's ended up completely shutting down all of its operations in its home state of Oregon suddenly in October 2024, closing 42 stores all at once, after previously shutting down around a dozen in Washington and Idaho.

Despite no official confirmation of how many Shari's are still in operation, Shari's Instagram has still been operating in recent months, and there are nine locations shown as open on Google, all featuring customer reviews within the past month. There are four in Washington, three in Northern California, and two in Idaho.

The lack of communication has been part of the mystery as to why Shari's is disappearing. The ownership, called Gather Holdings Guarantee, has not answered numerous press inquiries into what is happening at the chain. The only hint has come in the form of an email from Shari's CEO Sam Borgese to employees when the restaurants in Oregon were closed. According to reporting from Oregon Live, he vaguely blamed "constant challenges of an ever-changing and uncertain business environment" for the closures. Along with Shari's, Borgese also previously owned two other struggling West Coast diner chains, Coco's and Carrows, with the latter now being completely out of business.

Despite not being a national name, Shari's was a popular spot in the small towns of the Northwest, where its 24-hour service and bottomless coffee made it a community gathering spot. It featured an extensive menu of classic diner items, with omelets, pancakes, chicken-fried steak, burgers, and club sandwiches. The loss of an affordable local chain like this is definitely a blow to the many communities Shari's once served.