Martins put Baldwin up For Sale after attempts to keep community hub rolling
Baldwin Saloon at 208 Court Street, The Dalles, a community hub for decades, is on the market for $750,000
By Tom Peterson
James and Molli Martin are making moves to put a major historical and community Icon back into production with their sale or lease of the Baldwin Saloon at 208 Court Street, The Dalles.
The restaurant is for sale for $750,000. The martins are also entertaining lease offers. Click here for the listing.
LIam Macleod, Molli Martin and Griffin Martin are part of the team bringing back The Baldwin Saloon. Lunch started today, April 12, 2022
The Martins took a bold dive in the fall of 2020 and purchased the landmark restaurant from Mark Linebarger in the midst of the pandemic.
The couple invite revolutionary thinking.
And the Baldwin was no different - they loved the location and the hub it had become under Mark and Tracy Linebarger’s care. They hoped to preserve that space for the local community.
They have had a string of winners through the especially rough downturn for eating and drinking establishments during the pandemic. The family came up with the Drive-Up Movie Theater and At Home Wine Tastings, gaining much public attention statewide at the onset of closed dining rooms.
Many a fine conversation have been had here.
And COPA di VINO - wine sold by the glass nationally with a freshness seal- eliminating the unwieldy bottle - led to skyrocketing success after James Martin put the word out with a wild ride on ABC’s Shark Tank.
But, alas, their love of the Baldwin Saloon could not save it.
“It breaks our family’s heart,” Martin said of not being able to keep the Baldwin open on March 15.
They opened the restaurant twice in hopes of making it turn a profit. But fluctuating food prices and keeping it staffed became insurmountable, Molli said.
It was not for a lack of trying, as the Saloon tried several different ways of keeping it operating, including delivery of 90 percent cooked items that could be finished on stove tops or in ovens at local homes.
Back in 2020, The Baldwin began delivering meals 90 percent ready so that people could finish cooking the meals at home as in-house dining had been eliminated due to the pandemic. Here Griffin Martin and Andrew Scardina work on preparing deliveries at the Baldwin Saloon. The Martins tried many iterations to keep the restaurant going.
“Everyday there was problem solving,” she said of getting staff, checking food prices and trying to ensure the quality was right. It’s a headscratcher though. We loved this place and its busy. But there were just too many challenges during the pandemic.”
At the same time, the Martins continued to operate Sunshine Mill and COPA di VINO.
It was too much.
“We were stretched thin enough already,” she said.
After the doors shut last fall, Rooted in the Gorge leased the space temporarily and held several events.
The Martins are optimistic that someone will take the restaurant and give it another try. She said they had people coming to look at the site next week.
“I hope someone comes and opens it up,” she said. “It needs to be open in our community.”
