Episode 9: Oh GREAT, Now They Have a Podcast. | Caro Amico and Buffalo Gap (Nov. 25, 2018)

For many of you, it was just the Sunday after Thanksgiving. But for your intrepid History by the Glass duo, Nov. 25, 2018 is the night that changed everything.

It was the dawn of the pod -- the first audio recording to capture the inane blather (and slivers of brilliance) that defines the two men behind this nebulous boozy creative project.

Yes, it’s an hour of your life that you’ll never get back. And YES it often goes careening wildly around corners of conversation (alcohol is a helluva drug). But if you make it to the end (and you gotta want it), our hope is that you’ll actually find yourself being okay with that lost time.

And just maybe you’ll find yourself looking forward to the next one.

Either way, we'll keep stumbling onward in this noble journey into Portland's elbow-bending past.

Our ninth episode took us to Southwest Portland for our 17th and 18th historic bar visits, Caro Amico and Buffalo Gap, which were both featured in the first edition of History by the Glass (aka “The Old Testament”). Hijinks ensued.

Caro Amico | SW Portland | Lair Hill

NPG HBTG action shot. Check out that luxurious red vinyl bar padding! 

In Caro Amico, we found an intimate lounge in one of Portland’s oldest Italian restaurants that was a direct link to an era of ‘80s elegance. We sipped negronis, ate pizza from the first place in the city to offer that rare “ethnic” dish in the early 1950s, and found ourselves sitting next to two contemporaries and friends of the late Paul Pintarich.

It was a remarkable experience, truth be told, in a place that checked so many of the boxes on our subjective list of bar criteria.

Founded:

1949 (originally a tall Victorian house at the edge of strong Portland Italian-Jewish neighborhood...before it burned to the ground several years later. These immigrant communities were the recipients of some early eminent domain style gentrification as many of their old houses and hangouts were razed to make way for modern PDX landmarks like Keller Auditorium, Keller Fountain, and Duniway Park. For better or for worse. The residents sprinkled out into the rest of Portland, ending that strong cultural identity in this location.

First Drinks: Negronis

Interesting Food: Pizza (the first place in Portland to serve it!)

No, it may not be much above a Totino's supermarket special these days, but dammit it's historic!

Bathroom Ranking: 4/5 urinal pucks

Narrow exterior door surrounded by restaurant history -- old menu, clippings, photos of staff/regulars, etc...double-door airlock system, which included a strange 3rd door in the tiny foyer that may or may not have led into Alice’s Wonderland or some sort of Labyrinth...interior was older and clean, but had character and fit nicely with the place.

'80s chic poster? CHECK! Hand-cut photo collage of regulars/staff? CHECK! 

WPRI (Would Pintarich Recognize It) Rating: 100% chance

Not only would he have felt immediately at home with what was essentially the same interior design from his 1996 visit, but two old friends of his -- former journalists and fellow watering hole aficionados Paul and Sherri -- were sitting next to us at the luxurious red vinyl padded bar. They overheard us discussing the pronunciation of their friend’s last name (PIN-ter-ich as it turns out) in preparation for the podcast and politely settled our debate before mentioning that Paul had once written a book about historic bars such as Caro Amico. “You don’t say?”

  

Buffalo Gap | SW Portland | John’s Landing

Poor Buffalo Gap. After the beauty of our Caro Amico visit, it never had a chance. Both Nate and I had been there several uninspired times previously, which surely tainted our perspective before we walked in the door.

I will go on record as saying that the Buffalo Gap is perfectly fine as a historic bar. Its now 45 years old and is an institution in its neighborhood.

It's got a sizable amount of character and history within its walls (though lamentably mixed in among Applebees-type bric-a-brac) and the staff was good or apathetic enough to let us explore the closed, but fully stocked attic bar/live music space on our own after a simple "hey my buddy and I visit old bars" petition by Nate.

There's no shortage of people who have loved the Buffalo Gap for a long time...but for whatever reason, we just ain't them. It might've been a different vibe with a well known barman and raconteur, like founder Jack Stutzman, running the joint. In our experience though, it was just a neighborhood tavern sorta stuck in the no man's land of its own kitschy history and modern consumer trends.

Founded: 1974 (formerly the “Hoot Owl” nee “Bob’s Tavern” -- reportedly a depressingly dark and dank tavern that we probably would’ve loved)

First Drinks: Boilermakers with Buffalo Trace and Miller High Life pony bottles

Interesting Food: didn’t really check

Bathroom Ranking: 2/5 urinal pucks

A funky heavy wooden door with a 45-degree entrance angle was the highlight...otherwise quasi modern and totally forgettable...electronic (non-functional) screens above the urinal (-0.5 puck)

WPRI (Would Pintarich Recognize It) Rating: 75% chance

Pintarich doesn’t spend much time describing the ambiance of Buffalo Gap, but instead is more focused on the life and times of former owner Jack Stutzman (RIP). The BG has added big TVs and has merchandise corner, probably more rooms than it used to, and lots and lots of beers on tap (as is the style), but I think the folks are mostly the same types of people who showed up in ‘96 and he’d be pretty unsurprised about it all.

This old weird nook is still there and one of the highlights of the interior.