Last week, on Friday, December 21, Wubba’s BBQ Shack posted the notice of its sudden closure on Facebook:

Good morning! Wubba’s BBQ Shack would like to thank all of our wonderful customers for a great 6 years at our Bend location. We have permanently closed this location as of today 12/21/18 as the building has been sold and will be repurposed for another non restaurant use.

We will be seeking out another location in the future but as for now we will operate our food cart at Rivers Place Taproom and Food Cart Lot, located on Purcell blvd across from Costco. Please come and visit us along with all the other great food carts with plenty of indoor and outdoor seating.

Thank you from all of us at Wubba’s Bbq Shack.

The restaurant was located on the corner of Empire Avenue and Layton Avenue, and opened in May 2013. The restaurant was a good addition to the northside Empire corridor and included a bar and had good food, though in recent visits I found the overall service to be slow (understaffed?).

It was also where Bridge 99 Brewery got its start in 2013, being the primary outlet for the beers before opening its brewery and tasting room in the building across the lot from Wubba’s. Bridge 99 remains—in fact, expanding into its new, larger tasting room space this year—but the only food options now present are the food truck(s) that set up there.

Hopefully Wubba’s will be able to find another brick-and-mortar location, but until then you can still get its barbecue at River’s Place.