UPDATED: Tri-Cities restaurants close and events cancel because of overheated conditions

The blistering heat that is battering the Mid-Columbia continues to force closures and cancellations throughout the Tri-Cities.

Many food truck preemptively closed at the beginning of the week but now a number of indoor restaurants have been closing their doors because of hot conditions for servers and cooks.

And Sunset at Southridge, the popular food truck and music event near the Carousel of Dreams in the Southridge Sports Complex in Kennewick, has called off this week’s festivities because of the soaring temperatures as well.

“This is the last thing I wanted to do as a small business owner, but I just can’t put my employees in a 100° kitchen,” said a social media post from Foodies restaurant in Richland and Kennewick.

Farmers markets

▪ The Downtown Kennewick Farmers Market canceled its weekly Thursday market. The market has an automatic closure policy when temperatures reach 110 degrees, said Stephanie Button, director of the Historic Downtown Kennewick Partnership. She said in a news release that although it may cool off by then, temperatures still will remain high enough that it could deter customers and would limit sales.

▪ Richland Farmer’s Market will be closing an hour earlier than normal this week. The market will be open in The Parkway on Friday from 9 a.m. to noon.

▪ The Pasco Farmer’s Market is adjusting its opening and closing hours for its Saturday market to operate from 8 a.m. to noon.

Library closure

▪ The Kennewick branch of the Mid-Columbia Libraries on Union Street remained closed Tuesday after it shut down on Monday to customers because the air conditioning system could not keep up. Kyle Cox, the library’s executive director said that the city of Kennewick, which owns the building, is working on getting the 20-year-old system repaired. All other branches of the library are open.

Restaurant closures

▪ Foodies in Richland in The Parkway, as well as Foodies on Kennewick Avenue, are closed until further notice because of the heat.

“With a 500° grill and small kitchen, our AC just can’t keep up. I won’t put my employees in that situation!” said the announcement.

▪ Stick + Stone Wood-Fired Pizza was calling it quits at 1 p.m. Wednesday because the restaurant’s air conditioner was having mechanical issues.

▪ Sage Brewing at 8425 Chapel Hill Blvd. in Pasco closed Wednesday saying, “Our cooling system is on the fritz and we are going to baby it through the day.” The microbrewery hopes to reopen Thursday, July 1.

▪ Fast and Curryous food truck decided to close for the remainder of the week. Owners will still be at the Richland Farmer’s market Friday from 9 to noon to sell only simmering sauces.

▪ The Bradley in Richland closed Wednesday over air conditioning issues. The restaurant at 404 Bradley Blvd. planned to reopen Thursday.

▪ The Village Bistro on Clearwater Avenue in Kennewick is closing early at 3 p.m. until July 3 and is switching to cold eats.

“We will have our ovens off after our morning prep. Cold sides will be available for sandwiches and burgers. It’s just too HOT to keep the ovens running!”

▪ Kagen Coffee & Crepes at the Uptown Shopping Center in Richland has adjusted their hours from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m.

▪ Fiction at J. Bookwalter on Tulip Lane in Richland decided to close at least through Wednesday because the temperature in the kitchen was too difficult to control.

“Unfortunately we cannot effectively maintain the temperature of our restaurant to a safe and enjoyable level at this time,” said the announcement.

▪ KC’s Biscuit and BBQ at the food pod in front of Bella’s Furniture at 7425 W. Clearwater Ave. in Kennewick. will only be serving breakfast this week and will not be serving lunch.

▪ Thai Co. The Iron Wok also at the food pod at Bella’s Furniture in Kennewick will remain closed until Thursday.

▪ Barnard Griffin winery on Tulip Lane in Richland is closing its patio this week.

“For at least the next couple days — we are closing the patio. It’s hot, did you know? What an interesting year in which we have to close the patio in June but were trying to lure you to it in January,” the winery wrote on it’s Instagram page.

▪ Ninja Bistro food truck at Columbia Gardens in Kennewick will be closed this week.

“It’s too hot outside. We will be closed all week due to this excessive heat wave, we will resume our food truck next week,” they wrote on Facebook.

▪ Cedars at Pier One restaurant on Clover Island will be closed until Thursday.

▪ Doggie Style Gourmet food truck at 1415 George Washington Way in front of Ace Hardware in Richland will be closed until Tuesday.

▪ El Fat Cat food truck at 539 N. Edison St. in Kennewick will be closed until Thursday.

▪ Picante Mexican Taqueria at 419 W. Columbia Drive will remain closed until Thursday.

Events canceled

▪ This week’s HAPO Community Credit Union Live@5 set for Thursday at John Dam Plaza in Richland has been canceled. The event will continue July 8.

“We want so badly to be back out at the park and enjoy the live music, great food and family fun time but … not at the expense of anyone’s well being,” said the event’s organizer on it’s Facebook page.

▪ The Mid-Columbia Symphony canceled its live concert that was scheduled July 4 at the HAPO stage in John Dam Plaza in Richland.

Future events will be announced at midcolumbiasymphony.org.

Time change

▪ The St. Vincent de Paul Food Bank in Pasco is shifting its schedule by two hours on Wednesday. They will open at 9 a.m. and close at 1 p.m.

This story was originally published June 30, 2021 at 5:00 AM.