Whoopemup Hollow Cafe closes doors for good

WAITSBURG – A Feb. 15 post on the Whoopemup Waitsburg and Whoopemup Walla Walla Facebook pages confirmed recent rumors that the popular Cajun-inspired Whoopemup Hollow Café, with stores on Waitsburg's and Walla Walla’s Main Streets has closed its doors for good.

“We would like to extend our heartfelt love and appreciation to our Whoopemup family, friends, and customers. As they say on Broadway, it was a good run of the play! Whoopemup Hollow Café 2005-2019,” reads the succinct Facebook post.

Pastry chef Valerie Mudry attributed the closure partly due to the lack of business in the winter season, especially with the recent cold weather and icy roads. The restaurant had not been open since Feb. 5.

“We are heartbroken. They say when one door closes, another one opens. We shall see about that. Right now we are taking a moment to grieve,” Mudry told The Times.

The owner-operated Whoopemup Hollow Café opened its doors in Waitsburg in 2005 with a menu that features “a northwest take on foods of the American South. In 2016, the partners opened a second location at 113 East Main Street in Walla Walla.

When they opened the second location, former partner Ross Stevenson told The Times that the owners knew that, in a town of 1200 people, a restaurant would have to be a “destination” that offered something different.

And that it did. The north end of Waitsburg’s Main Street was often filled with out-of-town vehicles during The Whoop’s (as locals refer to café) open hours.

The café was originally opened by partners Valerie Mudry, Bryant Bader, Leroy Cunningham and Ross Stevenson who ended his involvement with the restaurant in 2017.

In addition to creative events such as its New Year’s Eve and Mardi Gras celebrations, the Whoopemup Hollow Café was a local favorite for birthday celebrations, business meetings and the popular Whoopemup Wednesday community dinners.

“We want to particularly thank the folks in Waitsburg who have supported us all of these years, especially for the Whoopemup Wednesday events. We will really miss our Whoopemup family!” Mudry said.