Pacific Way restaurant to return with new owners
Published 2:00 pm Tuesday, February 15, 2022
- John Allen announced his former restaurant and bakery will be leased to Jennifer and Alan Arora.
A lucky few stopped by Valentine’s Day for the chocolate-dipped shortbread cookies. Others set clocks for early mornings on the weekend to get there in time for the chicken pot pie and veggie tart. For those who waited in lines for favorites like apple turnovers, raisin snails or chocolate croissants, it was always worth it.
This week, Pacific Way Bakery and Cafe owners Lisa and John Allen announced they will be leasing the iconic bakery to Jennifer and Alan Arora of Lake Oswego.
“We are beyond ecstatic that we have found a wonderful couple to take on the Pacific Way Bakery and Cafe,” Lisa Allen posted on Instagram. “Join us in giving them a warm welcome.”
The Allens opened at the corner of Cottage and Pacific Way in Gearhart in the late 1980s, and the restaurant gained favor with locals, visitors and foodies from all over, gaining glowing reviews from leading food and wine publications.
The bakery, with its signature items designed and prepared by Lisa Allen, became a social headquarters for locals, with visitors and regulars alike engaged in conversation and issues of the day.
At the start of the pandemic, the restaurant closed, but the Allens reopened the bakery, and with only themselves as staff, found success as a bakery and micro-market.
They have been in negotiations with the Aroras for about six months, John Allen said. “He first approached me last summer, so we’ve been working on it slowly and quietly here. It all finally came together a couple of weeks ago. As far as I know, he’s planning on reopening the bakery immediately, or fairly immediately, and then also getting the restaurant back up and running too.”
The Allens will operate the bakery this weekend, then plan on assisting the family with the reopening.
“Then I plan to relax after 35 years of being on call, 24/7, 365 days a year,” John Allen said.
Lisa Allen will hang up her apron for good on Monday afternoon, her husband said. “I don’t know what she’s going to be up to, but for now we’re going to try to figure out what it’s like not to work 70, 80 hours a week.”
