Fathers. You have 'em, you may be 'em, you probably love 'em, and you may also drink in dark bars because of 'em. But there's no better place in Portland to linger over a stiff pour and big ol' pile of eggs while thinking about yours than My Father's Place aka MFP (523 SE Grand Ave.). Established as MFP in 1978 (yes, ANOTHER late '70s bar!) and a l…

Five 1/2 years ago...two earnest, but slapdash episodes into this grand experiment called the History by the Glass podcast...we were contacted out of the blue...by an actual BAR. And not just any bar, but an honest-to-god OLD bar who simply said, "Love your podcast!" -- the first inkling we had that maybe this thing might possibly resonate beyond o…

Established in 1907, Dan & Louis Oyster Bar is Portland's oldest family-owned restaurant. Is it really a bar though? Or just a restaurant that serves drinks? We'll leave that for you to decide. But is it a FANTASTIC place to eat, drink, and connect with Old Portland? Abso-shuckin'-lutely. Yes, like Roger Sterling and Don Draper in Mad Men's Season …

Join us dear friends for another succinct and well produced episode of History by the Glass -- Portland most popular podcast tour of the city's freshest, hottest, and relatively historic bars, pubs, and saloons…whiskey libraries, modern speakeasies, craft brew pubs, and mixology dens. In this rare commercial-free episode, we asked how soon is Too S…

Remember FUN?! Well, thanks to vibrant old locals like The Slammer Tavern (500 SE 8th Ave.) it's BACK. And, hey, so are WE for a THIRD season of History by the Glass! We were thrilled to get busy living at one of Portland's most unique, friendly, and fun-loving dives (or is it?), which has been sentencing folks to good times as "The Slammer" since …

"It was after Christmas babe...in a Chinese restaurant dive bar...an old man said to me, won't see another one..." The season 2 finale and annual holiday special found the HBTG boys holed up at St. Johns' historic and wonderfully divey Wishing Well Chinese restaurant lounge (8800 N. Lombard St.), fulfilling a Christmas tradition for Nathan while re…

Just like one of John Madden's legendary turduckens, we squeezed an obscene amount of goodness into THIS, our Thanksgiving/inaugural listener's choice/5-year anniversary special! Longtime listener Matt Wyss was our lucky winner with his submission of his live music lovin' local, the Laurelthirst Public House (2958 NE GlisanSt.), and we were thrille…

Episode No. 30(!!) finds the HBTG boys enjoying their Halloween Spooktacular happily drinking among the undead at Holman's Bar & Grill (15 SE 28th Ave) -- no, not the youthful clientele, but the bar itself! Established in...ehhh, let's just call it pre-WWII...Holman's appeared to be ALL dead when it locked its doors during the sweeping pandemic clo…

Fall is officially upon us. Which, for the HBTG boys, means sports, sports, SPORTS! Once upon a time, the venerable Claudia’s on SE Hawthorne would’ve been atop the list of beloved old local places to grab a cold one and watch the game, but with its October closure after 75 years of service, it was time to evaluate one of its worthy successors. Thi…

The Yamhill Pub is a Fox News producer's wet dream. It's the grimy, thrashed, chaotic, debauched, unrepentant, undeveloped, iconically menacing "lowest down diviest dive in Portland"...and we couldn't be more proud. Established in 1933 or 1939 in a century-old downtown building, the Yamhill Pub supernaturally resists all attempts to categorize it o…

Downtown Portland’s Driftwood Room has been shaking up craft cocktails and intimate, dimly lit hotel bar connections since opening in what was then Hotel Mallory (and today Hotel DeLuxe) in 1954. Once a pioneer of the city’s mixology scene, today it remains a beloved, luxurious, unctuous, and, as we can now attest, potent purveyor of spirits. Yes, …

Anthony Bourdain was our generation's greatest explorer of places near and far. Five years ago, he chose to leave well before his family, friends, and fans around the world were prepared to say goodbye. His legacy is baked into our effort to celebrate the venerable bars (and the communities that love them) of Portland and beyond, as well as how we …

With 56 locations throughout Oregon and Washington and annual revenue in the range of $200M annually, we're willing to bet, if you're listening to this podcast, you've been to a freaking McMenamins! You know the vibe, you know the art, you know the history, and you know the consistent, if perhaps overly scrutinized, food, beer, and service. Well, 4…

In the course of producing this episode, our 25th HBTG bar night out, there were three things we became (fairly) certain about: 1. That Slim's Restaurant & Lounge (8635 N Lombard St.) offers one of the best, most authentic old bar experiences you'll find in Portland. 2. That Slim's is also about 24 years younger than it has long believed. 3. That, …

Belonging. Believe it or not, it's what we're all ultimately looking for when we walk into a bar as a patron or, even, an employee. We all just want to be seen and known...and the drinks taste so f--king good. The Stockpot Broiler Lounge & Restaurant (8200 SW Scholls Ferry Rd, Beaverton, OR) has been serving up belonging for nearly 50 years at a fo…

Still riding the high from their Season 2 premiere at Bill's Steakhouse... *checks calendar*... EIGHT GD weeks ago (!?!?), the boys welcomed back longtime friend of the podcast and veteran Portland bar aficionado Bill Clifford in-studio to test drive a new HBTG interview segment, and reflect fondly on his most formative/traumatizing bar moments, th…

Filled with gratitude, gravy, and goodwill, the HBTG boys emerged from their hiatus refreshed and ready to kick off season TWO of the podcast at the place it all inexplicably began nearly 5 years earlier -- Bill's Steak House (10227 NE Sandy Blvd) in Portland's Parkrose neighborhood. This time, instead of near-crippling depression and doubt, the bo…

The second half of our epic Phase One finale concludes at the only place it possibly could -- the iconic Bud Clark's legendary Goose Hollow Inn. It's a place that, despite its rigorous adherence to COVID precautions at the time of our visit, STILL reminds us of all that was once good about bar-going in Portland, and could be again. Bud, who died on…

On Feb. 7, 2018, guided by a book (brilliantly) written by a former alcoholic and newspaper man more than two decades earlier, two drinking buddies walked through the door of Bill's Steak House & Lounge on a sleepy Wednesday night, officially launching a creative, celebratory journey into the heart of Portland's classic bar culture. Exactly four ye…

It was just over 28 years ago to the day this episode was released -- Jan. 30, 1994...Super Bowl Sunday -- that the venerable Dockside Saloon in rapidly gentrifying industrial NW Portland was thrust into the national spotlight by that infamous trio of Eckardt, Harding, and...Gillooly. Of course you know the basic knee-whacking plot of that most sur…

It's a marshmallow world in the winter and we're channeling our inner Deano and Frank to bring you a very merry HBTG Christmas episode! This month, we pulled up a couple of stools and drank until we encountered the ghosts of Portland bars past, present, and future at the most Dickensian joint left on our list, the legendary British-Oregonian Horse …

We're baaaack! Yep, damn near 5 months after our last episode dropped, we've decided to grace our loyal and extremely patient listeners with another one — and not just any episode, but our official return to actual bar reviews! Way back on July 28 we made a midday stop at Portland's most infamous, mercurial, and legendary burger bar, Stanich's (09:…

With most COVID-19 restrictions lifted and vaccines coursing through our bodies, we are effectively back in action! We cross through the crumbling COVID Berlin Wall looking for freedom! Do we find it by venturing out to Multnomah Village's Renner's — our last regularly scheduled HBTG stop? Give us a listen to find out. PLUS, we celebrate Bourdain D…

Fully vaccinated and with this buzzkill of a pandemic in its waning days, the boys got out from behind their video screens to raise their drinks in person. Now, on the verge of returning to our regular programming, what better time to FINALLY release our six-month-old HBTG Best Nights Out segment (19:35). Not the best bars necessarily, but the best…

“Everything ends badly otherwise it wouldn't end.” And now for the B-side of our impassioned two-part deep dive commentary into 1988’s venerable ode to flair bartending, toxic masculinity, and unrepentant greed — Cocktail! In this episode, we join Tom Cruise in Jamaica en route to the half-assed ending that secures this movie's place as one of the …