‘I’ve had it up to here’: Residents air complaints about Clifton Heights bar

Tempers flared at a recent Clifton Heights Borough Council meeting as residents detailed how they are “beyond fed up” with the noise and unruly patrons associated with a local bar.

“I wish I could say the words I wanted to say about that bar right now, but since this is a public forum, I will be polite and as courteous as I can possibly be, but I have nothing nice to say about that bar,” resident Kyle Murray said about Ram’s Pizza Tavern during the Jan. 20 council meeting.

Another person who lives near the bar, John Kelly, was less restrained in his comments. “I’ve had it up to here with the s*** going on down there,” he said of the tavern. Kelly’s comments grew increasingly heated and profane as he expressed frustration about what he perceived as law enforcement’s lack of action to address complaints.

“I’ve had it — nothing’s getting done! What are you waiting for, the shootings to start?” Kelly said, alluding to the possibility that violence could erupt similar to a 2022 incident that led to the temporary closure of nearby establishment The Rose Bar.

Murray said he has called the police more than 110 times about Ram’s Pizza Tavern since 2022, arguing that his issues with the bar didn’t start until it changed ownership in 2021. He claimed that a female bar patron in October urinated on his feet while he was walking his dog near the bar, and early on Christmas morning a man punched him in the face after Murray shouted at him and his friends to stop playing loud music in their car outside the bar.

“I am so beyond fed up with what I have been putting up with,” Murray said.

Another resident who lives near the bar, Annamarie Clarke, said she sees people fighting outside the establishment in the early-morning hours. “It’s crazy how people act,” she said.

Both Murray and Kelly testified at a previous hearing concerning claims against Ram’s Pizza Tavern, which has a liquor license under the name DJ’s on Broadway Inc. In a decision dated July 1, 2025, administrative law judge Richard O’Neill Earley found that witnesses who testified in defense of the bar were more credible than Murray and Kelly, whose testimonies had some inconsistencies. Thus, he dismissed two charges brought by the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board’s Bureau of Citations.

During the Jan. 20 Clifton Heights Borough Council meeting, council member John Gorman remarked that borough officials have been talking with Police Chief Timothy Rockenbach about issues at Ram’s Pizza Tavern, adding that “the problem seems to be becoming more acute.” Gorman said Rockenbach is working with the PLCB to determine how to address the issue, but the borough also has the option of asking the Court of Common Pleas for sanctions against an establishment.

But Council President John Cannon stressed that the borough had to go through a lengthy process to bring The Rose Bar in line. “I understand everyone’s frustration, however, to do the things that were done to The Rose Bar takes documentation, court appearances and time,” he said. “I’m asking for the process to go through.”

Cannon said the borough’s solicitor, the borough manager and the police department are all doing their part to address the complaints about Ram’s Pizza Tavern. “That doesn’t mean council doesn’t want to hear these things; council does want to hear these things, but we ask that you work with the people who are responsible to end this,” he added.

Gorman said at the meeting that he believed a PLCB hearing regarding complaints against Ram’s Pizza Tavern is upcoming. But John J. McCreesh III, who represented the business in the past proceedings, told Fideri News Network that he isn’t aware of any pending hearing. He also said he cannot comment on any allegations made against Ram’s Pizza Tavern.