The storefront at 19215 SE 34th Street, Suite 110, has gone quiet. Roots Restaurant and Bar served its last dinner in Camas on Tuesday, September 1, 2026, after 23 years. The Columbian called it one of Clark County's first modern fine-dining restaurants. Owner Brad Root retired after 45 years in the industry, 23 of them running Roots.
As of early November, no new tenant has been announced for the space. That leaves a real gap for anyone on the hill who used Roots for anniversaries, birthdays, or a weeknight steak without crossing town. The good news is that the area's going-out map has already shifted. On the west end you get a new daytime spot built around community. In the evenings, the action is downhill in downtown Camas, where most of November's events start in the late afternoon or evening.
How Roots said goodbye
The closure was announced on the restaurant's social media. Bridgetown Bites reprinted part of the farewell note:
"He is looking forward to this next chapter in his life and we want to thank our loyal staff and customers for all your support over the years."
Twenty-three years is long enough that Roots was simply part of the area, a known place to book when an evening needed to feel like an occasion. The Roots website still shows its old meal-service hours, so treat any search result that says "open" as out of date.
What opened on the west end instead
The newest gathering spot on Camas's west side is a coffee counter. Radiate Coffee and Community recently opened at 2311 SW 6th Avenue, and its website now reads "Now open!" The Camas-Washougal Post-Record describes the menu as coffee, house-made cinnamon rolls, and fruity New Zealand-style ice cream, served in a café that gives adults with disabilities their first paying jobs.
That hiring model is the whole idea behind the shop. A CamasView business profile names the founders as David, a retired Intel engineer and project manager, and Kelly, a special-education teacher. It says the café creates jobs for adults with disabilities through product partnerships, Developmental Disabilities Administration waiver programs, and job automation built into the store.
Radiate's linked menu is an image, so check the shop's Instagram, @radiatecoffeecommunity, for current hours and flavors before you go.
Radiate covers the daytime hours, whether that's a weekend coffee, a cinnamon roll, or meeting a neighbor. For dinner, the options are farther out.
A sit-down dinner on SE 192nd Avenue
Wyld Pines Bar & Restaurant at 2005 SE 192nd Avenue, Suite 100, serves dinner, pub fare, steak burgers, and cocktails, and takes reservations. It's a casual neighborhood bar menu, with one big exception.
On Fridays and Saturdays, Wyld Pines runs what it calls the Black Forest experience, a seven-course dinner served in total darkness, by reservation only. Groups of 10 or more can also book. The Oregonian covered it in July 2025 as a blindfolded seven-course meal. The restaurant's own pages disagree on seating times. The experience page lists 7 p.m., and the homepage lists 5 or 7 p.m., so call to confirm before you plan a birthday around it.
Black Forest makes a memorable occasion. For the quieter fine-dining evening Roots used to offer, though, the drive goes down the hill.
Downtown Camas is where the dinner table moved
These downtown restaurants are open and posting current information on their own sites this fall:
- Feast @ 316, 316 NE Dallas Street. Eater Portland describes it as a steakhouse built around shareable dishes. Feast's website lists hours of 11:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 11:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday, and 4 to 9 p.m. Sunday. A Sunday prime rib dinner was on the specials page as recently as October 25. For a former Roots regular, this is the closest match.
- Nuestra Mesa, 228 NE 4th Avenue. Eater Portland lists it for Mexican food with fresh-made tortillas, tacos, and tequila and mezcal cocktails. Nuestra Mesa takes reservations through OpenTable and offers online ordering.
- Backpacker Pizza, 421 NE Cedar Street. The family-owned spot opened downtown in late 2024 with vegan and gluten-free options, as The Columbian reported. Its winter hours on backpackerpizza.com list dinner-only service Tuesday and Wednesday, plus service Thursday through Saturday. A Sunday trial ran October 25, but regular Sunday hours aren't set yet.
For the classic Roots evening of a steak, a glass of wine, and a quiet table, Feast @ 316 is the obvious next stop. For a family weeknight, Backpacker covers it. Nuestra Mesa is the option you can reserve ahead of time.
Four November dates worth planning dinner around
What makes the drive worthwhile this month is the calendar. Three of these four downtown events run in the late afternoon or evening, so they line up with a dinner reservation.
| Date | Event | Time | Details |
|---|---|---|---|
| Friday, Nov. 6 | First Friday | 5 to 8 p.m. | Pie tastings, raffles, multicultural displays, kids' activities, and a 6 p.m. ribbon cutting for Evergreen Vinyl's expansion at 321 NE 4th Ave. |
| Thursday, Nov. 12 | Holiday Sip & Shop | 4 to 9 p.m. | Shopping, cocktail and holiday-drink tastings, music, and treats. $25 ticket; check in at Fuel Medical Group, 314 NE Birch St. |
| Wednesday, Nov. 18 | Poetry Open Mic | 6:15 to 7:45 p.m. | Free, at Camas Public Library, 625 NE Fourth Ave. |
| Friday, Nov. 27 | Little Box Friday | 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. | Participating local shops offer QR-code specials; this year's merchant list is still to come. |
First Friday on November 6 ends at 8 p.m., and Feast stays open until 10 p.m. on Fridays, so you can book a late table after the pie tastings and the Evergreen Vinyl ribbon cutting. Sip & Shop on Thursday, November 12, runs until 9 p.m., the same hour Feast closes on Thursdays, so plan a 5 or 6 p.m. dinner first and finish with the tastings.
Little Box Friday is the exception. It runs during the day on the Friday after Thanksgiving, so it pairs better with a morning stop at Radiate on the way downtown than with dinner.
A November routine for the hill
In practice, that adds up to a simple November routine:
- Weekend mornings: Radiate Coffee and Community on SW 6th Avenue for coffee, a cinnamon roll, or a cup of fruit ice cream.
- An occasion that wants a story: Black Forest at Wyld Pines on a Friday or Saturday, booked ahead with the seating time confirmed by phone.
- The old Roots night: Feast @ 316 downtown, timed around First Friday on November 6 or Sip & Shop on November 12.
- The weeknight with kids: Backpacker Pizza Tuesday through Saturday, with Sunday hours still to be decided.
No new tenant has been announced yet for Suite 110 at 19215 SE 34th Street.
Watching which storefronts open, close, and change hands around Prune Hill is part of knowing this market day to day, and our team pays close attention. If you'd like to talk through what's changing near your home and what it could mean for your plans, Peter Cutile and the team are glad to help. Schedule a consultation whenever it suits you.
