Tonight was the final night Giuseppe’s Italian restaurant in Downtown Bend was open; after 25 years in the same location, the owner, Peggy Falcaro, has sold the restaurant to a local trio of thus-far unnamed people who plan to re-open the restaurant as “Bond Street Bar and Grill” on December 7th. The Source broke the news yesterday, and today’s Bulletin has a piece as well. From The Source:

However, like many downtown establishments Giuseppe’s struggled to find its niche in the new downtown scene where customers have rewarded novelty, innovation, and, well, newness—none of which Giuseppe had in any great quantity. With this week’s closure, Giuseppe’s joins, Ernesto’s and Bella Cucina on the list of locally owned Italian eateries that haven’t survived the recession shake-out.

What I haven’t yet seen mentioned, however, is that this isn’t the first time Giuseppe’s “closed” and re-opened under a new name: back in 2007 they became “Bistro Pow” for a short while, with a changed menu, before reverting back to Giuseppe’s. Of course, that was under the same owners, whereas this time it’s much more of a sea change.