The Roxy, a downtown Portland staple, closes its doors after 27 years

PORTLAND Ore. (KPTV) - It’s the end of an era in downtown Portland. The Roxy, a late night staple on SW Harvey Milk Street for people of all ages, closed it’s doors on Sunday.

“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,” said owner Suzanne Hale. “We have had some pretty cool people here. The customers are so cool. My staff is so cool. They are all like-minded.”

Hale, who turns 67 next month, began waitressing at 15. She had always dreamed of opening her own place. The diner opened in 1994 and has been a hot spot for the LGBTQ+ community for decades.

“I have waitressed in places were I have had to take abuse from management to customers,” said Hale. “When I decided to get my own place I promised myself I would not make my people go through that. I will not tolerate my people taking abuse of any kind. We expect adults to act like adults. It organically became this amazing place. That was my dream; to have a place where you don’t have to go through what I did and they don’t. You were accepted here no matter what.”

The diner was a hit for people of all ages, especially those in the LGBTQ+ community.

“I genuinely can’t remember when I first learned about the Roxy,” said Kay Argens, who was getting brunch on Sunday. “As long as I’ve been living in Portland and been out as queer I knew about it. It reminds me that there is community here. I’m a very introverted person and I don’t get out much, but coming here makes me realize that there are other people that are caring, kind, and let you be yourself without judgement and that is really important.”

Sunday was a testament to how Hale ran her diner. Due to the overwhelming amount of support The Roxy got over the weekend, former employees came back to volunteer and help on the last day, telling Hale they didn’t expect to be paid. Hale says she will still be paying them for all their hard work.

“Four former employees are working today,” Hale said. “It is so nice. They want to help us and they want to be here on the last day. Yesterday felt busier, but we learned some lessons and it went much smoother today. We have had a waiting list that would fill the restaurant three or four times all day yesterday. It was pretty overwhelming. We are going a little faster today. Everybody has such great stories and for those of you who have come here and have stories from your time here, I know we are called legendary or whatever. The history of The Roxy, you are a part of that. It ain’t me. It’s you. I tell people we had an amazing 27 years. It’s not a funeral, it’s a celebration of life.”

The pandemic was hard on The Roxy. The diner closed and reopened several times over the last two years, never being able to provide 24-hour service like they used to.

“We finally got opened June 27, and on August 20, the city of Portland told me they were evicting the entire building and that me and the bike shop would not be invited back,” Hale said. “I tried everything I could, I couldn’t get through to them, I barely got a response. Meanwhile, I can’t staff, staffing is hard enough, everyone out there knows, every business is having trouble staffing. Try doing it with an eviction. 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. It’s just no more. Nobody is open late anymore and there’s no business for it. 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. I looked into moving and the cost to do that was just astronomical. There was just nothing I could do. I feel like I am letting everyone down. I know I can’t help it and it’s not my fault, but in my heart I feel like I am letting everyone down.”

Hale says she doesn’t plan on retiring until everyone who worked at The Roxy has found their next job. She thanks everyone who came down for the final weekend.

“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. We had people waiting over three hours yesterday and they waited. Hardly anybody left. People have just been so nice. I have been giving out more hugs and I am just awashed in love and it just goes right back out to everybody. It’s pretty overwhelming. I am just so grateful that I had 27 years and I got to do it my way. I think my way was pretty good. I surrounded myself with really good people. I think that’s key to a good, positive life. 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.”