I discovered on a walk this morning that the Fireside Coffee Lodge is closed closing with a "new cafe coming soon!" message on the door. It'll reopen later this month under new owners as Southeast Grind. (I won't link to Fireside's old website, because it's been cybersquatted into the "Sex Away Your Thigh Fat!" sort of link dumpster.)

I've liked the place, and wondered how it was doing. The Fireside opened in late 2002, soon after I moved to this neighborhood, and started as a 24-hour-except-for-one-day-a-week place. It took some time to reach the original owners' ambition of being a 24-hour operation every day of the week, not just six of them.* It got coverage in unexpected places: a New York Times travel article mentioned it. Within the last couple of years, though, the shop curtailed hours to 6 a.m. to 2 a.m., then 8 a.m. to midnight. Southeast Grind will go back to 6 a.m.-2 a.m., but I wonder if it'll ever try going to 24 hours. I wish Portland were friendlier to 24-hour food shops, or at least late-night dining; we have just a smattering of those.

Waiting to see if this place will be worth supporting...

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* Now I wonder: Has any diner or coffee shop ever been named Eight Days A Week?