Portland’s beloved vegan restaurant, which closed permanently in December, has been purchased by fellow Portland vegan restaurant The Mocking Bird and is set to reopen in March.
It’s a good day for Portland vegans! Homegrown Smoker, which closed permanently in December of 2021, will now reopen this spring in collaboration with The Mocking Bird—another Portland-based vegan concept.
The Mocking Bird PDX Purchases Homegrown Smoker
It was a sad day in December of last year when Jeff Ridabock—owner and founder of the popular vegan BBQ restaurant Homegrown Smoker—announced his retirement and the permanent closure of the Portland-based vegan restaurant.
It didn’t take long though for a fellow Portland-based vegan concept to decide that Homegrown Smoker was too important to the Portland vegan scene to lose. Kayla Lamberson, owner of vegan fried chicken concept The Mocking Bird, has announced that she has purchased Homegrown Smoker and has plans to reopen the restaurant in the spring of this year.
When Homegrown reopens, it will be a fusion of all of the Homegrown BBQ favorites plus The Mocking Bird fried chicken sandwiches. Before the restaurant opens this spring, Ridabock will be staying on to train the new staff and pass on his knowledge of how to create perfectly smoked vegan meats.
Vegan BBQ, Fried Chicken Sandwiches, and Mac ‘n’ Cheese
Before its recent closure, Homegrown Smoker had been serving up some of the best vegan BBQ in the country since 2009. The menu consisted of vegan ribs smoked in-house, mac ‘n’ cheese, and loaded BBQ burgers. The restaurant attracted guests from all over the country, and it wasn’t uncommon to see meat-eaters and vegans alike standing in line for some of the famed vegan BBQ classics.
The Mocking Bird is a fairly new vegan fried chicken concept that has been taking the Portland vegan food cart scene by a storm. Less than two years old, the concept has already opened a second location, which will be replaced by Homegrown Smoker when it opens this spring. The Mocking Bird’s menu consists primarily of vegan fried chicken sandwiches, with salads, mac ‘n’ cheese, and other sandwiches also available.
Visit TheMockingBirdPDX.com for more information about the restaurant, and give both @themockingbirdpdx and @homegrownsmoker a follow on Instagram to keep up with the latest news regarding the opening.
Photo courtesy of Homegrown Smoker
