QuickTake:
State liquor authorities in 2020 cited “serious and persistent problems” with behavior at Taylor’s Bar & Grill in revoking its license. The owner, Ramzy Hattar, is alleged to have fraudulently obtained nearly $350,000 in federal funding meant to help small businesses after the bar had already closed.
The owner of a bar near the University of Oregon shut down in February 2020 by the state’s liquor commission falsely claimed Taylor’s Bar & Grill remained open in March 2020 and later applications for COVID-19 relief money, federal attorneys have alleged.
Ramzy Hattar fraudulently obtained about $348,200 in federal money meant to support businesses and their employees during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a lawsuit filed Thursday, Sept. 10, in U.S. District Court in Portland.
Taylor’s Bar & Grill had grown notorious for rowdy behavior in the years leading up to its closing.
Willie Taggart, head football coach at the University of Oregon for the 2017 season, testified under oath he told players to keep away from Taylor’s, the Register-Guard reported.
Taggart spoke about Taylor’s in 2022 as part of a highly publicized civil trial in which a former player alleged negligence led to injury during a team workout. Taggart had claims against him dismissed after the university settled the case.
Hattar had experience as a bar owner when he took over Taylor’s in 2017, and he’s continued in the bar and restaurant business. State records list Hattar as the manager for limited liability companies operating the River Pig Saloon, Besaw’s brunch restaurant and Papi Chulo’s taqueria, all in Portland, among other business ventures.
The River Pig Saloon, according to its website, also has locations in Bend and Dallas, Texas. Papi Chulo’s has a location in Bend.
Hattar did not respond to messages requesting comment sent Saturday through social media and his Portland businesses.
Lawsuit
The civil lawsuit alleges Hattar owned Zedan Outdoors, LLC, which operated Taylor’s in Eugene.
Under federal legislation passed after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, small business owners could seek federal emergency financial assistance.
Hattar is alleged to have submitted applications under the Economic Injury Disaster Loan program and the Paycheck Protection Program, both run by the Small Business Administration.
A report by the federal Pandemic Response Accountability Committee described how SBA pandemic relief funds were “more susceptible to fraud due to the elevated urgency for agencies to provide timely relief for applicants.”
Estimates have varied, but a 2025 report noted that in 2023 the SBA was estimated to have disbursed more than $200 billion in “potentially fraudulent” disaster and Paycheck Protection Program payments.
The lawsuit states Taylor’s, founded in 1922, permanently closed Feb. 25, 2020, after its license to sell beer and alcohol was revoked.
Hattar is alleged to have submitted an application for a disaster loan “on or about” March 31, 2020 and “falsely certified” the business had 26 employees, with the application leading to an initial award of a $10,000 advance.
The lawsuit alleges that the address submitted as the primary place of business for Taylor’s was actually the address for the River Pig Saloon in Portland, “a separate business owned by Hattar.”
In April 2020, Hatter is alleged to have “recertified” information about Taylor’s to request a larger loan. The Small Business Administration disbursed $202,500 in May 2020, the lawsuit states.
The lawsuit alleges that the “false statements” were “material to SBA’s approval of the EIDL loan at issue because the SBA would not have approved the loan had it been aware of the true facts.”
Also in May, Hatter is alleged to have submitted an application as part of the Paycheck Protection Program.
Hattar received a loan disbursement of $135,700 from Solera National Bank, the lawsuit states. The loan was neither forgiven nor repaid, and “charged off” by the Small Business Administration in the amount of $145,319.12, according to the lawsuit.
Hattar is also alleged to have submitted another Paycheck Protection Program application on behalf of Taylor’s in January 2021, which was denied.
The lawsuit does not state whether any portion of the EIDL loan was repaid or forgiven.
Zedan Outdoors, LLC was administratively dissolved in October 2025, the lawsuit states.
Oregon’s U.S. Attorney Scott Bradford, along with assistant U.S. attorneys William M. Narus and Staci Schoff, filed the lawsuit.
The federal government is seeking treble damages from Hamzy, meaning triple the amount of the COVID-19 emergency relief money he’s alleged to have obtained fraudulently, as well as unspecified civil penalties. Court records show the government is seeking at least $1 million.
2020 hearing
In February 2020, Hattar appeared in a public hearing as he unsuccessfully tried to convince the liquor commission Taylor’s should be allowed to keep its license and remain open.
Taylor’s was located steps from the UO campus on East 13th Avenue.
Before pulling the bar’s license, the Oregon Liquor Control Commission alleged a “history of serious and persistent problems” at the bar or nearby. This included “21 proven serious incidents” said to include a fatal DUII crash, multiple fights, and patrons being so intoxicated they could not stand without help, according to the February 2020 commission hearing.
Hattar, in the 2020 commission hearing, was described as a University of Oregon graduate.
In speaking to the commission, he described himself as willing to communicate with police and UO athletics, among others in the community, citing his experience as a bar owner in Portland and Bend.
“I felt when I took over at Taylor’s two-and-a-half years ago, when I was buying Taylor’s, my college bar, I felt like I was the right person to take it over because I can have those communications,” Hattar said in 2020.
“I’m an open book,” Hattar said at one point. “I’m too stupid to be anything other than an open book.”
