History by the Glass

In one of their most professional efforts ever (even with Alfredo's audio sounding like a Jack in the Box drive-thru speaker) the HBTG boys visited with Samantha Swindler -- features reporter, videographer, chronicler of all things weird, intriguing, and off-the-beaten path for The Oregonian/OregonLive -- to learn more about her recent efforts to determine the oldest continuously operating bar location in Oregon. It was a sear...

Season 3 of History by the Glass reaches its culmination with a trip into the heart of Portland's historic Chinatown district to visit the century-ish old Republic Cafe (222 NW 4th Ave.) — the oldest Chinese-American restaurant in the city — and its random and remarkable Ming Lounge. Still stuffed with Christmas ham and eggnog, Alfredo and Nathan shackled themselves to longtime friend of the pod Bill Clifford and headed into the ...

Filled with immense thanks for all YOU who have traveled with the two of US for the past six years, we celebrated Thanksgiving weekend with our second annual HBTG Audience Choice Episode.

The ridiculously over-complicated Thunderdome selection process saw 12 audience-nominated old bars enter, one bar leave as chic NW Portland's beloved Rasputinesque anachronism Joe's Cellar (1332 NW 21st Ave., Est. 1941) outlasted nearby Yur's in ...

"There's a big difference between mostly dead and all dead. Mostly dead is slightly alive."

And that's just where the HBTG boys found themselves after an energy draining 2-month production delay -- rusty, slightly discombobulated, and, yes, probably a little drunker than advisable...but still slightly ALIVE and, in fact, overflowing with joy after a visit to one of their all time favorite IRL bars, SW Portland's The Old Barn (9656 ...

"Faster, Higher, Stronger...Drunker?"

To commemorate these Games of the XXXIII Olympiad in Paris, the HBTG boys set their sights on the Marathon Taverna (SW 18th & Burnside), arriving just past opening at 7 a.m. alongside several of Portland's world-class early morning drinkers (including one bourbon-loving fly) to take advantage of the economical breakfast special, jaunty bar conversation, and live Olympic cover...

*DRUMS PLEASE* Here it is, the pod, slightly transformed, just a bit of a break from the norm, just a little somethin' to break the monotony... Yes indeed, it is SUMMERTIME in the city and on the eve of America's birthday, the HBTG boys put their sunglasses on, oiled each other up like a pair of Navy fighter pilots prepping for a sand volleyball game, and headed north to the mighty Columbia River to seek, no, not the Northwest Pa...

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 local watering hole since at least 1935, it feat...

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 our immediate friends and family.

Of course, that bar was none other than ...

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 1 classic "Red in the Face" oyster lunch scene, the ...

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 Soon when we visited Northeast’s 8-week-old Too Soon cocktail lounge -- the oldest...

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 the late '70s on the ground floor of a towering, mysterious 135-year-old building...

"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 reflecting on the poetic melancholy of the season and a banner y...

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 thrilled to jam ourselves into Portland's Grand Ole Opry on a lively Mo...

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 closures of 2020. However, thanks to the local legends of historic bar ...

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.

This is how we found ourselves parachuting into NE Portland‘s North Tabor neighborhood...

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 or neatly explain it. Its history is unknowable, yet infused throughout the sneaky wa...

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, we had an AWESOME time at Driftwood Room…and then proceeded to continue having ...

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 engage with the world around us on a daily basis.

We took time to pour a couple ...

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, 40 years ago, nobody knew much of anything about Mike and Brian McMenamin...