NORTH BEND – In North Bend, it’s hard to throw a stone without hitting one of Judy Klingel’s loyal customers.

“They’re all regular,” said Klingel, a lifelong restaurateur and owner of the Tift Haus.

Unlike the legendary pies that put her on the map, the closing of the little Bavarian-style eatery Nov. 15 will be a bittersweet one for both Klingel and her legion of regulars.

After 23 years of pairing homecookin’ with happy eaters, the Tift Haus will close as Klingel retires.

Klingel started waiting tables at age 14 at the Alp’s Cafe, now home to a dentist’s office in North Bend. She said she never really considered doing anything outside of the restaurant business.

“I just like the food industry and the people. I liked to cook, though I was a bartender for eight years,” said Klingel, who managed The Homestead Restaurant in North Bend for a few years as well.

After 60 years of serving others, there’s a few things Klingel wants to catch up on during her retirement.

“I’m going to clean my house, do some gardening, sewing and gamble, I guess,” she said.

Tourists and town folks alike have raved over Klingel’s pork chops, soups and homemade pies, especially her blackberry pie, the pastry Klingel is most proud of.

But where will the seasoned cook dine out once retired?

“I’ll just eat at home,” Klingel said. “I’m an absolute [stickler] about cleanliness. I see people go to the restroom and not wash their hands or combing their hair in the kitchen – I can’t stand it.”

But running a tight ship didn’t stop Klingel from having fun with her unsuspecting staff.

While caulking windows one night, Klingel positioned a few pieces of caulking on a plate to make them look like the egg-white based candy, “divinity.”

“When the morning cook came in, she put one in her mouth and it stuck to all her teeth,” Klingel said. “She got so mad she almost quit because she couldn’t get it off her teeth and had to use Comet.”

“I didn’t know it’d be so bad,” Klingel chuckled.

But mostly Klingel’s staff have loved working for her and many have been on board for more than 20 years, some even leaving other restaurants to work at the Tift Haus.

Klingel’s daughters, Donna Medrano and Debbie Orr, both spent much of their lives working at the Tift Haus, and waitress Beverly Tubbs followed Klingel over to the Tift Haus from The Homestead.

“All the employees have been with her a long time,” Medrano said. “I don’t think most employees stay that long at one place.”

Don Tift built the Tift Haus in 1964 and ran it as a restaurant for many years before selling it to Dave Wright, who in turn sold it to Klingel. Now the sale of the building is pending and no one knows for sure what form the place may take next.

“The customers hope it will stay the way it is,” said Klingel, often fielding kind remarks from regulars reluctant to see the place close.

Stan and Deanna Bell of Carnation have been coming to the Tift Haus since 1968.

“I feel like we’re losing the best,” Stan said. “They’re nice people with good food and reasonable prices.”

Stan’s favorite meal at the Tift Haus is breakfast, when he orders a half order of biscuits and gravy, a half order of hash browns, two eggs over easy and juice.

“You can’t eat it all, but it’s good food,” he said.

Now the couple will go down the street to Rock-O’s, a restaurant Klingel’s daughter Orr is opening soon, which is said to start serving up the same pies to approximately the same clientele.

“The pies are fantastic,” Deanna said.

Staff Writer Melissa Kruse can be reached at (425) 888-2311 or by e-mail at melissa.kruse@valleyrecord.com.