The duo planned to retire and expressed a willingness to sell the rights to the name and business. īeginning in late 2014, Waldroff and Simshaw listed the building and business for sale intermittently, and sold Starky's for $1.2 million in March 2015. Following its closure, the newspaper's Matthew Korfage called Starky's a 'little mountain chalet' and 'friendly little neighborhood bar catering to longtime regulars in the gay community with raucous karaoke, home-style food and a Sunday brunch that offered up bottomless cheap-bubbly mimosas unless you misbehaved'. In 2015, Willamette Week described the establishment as a 'patioed mountain chalet with homestyle food that seems as domestic as Grandpa's house, with busy Thursday karaoke, 'bottomless' mimosas at its essential Sunday brunch, and a charmingly dirty-avuncular bartender who seems to have an answer for everything'. Joe Waldroff and Greg Simshaw purchased the bar in September 2004. Starky's was known for its patio and outdoor seating, in addition to serving American cuisine, including burgers and steak.

It was established in 1984 and housed in a building that was constructed in 1935.

Starky's, located at 2913 Southeast Stark Street, was a gay bar and restaurant in Portland's Kerns neighborhood.