Shari's Cafe & Pies, originally known as Shari's Restaurants, is a chain of family dining restaurants in the western United States. Known for their house-made pies, Shari's also offers a full breakfast, lunch, and dinner menu. Shari's is known for their familiar

hexagon In geometry, a hexagon (from Greek , , meaning "six", and , , meaning "corner, angle") is a six-sided polygon. The total of the internal angles of any simple (non-self-intersecting) hexagon is 720°. Regular hexagon A regular hexagon is de ...

al building design. At its largest extent, Shari's had 96 locations across five western states plus Nebraska. As of June 2025, Shari's has 10 locations in

Washington Washington most commonly refers to: * George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States * Washington (state), a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

, and

Idaho Idaho ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest and Mountain states, Mountain West subregions of the Western United States. It borders Montana and Wyoming to the east, Nevada and Utah to the south, and Washington (state), ...

, with corporate headquarters in

Oregon Oregon ( , ) is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is a part of the Western U.S., with the Columbia River delineating much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while t ...

History

Shari's began in

Hermiston, Oregon Hermiston () is a city in Umatilla County, Oregon, Umatilla County, Oregon, United States. Its population of 20,322 makes it the largest city in Eastern Oregon. Hermiston is the largest and fastest-growing city in the Pendleton-Hermiston micropo ...

, in 1978 with Ron and Sharon "Shari" Bergquist as proprietors. The two ran the company for seven years. By 1999, Shari's was the ninth-largest family

restaurant A restaurant is an establishment that prepares and serves food and drinks to customers. Meals are generally served and eaten on the premises, but many restaurants also offer take-out and Delivery (commerce), food delivery services. Restaurants ...

chain in the United States based on total sales, and sixth in growth. In March 1999, the chain was acquired by Fairmont Capital Inc. for $60 million.Fairmont, execs buy Shari's chain for $ 60M. ''Nation's Restaurant News'', March 15, 1999. At that time Shari's operated 96 locations in seven states with 4,000 employees and $128 million in annual revenue. They were still the ninth largest family chain in 2003. Shari's lost a gender discrimination lawsuit in April 2005 and was ordered to pay $122,225 in damages. In December 2005, the company was purchased by New York private investment firm Circle Peak Capital. President Larry Curtis retired in July 2008 after 24 years with Shari's and was succeeded by Bruce MacDiarmid. In 2009, Shari's Restaurants took ownership of a number of northern California Baker's Square restaurants and converted them to operate under Shari's name. The chain is currently operated by Shari's Management Corporation in Beaverton. Most, but not all locations are open 24 hours a day, with a focus on specialty pies. Samuel Borgese was named CEO in September 2017, replacing MacDiarmid. In mid-2017, the company was operating 95 locations in the states of

Nebraska Nebraska ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Ka ...

, and

Wyoming Wyoming ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States, Western United States. It borders Montana to the north and northwest, South Dakota and Nebraska to the east, Idaho t ...

, just one fewer than in the year 2000. Shari's previously operated several restaurants in Colorado, Utah, Arizona, and Texas. However, the company permanently closed all locations in those four state sometime between the mid-1990s and the early 2000s due to poor management. During the 2020s, operations ceased in Nebraska and Wyoming as well. In September 2018, it was announced that Shari's Cafe & Pies had taken over

Carrows Carrows was a subsidiary of Shari's Cafe & Pies and casual dining restaurant that served breakfast and lunch/dinner in California, United States. History Carrows was started by David G. Nancarrow in Santa Clara, California, in 1970 as the Carrow ...

and

Coco's Bakery Coco's Bakery is a subsidiary chain of Shari's Cafe & Pies and casual dining restaurants operating in the western United States. As of October 2024, the company operates 5 locations in California. It began as The Snack Shop in 1948 in Corona del ...

In August 2024, it was announced that Shari's Cafe & Pies has been behind on payments for both property, taxes and services rendered for the restaurant chain. As a result, a large number of Shari's locations permanently closed. By early October 2024, the number of locations had declined to 49, operating in California, Oregon, Washington and Idaho. In late October, all Oregon locations closed abruptly, dropping the remaining number of locations to seventeen. Shari's owes around $900,000 to the

Oregon Lottery The Oregon Lottery is run by the government of the U.S. state of Oregon. History The Oregon Lottery was authorized by “Oregon Ballot Measure 5” which was passed by voters in the 1984 general election. The measure amended the Oregon Cons ...

for their video lottery machines.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Shari's Cafe and Pies 1978 establishments in Oregon Companies based in Beaverton, Oregon Food and drink companies based in Oregon Privately held companies based in Oregon Regional restaurant chains in the United States Restaurants established in 1978 Restaurants in Oregon

History

See also

References

External links