Roots Restaurant and Bar closed in early September after 23 years in Riverstone Marketplace. Owner Brad Root retired after 45 years in the restaurant business. The timing hurt. According to the Camas-Washougal Post-Record, the restaurant had posted the day before about how to book holiday banquets. Anyone who had a December dinner in mind for 19215 SE 34th St. has to start over.
The bigger story is in the Post-Record's own wording. When Roots opened in 2003, "many locals went to Portland for a nice dinner out." The paper says Roots helped start a renewed fine-dining scene in Clark County "that is bustling today." In 2003, losing that room would have meant driving back across the river. In 2026, the people who had Roots in mind for this season have a choice among several Camas rooms. Each one is built for a different size and style of gathering.
What Roots Meant Before There Were Options
Before Roots, Brad Root worked as an executive sous chef under several James Beard Award-winning chefs in Portland. The restaurant's own site describes Pacific Northwest-inspired cooking on a menu that changed with the seasons. The farewell note on its social media pages, quoted by The Columbian, said Root "is looking forward to this next chapter in his life."
The comments under that note were mostly about occasions. One longtime guest thanked the staff "for many special evenings." Another wrote that "many a special occasion were spent with you." That's the real gap. Camas still has plenty of places for a weeknight dinner. What's harder to replace is a default answer for an anniversary, a team dinner, or a family holiday table.
Matching the Gathering to the Room
The useful question this season is how many people you're bringing. Camas restaurants that take group bookings range from a small private room to an event venue, and each one books differently.
A seated dinner for up to 45, with daylight. The Hammond Kitchen & Craft Bar at 4857 NW Lake Rd. has a 500-square-foot private dining room. It seats up to 45 for dinner or holds 70 for a standing reception. The restaurant says the room gets plenty of natural light, and group menus are available on request. Bookings go through Brianna at [email protected] or 360-844-9540. Of every option here, it's the closest to a private holiday dinner room with a published size.
A company party or anything that needs real event space. Hickory Restaurant + Bar at Camas Meadows, 4105 NW Camas Meadows Dr., books venues for up to 200 guests. It has an Event and Catering Coordinator to help plan. Published starting rates are $400 an hour for the White Oak Room, $1,500 an hour for the Lower Terrace and $2,500 an hour for the Pavilion Tent. The calendar matters here. Hickory says the Pavilion Tent, its most popular space, stays up from April 1 to the end of October. A December party will be planned around the other rooms. Hickory's site is already posting Fall 2026 menus, the most recently dated sign of operation among these restaurants. Event inquiries go to 360-833-2000 ext. 110 or [email protected].
A downtown dinner with a chef-owned kitchen. Feast @ 316 at 316 NE Dallas St. is a chef-owned scratch kitchen focused on steak and seafood. Its own site describes a Pacific Northwest-focused menu with steakhouse classics and dishes with global influences. Of the restaurants still open, its menu comes closest to the special-occasion style Roots was known for. The group request form on its site lists party sizes from 7 to 60 and includes "Holiday Party" as an occasion. The site doesn't promise a separate room or list a room capacity, so ask about seating when you inquire.
A big family gathering with a Pacific Rim menu. Tommy O's serves Pacific Rim food with Hawaiian and Polynesian specialties from the historic Camas Hotel downtown. The restaurant hosts large groups for birthdays, corporate events and family get-togethers, and it books them by phone at 360-833-0115. No capacity is posted.
A crowd that wants the food brought to them. Nuestra Mesa at 228 NE 4th Ave. caters parties of up to 150 guests with tacos, enchiladas, fajitas and burritos, for pickup or delivery. That works for a holiday open house or an office lunch held somewhere else. Its October 2026 calendar also lists National Taco Day on October 6.
Close to the old Roots corner. The Quarry Public House at 19530 SE Brady Road calls itself an upper-casual public house with a chef-curated menu, cocktails, wine and rotating taps. Its events page has contact details but doesn't list a private room or capacity. For a group, the first step is a phone call.
Only Hickory has a dated fall menu online. The rest show current hours and booking information, but those pages aren't dated, so confirm details directly before you put down a deposit.
The Smaller Table Got a New Address, Too
Roots wasn't the only Camas food business to change shape this fall. Andy and Tiffany, who own Camas Cheese Co., moved the cheese shop into their other business, Cedar Street Bagel Co. at 316 NE Cedar St. The standalone cheese shop's last day was September 6. The Downtown Camas Association said at least some cheese offerings would be ready at the bagel shop in the second week of September.
The DCA says the combined shop plans to expand into charcuterie, wine and beer, and the extra room makes Cheese & Wine Nights possible. For a group of four or six, that puts a different kind of evening out on a downtown block that already had the bagel counter. Like the Roots story, it's a change in format, not a business disappearing. The same owners and the same products moved into a space that can host people.
Downtown's Own Calendar Fills the Gaps Between Bookings
Not every gathering this season will be a reserved table. The Downtown Camas Association has already posted a run of evenings and afternoons through Thanksgiving weekend:
- October 23: Late Night at The Liberty Theatre screens The Shining at 10:05 p.m. A scream contest at Drop the Mic Karaoke starts at 7:30 p.m., and themed activities at Caps N' Taps begin at 8 p.m.
- October 28: Boo Bash runs downtown from 3 to 5 p.m. The event page still carries last year's date in its description, so confirm with the DCA before you go.
- November 6: First Friday's "Thankful for YOU! (and pie)" Multicultural Celebration runs from 5 to 8 p.m. It includes pie tastings and raffles, a dance-party pie walk, kids' crafts and gallery receptions.
- November 12: Holiday Sip & Shop runs from 4 to 9 p.m. Tickets are $25, with check-in at Fuel Medical Group, 314 NE Birch St.
- November 28: Small Business Saturday runs from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., with specials at participating shops and DCA elves handing out goodies and coupons. The DCA's general event list shows November 27, so check the date.
Several of these nights double as a gathering on their own. Holiday Sip & Shop works well as a group outing, and an October 23 dinner downtown leaves time to walk to The Liberty for the late show. If you've followed this year's earlier downtown changes, including the farmers market relocation this summer, the fall calendar shows downtown Camas still filling its evenings while individual businesses come and go.
Roots taught Camas it didn't need to cross the river for a celebration dinner. In 2026, the shortest path to a holiday booking is an email to Brianna at The Hammond, a call to Hickory's event line or the party form at Feast @ 316, sent in October while the dates are still open.
If you're hosting this year and want a second opinion on where your group fits, or you're thinking about how the right Camas home can make hosting easier, NW Luxury Group is happy to talk it through. We follow these changes because our clients live here too. You can browse more local updates on our Camas neighborhood page or get your instant home valuation whenever you're ready.
