Anti-Abortion Protesters Force Portland’s Rock ‘N’ Roll Deli to Close
Who wants to walk by placards of Fetus’ to get a sandwich?
The home of the rock ‘n’ roll sandwich is about to play its last tune.
Mike’s Restaurant on Congress Street closes next week after three years of providing patrons affordable meals and a place to rock out.
“It will be a sad day when they close,” said Chris Mitchell, waiting at the counter as an Allman Brothers song ripped through the funky space.
For three years, the Sun Life Financial employee has started his mornings with a breakfast burrito here. After next week, “I will have to bring something to work,” he said. “That will make life less enjoyable.”
Behind the counter, owner Mike Fink is not sad, but relieved.
For the last year Fink has been fighting anti-abortion advocates protesting outside Planned Parenthood, a few steps away, on Friday and Saturday mornings.
This has snowballed into a contentious issue and the city is expected to decide whether to create a patient safety zone outside the health center this fall. But for Fink, time has run out.
“I decided kids holding signs of dead babies isn’t good for business,” he said.