Episode 2 - Part 1: Lutz Tavern (Feb. 26, 2018)

Lutz Tavern (SE PDX -- Woodstock neighborhood)

Established: 

1947

First Drinks: 

PBRs (NPG n Fredo), Boneyard IPA (Bill)... The Lutz is famous for resurrecting PBR sales in Portland and, really, the United States in the late '90s...HBTG rookie Bill forgot all about that and ordered a fancy pants craft beer anyway. 

Interesting Food: 

all modern stuff... Super delicious but no real old school quirk

Men's Room: 

4/5 urinal pucks (original mid-century fixtures, no doorknob, interesting graffiti, funky smell and a GRIT soap dispenser (-1 puck for no actual grit soap in it)

Musings: 

The original clientele likely wouldn't love the (really good) hip hop bumping on the night we visited, but they'd certainly still recognize the charm of the Lutz... Great prices... Vintage fixtures everywhere... About as good of an old school PDX bar as you can find... Well preserved, but modern and still honoring those who first made this former "beer bar" a great place to forget about your troubles for awhile.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Gone Drinkin'

Image
  Hello and welcome to the OFFICIAL website of the world's greatest podcast about the old bars of Portland, Oregon and beyond!  This creative experiment actually began right here as a verbose, articulate, pithy blog that recounted our various adventures. But that was in a simpler time back in 2018 when we had time to spare and significantly less arrogance.  Today, we are convinced that what the world REALLY wants is to listen to us blather on about bar stools, bathroom odor, burger complexity, and more on our wildly popular and much more time efficient podcast (History by the Glass wherever fine podcasts -- and ours -- are found).  So, we ain't gonna be updating this site much anymore...but you're welcome to browse around and explore our pasts works like the great, hallowed museum to our frenetic thoughts that it is.  Cheers!!
Read more

Episode 16: The OGs of Portland | Huber's and Jake's Famous Crawfish (Dec. 27, 2019)

Image
No better bar story in Portland than that of Huber's On Dec. 27, 2019, we donned our gay apparel (tuxedo t-shirts, obviously) for an old school holiday special at the two oldest bars in Portland -- Jake's Famous Crawfish (est. 1892) and Huber's (est. 1879). Yes, like one of Dean Martin's classics from the '60s, we classed it up and drank it up, before, during, and after as we explored the fantastical, magnificent, 100% original histories of these two remarkable downtown venues. We shared the story of the legendary Way Fung "Jim" Louie overcoming a national plague of anti-Chinese rhetoric to become one of Portland's most beloved bar and restaurant proprietors at Huber's. And we tell you how, a few blocks away, Jacob Freiman employs his  mastery of locally plentiful crawfish and bon vivant attitude to make Jake's the go-to spot for the city's discerning drinkers in the early 20th century. You want bar history? You want bar history?
Read more

Episode 18a: COVID-19 and Renner's Grill (Feb. 21, 2020)

Image
Making the best of this brave new world, Nate & Alfredo up to old tricks behind their soul-sucking laptop cameras.  On Feb. 21, 2020, we made a triumphant return to newly-reopened Renner’s Grill (56:35), 22 months after a devastating kitchen fire closed the longtime anchor of SW Portland’s Multnomah Village bar scene. This comeback story was to be paired with a forthcoming visit to the enigmatic Stanich’s in what we were calling our “Lazarus” or “Flatliners” episode -- two old bars pronounced dead that somehow returned to tell the tale. Now, every drinking establishment in the metro area will face the same improbable challenge. On March 16, COVID-19 social distancing efforts forced every bar, tavern, saloon, pub, and lounge in the state to put its stools on the counter and send its staff into the virtual unemployment line. Even as our local health news slowly improves, they all face an uncertain future. We discussed it all over several rounds in our Steinhaus/ Buddy’s L
Read more