The Landmark Saloon in Southeast Portland has been in trouble for some time. In March 2025, owner Nick Wilson launched a GoFundMe campaign to save the bar, racking up $11,710 in donations. The bar was able to stay open for longer, but Wilson wrote in an Instagram post in January 2026, “All the tea totalling going around is killing this old bar.” The Landmark Saloon closed its doors on Feb. 13.
However, its doors won’t stay closed for long. Landmark Saloon regulars Scott Phillips and Graham Talley saw the bar they love struggling and decided to help. First-time bar owners, the pair will be reopening the bar in late April or early May as the Switchback Saloon.
“My partner and I weren’t exactly looking to acquire a bar,” Phillips told What Now Portland. “But the old Landmark Saloon was our neighborhood bar, and it needed saving.”
Switchback Saloon is currently in the construction phase. The pair are brightening up the space with some natural wood and reorganizing the patio space, but the spirit of the Landmark Saloon will be very much alive. “Still very neighborhood hangout, dive bar… but a pretty dive bar,” Phillips says.
In a blog post on the Switchback Saloon’s website, the pair writes that keeping the bar open will be a community effort.
“We can take over the lease, fix the floors, refurbish the bathrooms, and keep the lights on, but a place like this survives because people decide it matters,” the post reads. “We’re here because we love this place, and we’re going to keep it going with the help of the people who love it too.”
