Over the past 40 years or so, many visitors and residents in Downtown Lafayette have enjoyed an Old Fashioned crafted by a bartender known as "Mr. Cliff."
He makes a mean cocktail, but he also has a collection of the best stories, and an encyclopedic memory for faces and names. Now, his friends at Cite des Arts, where he's been bartending for almost 10 years, have started a GoFundMe to help with a cancer diagnosis.
Here's what they say about it:
Cliff Andrus began working in the kitchen at Don’s Seafood & Steakhouse downtown in 1965, but his time in the kitchen was cut short when he was drafted in 1966. After finishing his time in the US Army, Cliff returned to Lafayette, where he started bartending at Don’s.
Cliff would spend the next 45 years making days brighter with his charming personality and mixing up his signature “Old Fashioned” for Lafayette regulars and guests. While at Don’s, Cliff served generations of Lafayette restaurant goers, governors, national politicos and celebrities (Darrius Rucker, Lyle Lovett, to name a few). In 2013, Cliff began bartending at Cité des Arts, where he was able to serve a new crowd of theatergoers at “Cliff’s Bar at Cité des Arts.”
Unfortunately, in April 2022, Cliff’s time of service had to come to an abrupt halt when he received a cancer diagnosis. Cliff was diagnosed with stage IV colon and stomach cancer, and as of late, he’s recently begun chemo treatments to help combat this awful disease. As you can imagine, cancer treatment and all that it entails is a costly burden, and to alleviate this burden we have created a GoFundMe campaign to help his family with what will certainly be mounting medical bills.
Cliff has served his community for over 50 years. And if he has ever poured you a drink, told you a crazy story, or made you smile, now is your time to give back. It is now time to serve “Mr. Cliff.”
If you would like to help, here's the link: https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-mr-cliff?utm_campaign=p_cp+share-sheet&utm_medium=copy_link_all&utm_source=customer
