Typhoon Closes All Restaurants, Including Bella Bottega Location

Redmond's restaurant sat dark and empty Monday afternoon with an announcement of the Tigard, Ore.-based chain's closure taped to the front door.

Bo Kline, president and executive chef of the Thai restaurant group, cited the 2011 death of her husband and business partner, Steve Kline, as her primary reason for closing the company.

"Without his energy, support and commitment, operating Typhoon has required much more attention than I am able to give and has begun to take a toll on my health," Kline said in a news release that was posted on the door of the Redmond location. 

The closures come a little more than a month after the Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries formally charged the company with unfair labor practices, saying Typhoon used special work visas to pay its Thai workers less and subject them to less favorable working conditions than their non-Thai counterparts.

Angie Galimanis, a spokeswoman for Typhoon, told The Oregonian that the closure was "not necessarily" tied to the investigation. "The biggest thing here is (Kline) losing her husband," Galimanis told the newspaper.

Typhoon had four locations in Oregon along with the Bella Bottega location. Its first restaurant opened in Portland in 1995.