A Statement from Clarklewis
In the days since the frightening events at Clarklewis on Sunday, October 4, 2026 a great deal has been said about what happened, what we knew, and what we should have known. We understand the anger that comes with learning that white nationalists gathered in a Portland restaurant. We share that anger.
But there is one thing we need to say again, as plainly and unequivocally as we can:
We did not know that the group that booked brunch at Clarklewis was affiliated with white nationalism. Had we known, we would not have accepted the booking. Period.
We realize some people find that difficult to believe. But it is the truth. The reservation came to us as a private group booking, not as a white-nationalist gathering and not under the name of an organization we recognized as such. Restaurants host private dinners, business meetings, birthday parties, reunions and group events every week. We generally do not investigate the political beliefs of the people making those reservations, nor would most people want restaurants routinely conducting background checks on their guests.
Unfortunately, groups with extreme political views sometimes take advantage of that ordinary hospitality. Clarklewis is certainly not the first restaurant, hotel, event venue or event company to find itself in this position. If it happened to us, it is reasonable to assume it has happened elsewhere: groups concealing or simply not disclosing their true affiliations when making a reservation, leaving the people hosting them unaware of who they are until the event is underway or even until after it is over, as it was in our case.
We wish we had known. We wish someone had told us clearly and credibly before the event began. And we certainly wish we had recognized what was happening sooner. But wishing we had known is very different from having known.
Clarklewis is an LGBTQ+-owned business. Our staff includes people of different races, nationalities, sexual orientations, gender identities and backgrounds. For more than two decades, our restaurant has tried to be a place where all of those people—and all of Portland—can sit down together and feel welcome. White nationalism, racism, antisemitism and ideologies built around the superiority of one group of people over another are completely contrary to who we are.
That is why the suggestion that Joe and I knowingly opened our restaurant to a white-nationalist organization is particularly painful. It isn't simply a disagreement over how we handled a reservation. It attributes beliefs and intentions to us that we categorically reject.
We also want to distinguish between the people who came to Clarklewis to protest white nationalism and those who damaged the restaurant and frightened our employees. We understand and support opposition to white nationalism. But our employees are not white nationalists. They are cooks, servers, and a bartender who came to work on a Sunday morning and suddenly found themselves caught between two groups in an increasingly volatile confrontation. Some were genuinely afraid for their physical safety.
They did not deserve that.
We have apologized to our staff for putting them, however unknowingly, in that position. We are also reviewing how we accept private group reservations, how we identify potentially problematic events when reasonably possible, and how we respond when employees or guests may be in danger. We learned some hard lessons on Sunday, and we intend to act on them.
But accepting responsibility for learning from what happened is not the same as accepting an accusation that simply isn't true.
Clarklewis did not knowingly host a white-nationalist event.
We would not knowingly host one today, tomorrow, or ever.
For 23 years, our job has been pretty simple: welcome people, feed them well, treat them kindly and send them back out into the world a little happier than when they came in. We believe there is something worthwhile—even hopeful—about people gathering around a table.
We intend to keep doing exactly that.
Bruce Carey and Joe Rogers
Owners, Clarklewis
