Sad to see them go…
Thai Fresh Restaurant, now closed
Mixteca Restaurant, now closed
While we had a lot to celebrate this summer with the return of the Jade International Night Market, we also had to say goodbye to two wonderful Jade District small businesses: Thai Fresh and Mixteca.
Thai Fresh, a landmark Jade District business, closed after 14 years on July 1, 2023. Owners Vong Soutavong and Aroon Onchumchit quickly created a friendly neighborhood restaurant when they first opened and never stopped caring about the Jade District community. They catered many APANO events and meetings, and came out to support community clean ups and host fundraisers for local groups like the Harrison Park PTA.
While the Jade District won’t ever be the same without Thai Fresh and Vong and Aroon’s smiling faces, the community is fortunate to not wait too long for another amazing restaurant to come in. Hâp Fresh will be taking over the location at 8409 SE Division St. with the help of Vong and Aroon. For more information about Thai Fresh and their story, please see the wonderful article by Jacob Loeb on Montavilla News.
Vong and Aroon, owners of Thai Fresh. Catering buffet from Thai Fresh.
We also said goodbye to Mixteca in July 2023. After almost 4 years in the Jade District, Mixteca had their final day on July 23, 2023. Mixteca brought delicious Oaxacan cuisine to the Jade District with Doña Paula’s expert cooking. Many tamales and aguas frescas were shared at Mixteca and the Jade District will forever be grateful for their time and community love. You can still find Mixteca serving up their yummy food at many local farmers’ markets around the Portland area, including the Montavilla Farmers Market on Sundays. Please see Montavilla News’ article about their closure and follow Mixteca on Instagram.
Like Thai Fresh’s location, community doesn’t have to wait long for another tea and noodle experience taking off in Mixteca’s old property. At 2320 SE 82nd Ave., you will now find T4 (a boba tea shop) and Wing Kee Noodle sharing the space. The Jade District helped the owners of T4 with a Small Business Improvement Grant to help with the remodeling costs. Both T4 and Wing Kee Noodle are open. For a more in-depth story about them, please see Montavilla News’ article.
Inside the new T4