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Josh and Sierra Luebke, the husband-and-wife owners of the Eliot neighborhood bar and restaurant Cliff’s, tell WW that it will close by the end of the year as their landlord, the upstairs Wonder Ballroom, decided not to renew the lease. Cliff’s opened in 2019, taking over the space last held by Bunk Bar.
“So many bars and restaurants have struggled through the years to stay afloat, and we’ve lost so many great spots [recently], yet we’ve managed to hang in there with the support of our neighbors and community,” Sierra Luebke says.
Over the past six years, Cliff’s has made a reputation for itself as being more than just the Wonder Ballroom’s downstairs bar to wait before and after shows. The cozy space is regularly packed not only with concertgoers, but with a sizable community of regulars as well. WW previously reported on the restaurant’s nachos, a wallet-friendly pile of house-fried chips decked out with elevated toppings. Other popular offerings, like a Midwest-style Friday night fish fry and steak specials, have led the owners to strongly encourage regulars to make reservations on show nights.
The Luebkes say the Wonder Ballroom intends to open a dedicated lounge for the venue’s ticketholders not open to the general public the way Cliff’s is (a rep for the Wonder Ballroom did not respond to WW’s inquiry by deadline). “Clearly our business doesn’t fit into that vision as we’re a neighborhood bar and restaurant,” Sierra Luebke says.
With the last day at Cliff’s currently slated for Dec. 31, plans are loosely underway to celebrate, though understandably details are still scant. The Luebkes say they were informed of the Wonder Ballroom’s decision on Wednesday, Oct. 15. In the meantime, if you have a kitchen space and need to fill it with a business like Cliff’s, the Luebkes have offered up their email to talk business: cliffspdx@gmail.com.
“We haven’t really had time to process it or make plans as [we were told] an hour before we opened,” Sierra Luebke says.
