Portland restaurant CAVA, which established an outpost for casual dining on a little-known stretch of SE Foster Road, has closed. Owner Amy Ruppel, in an e-mail to patrons, said it was a victim of the downturn in the economy.

"We've stayed open as long as we could," Ruppel wrote, "Digging deep into our own pockets to try to keep it all running, but to no avail...It makes me ill to think about all the work and love we put into that place, only to have it fade away and become another statistic."