A favorite watering hole and night spot at the eastern end of Carytown will shut its doors in December.



A favorite watering hole and night spot at the eastern end of Carytown will shut its doors in December.

Portrait House, which opened as a brick oven pizza spot in the shell of… what was it… a Bar-B-Q place? It had a frog logo or something… Anywho, Portrait House took that spot over and turned it into a pretty hip place to drink before, after, or during a trip to the Byrd Theatre.

When the pizza thing didn’t pan out, the folks from RVA’s best Ethiopian restaurant, Nile Ethiopian Cuisine, took up residence there earlier this year.

“Well, the timing just feels right. For better or worse,” said P House owner and long-time RVA restaurant owner Hamooda Shami. “Portrait House became identified primarily as a bar. Our first food concept didn’t work out. So we outsourced the kitchen essentially with our partnership with the Nile guys. That was a lot of fun, but that also was coming to an end.”

Shami said that being “identified primarily as a bar” gives a 5-year-lifespan to any restaurant in this town, and he was approached by another restaurant group that “wants to put an amazing concept in place.”

“It just feels like a good move to quit while we’re ahead,” he said.

Nile has plans to move too, but those aren’t quite public yet.

Don’t fret about the rest of Shami’s local spots either – Don’t Look Back, the taco place located a few doors down, isn’t going anywhere – “I have the place literally tattooed on me,” he said. He’s also got Yearbook Taco in Charlottesville which continues to do well.

Expect some great specials and surprises as the sun sets on Portrait House, and keep an eye out for a new spot taking its place in the near future.

Their big send off, Sour Soirée 2: The Vinyl Countdown, happens 11/19, and expect a number of ‘kill the keg’ nights leading up to the closing in December.

“A lot of good times were had at this place,” said Shami. “I think people are going to like that we’re giving them a shot at saying goodbye.”

Keep up with the last few weeks of Portrait House on Facebook.