PORTLAND, Ore. — It has televised some of the biggest sporting events of the last 65 years. But a week from now, one of the city’s oldest sports bars, Claudia’s Sports Pub on Southeast Hawthorne, will be closing for good.
The owner of the bar, whose parents started the establishment way back in 1958, believes that it’s time to bow out. Martin Spathas said there are a few factors behind the decision, including the crime they’ve been seeing in the area and the rising cost of running a bar.
Claudia’s has played home to some of the biggest sports events in history, but the history of the bar started out as a love story.
“My dad told my mom if she would marry him, he would put her name up in lights, so that’s how Claudia’s got started,” said Martin Spathas, who now operates Claudia’s Sports Pub.
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His parents, Gene and Claudia Spathas, started the bar 65 years ago in Southeast Portland, and Claudia's picture still sits above the bar. Martin Spathas has been working at the bar since he was a young boy — he said he started when he was 12 years old, working on the grill.
It’s a long time for an established business that's done well over the years to decide enough is enough.
Martin Spathas said that the decision is bittersweet after all of these years, but he's motivated by many of the same reasons that other businesses in the Hawthorne area are closing.
“It’s been crime, it’s been taxes — everything is so expensive, it’s hard to make any money, you can only raise your prices so much,” said Spathas.
This Saturday there will be a farewell celebration at Claudia's. The very last night to stop by will be next Monday, Oct. 9.