Popular Portland Diner Permanently Closes After 27 Years

A decades-old Portland staple will be closed its doors for good this past weekend, KPTV reports.

The Roxy, a late-night diner on SW Harvey Milk Street, served its last customers on Sunday (March 20) after 27 years of service.

"For 27 years, until COVID, it’s been a 24-hour diner that is open to everyone and everyone is accepted on both sides of the counter," owner Suzanne Hale told reporters. "We have had some pretty cool people here. The customers are so cool. My staff is so cool. They are all like-minded."

The eatery opened in 1994, providing 24-hour service to people of all ages, and was a popular spot for the LGBT+ community. Unfortunately, The Roxy fell on hard times when the COVID-19 pandemic struck the nation. The diner closed and reopened over the last two years, not being able to provide their iconic 24-hour service like they used to.

"I can’t staff, staffing is hard enough, everyone out there knows, every business is having trouble staffing," Hale explained. "Meanwhile, I am going through all the PPE money I got from the government to keep giving payroll and keep people in a job. It just dwindled and dwindled. I began losing money. The final nail in the coffin was the nightlife... Downtown Portland has been a ghost town and that was the shift that paid the bills. It doesn’t seem like that’s coming back anytime soon. I tried everything I could."

Despite the gloomy news, The Roxy went out with a huge hurrah. Hale says former employees, community members, and customers came out in force to support the diner on its last day.

"Everyone has been unbelievably supportive,” Hale said. “We have been incredibly busy, but I have tried to hear everyone’s stories as best I could. We sold out every single piece of merchandise we had yesterday... It’s sad that we couldn’t make it and I could rant and rave about all the reasons, but I had 27 years of loving, loyal supportive customers. I treasure the gift I had. I am a lucky woman.”

You can read more about this bittersweet story here.