The Pied Cow Coffeehouse, or simply the Pied Cow, was a coffeehouse and hookah lounge in Portland, Oregon's Sunnyside neighborhood, in the United States. The restaurant had an "eclectic" interior decor and, in addition to coffee drinks and hookah, served fondue, desserts, mezze platters, and wine. It was known for being reportedly haunted by a woman named Lydia and had received generally positive reviews. The Pied Cow appeared in Robyn Miller's 2013 film The Immortal Augustus Gladstone, which also featured a cameo appearance by restaurant owner Jimmy Chen, and on the artwork for Kyle Craft's 2018 album Full Circle Nightmare. The restaurant closed in 2023, and the Victorian house was listed for sale.
Description
The Pied Cow was a coffeehouse and hookah lounge along Belmont Street, housed in a reportedly haunted Victorian house in southeast Portland's Sunnyside neighborhood. The menu included coffee-based drinks, cheese fondue, mezze platters, hummus, desserts, beer, wine, tea, and hookah. Menus displayed quotes by Friedrich Nietzsche. The interior was "eclectically decorated" and had a "cluttered altar dedicated to everyone from Nick Cave to Buddha". Dylan Jefferies and Delaney White of the Daily Vanguard called the Pied Cow "whimsical", writing that "numerous Victorian paintings and eclectic items adorn the walls, and a staircase is built up like a kind of altar, with various flowers, silks and dolls ornamenting every step".
According to Thrillist, the restaurant's patio was covered during winter months and the lawn was used during the summer months. The exterior had tall hedges and trees, as well as benches, plastic chairs, and "mismatched" lawn furniture. The large white tent used for outdoor dining was illuminated by heat lamps and Christmas lights. In 2014, a writer for The Columbian said the Pied Cow had a "varied clientele". In 2012, Willamette Week John Locanthi said the establishment did not serve people under the age of 21. In contrast, in 2019 the paper said, "Anyone who grew up in Portland, especially in Southeast, knows the Pied Cow as a place to go to before turning 21."
History
Before the Pied Cow, the house was occupied by a "lively" restaurant called Buttertoes. The restaurant was opened by three sisters in 1979 and continued operating into the early 1990s. The walls had murals of fairies and mermaids. In 1996, Jennifer "Jenny" Joyce painted Keep on the Sunnyside, a ten-panel mural celebrating the "history and character" of the neighborhood, along SE 30th Avenue at Belmont. One of the panels depicts the house and the Thaddeus Fisher House. Faded over time by multiple cleanings and neglect, the mural was repainted by the Portland Street Art Alliance, which supports muralists and other street artists, with Joyce's permission in 2018.
Robyn Miller's 2013 mockumentary film The Immortal Augustus Gladstone about a "150-year-old epileptic vampire with gay tendencies" was set in Portland and filmed in part at the Pied Cow. The restaurant's owner, Jimmy Chen, made a cameo appearance. Described as "strangely poetic" by The Washington Post, the film won Best Picture at the Oregon Independent Film Festival. The photograph used as artwork for Kyle Craft's 2018 album Full Circle Nightmare was taken at the Pied Cow. Additionally, the restaurant served as a set for the music video to Craft's song "Heartbreak Junky".
In September 2023, the business announced plans to close. The house was listed for $1.5 million, and interior decorations were put up for sale. Chen attributed the closure to the COVID-19 pandemic.