“Once the kind of place where your estranged alcoholic father would buy you breakfast, the Trap now feels like that weird bar in the suburbs your friends from high school settle on for an annual evening of bad decisions the night before Thanksgiving. The Trap has grown up a bit, and so have you.”
-Pete Cottell, Willamette Week, November 2017
A classic Portland bus stop bar. A Foster-Powell area dive (emphasis on the lowercase d) and karaoke performance hall. Home of the BEST hash browns hashbrowns and bloody marys in town? Possibly. Home of one of the most open and honest, death-defying bartenders in the city? Absolutely.
An inspiration to drop an inexhaustible amount of Admiral Ackbar Return of the Jedi -- "IT'S A TRAP!" -- puns over the course of an hour-long episode? You bet your sweet mon calamari asses!
Bar visit and episode recording: Saturday, Oct. 11, 2025
HBTG theme song: "Frozen Egg" by Lame Drivers
Interlude music: "Right Track" by Lame Drivers
Folks, Prohibition sucked. And here in Oregon, we had it worse than most, cutting off our own booze supply in 1916 -- four years before the rest of the country.
When the 18th Amendment was finally repealed in all states in 1933, Oregonians had not legally been in a bar for EIGHTEEN GODFORSAKEN YEARS!
It was during that time (1923) that a neighborhood grocery store was built on the corner of N Catlin and Willamette that later became the delightfully punny Your Inn Tavern (7004 N Catlin Ave.).
So is this intimate, wooden, rollicking, survivor of a bar really 102 years old? Could it have been a 1923 speakeasy easily transformable into "the best damn grocery store in town" with the pull of a lever?
Well...no.
But that didn't stop the HBTG boys from joyously crossing the St. Johns Bridge to make their first visit and some new friends at this verifiably great and memorable old Portland bar.
Bar visit and episode recording: Thursday, August 28, 2025
HBTG theme song: "Frozen Egg" by Lame Drivers
Interlude music: "Right Track" by Lame Drivers
This month's episode finds the boys -- now officially including Producer Bill -- back in town, contemplating semi-historic and overtly political bar decor...poking around Shanghai Tunnels...eating a by-god bar burger...ogling a PERFECT men's room...possibly having one round too many...and putting their age/surliness/cynicism aside to have life affirming jello shots at downtown Portland institution, Scooter McQuades aka Scooters (1321 SW Washington St.)!!
It's the classic Portland bar where every good night begins and/or ends accompanied by an equally classic, clinging to the rails HBTG episode...cheers!
Bar visit and episode recording: Wednesday, July 24, 2025
HBTG theme song: "Frozen Egg" by Lame Drivers
Interlude music: "Right Track" by Lame Drivers
Thought you'd heard the last of History by the Glass? Think again! After a 6-month hiatus, Alfredo & Nate are back for their fourth season of vintage bar-going adventures.
As part of their annual curiosity-laden Bourdain Day observance, the boys squeezed into an 8-seat turboprop bound for the cowboy town of Pendleton — "The Real West" of Oregon — for their first official HBTG bar visit outside of the Portland metro.
There they found a lively, highly walkable/stumbleable drinking town anchored by the 130ish-year-old Rainbow Cafe, cheerfully maintaining its (recently "Swindler-ed") claim of being the oldest bar in Oregon. Facts are indeed stubborn things, but no amount of verifiable contradictory history has ever kept the fellas from a good time over a few rounds in a high-character old joint!
PLUS — a salute to the ultimate barstool everyman George Wendt, kudos to Esquire's favorite HBTG bar, and more!
Bar visit and segment recording: Wednesday, June 25, 2025
Additional recording: Tuesday, July 1, 2025
HBTG theme song: "Frozen Egg" by Lame Drivers
Interlude music: "Right Track" by Lame Drivers
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 the deciding round.
Both finalists were nominated by the fine folks at Slabtown Tours, North & NW Portland's preeminent walking tour guides and keepers of eclectic local history.
For Nathan and Alfredo it was an opportunity to reconnect with a pre-podcast HBTG bar (some 6 1/2 years after their initial visit) and marvel once more at its subterranean divey charm, dedicated bartenders, and jaunty ambiance. All of which improbably endures despite the structural death sentence it received during a highly publicized months-long closure in 2013.
At Joe's, it's always the end of the world as we know it and we feel fine!
Bar visit and episode recording: Friday, November 29, 2024
HBTG theme song: "Frozen Egg" by Lame Drivers
Interlude music: "Right Track" by Lame Drivers
"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 SW Barbur Blvd., Est. 1981).
A conversation with longtime owners and former proprietors Johnny and Karri Malafouris, and the city's best Sunday NFL bartender / TV whisperer Gina Angerilli, sent the boys down memory lane with this classically unpretentious, ramshackle, mass transit adjacent neighborhood joint, where the drinks are honest and plentiful, the food distinct and filling, and the sports-centric atmosphere more comfortable than your living room couch on Thanksgiving day.
It's the kind of place modern Portland too often takes for granted and that veteran bar owners feel is slowly slipping from our consciousness. But as long as The Old Barn and other blue collar neighborhood spots like it remain slightly alive, then there's hope for us all.
Bar visit and episode recording: Thursday, October 24, 2024
HBTG theme song: "Frozen Egg" by Lame Drivers Interlude music: "Right Track" by Lame Drivers
"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 coverage.
A corner drinking spot by several different names since the repeal of Prohibition in 1933, the Marathon was established in 1974 by Greek immigrant Harlambos “Bobby” Polizos who, along with his wife Diane, also ran the legendary Acropolis Steakhouse (strip club) in deep SE Portland. Both continue to be family owned and operated today.
It's the thrill of victory, the agony of defeat, and all the rise and chug magic you love in this gold medal caliber episode of History by the Glass!
Bar visit and episode recording: Friday, August 2, 2024
HBTG theme song: "Frozen Egg" by Lame Drivers
Interlude music: "Right Track" by Lame Drivers
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 features a triple option of drinking/dining/entertainment experience to suit whatever outlook on life you enter with and is known for being one of the best places in town to start and/or finish your drinking day.
The HBTG boys strolled in at 10 a.m. on a sunny Friday, ensconsed themselves into one of the more uniquely designed bars they've ever come across, taught themselves how to use fork and spoon over 18 inches of vaulted padded vinyl, and, as always, enjoyed this episode's rollicking post-bar visit reminiscence.
PLUS, thoughts on the best new-old/old-new bar in town, Jerry's Tavern, and a fond farewell to the incomparable Bill Walton -- forever a champion of Portland and unabashedly optimistic living. Thank you for your life Bill.
Bar visit and episode recording: Friday, May 31, 2024
HBTG theme song: "Frozen Egg" by Lame Drivers
Interlude music: "Right Track" by Lame Drivers
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 McPeet's Portland Pub (4501 NE Fremont St., Est. 1979), which we had the pleasure of FINALLY visiting on a warm Monday evening to enjoy some cold High Lifes, a damn fine burger, memorable restroom, and great conversation with owner Chris Peterson and bar hype man (and social media manager) Mitch Forness.
You may find plenty of bars in this town that are older, quirkier, more elegant or more divey, but sometimes what you really need most are the simple pleasures of a wonderfully basic neighborhood pub that's been serving up local comfort and fellowship for generations.
Bar visit and episode recording: Monday, April 22, 2024
HBTG theme song: "Frozen Egg" by Lame Drivers
Interlude music: "Right Track" by Lame Drivers
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 HBTG boys were busting after a midday bacchanal of invertebrates, martinis, and cheesecake.
Thankfully for all involved there were no flights of stairs to be climbed en route to the recording studio afterward and the only expulsion was the pure joy of experiencing a Portland classic for the first time.
PLUS, reflections on our visit to one of the newest bars in the city -- Too Soon -- in our April Fool's episode!
Bar visit and episode recording: Friday, March 29, 2024
HBTG theme song: "Frozen Egg" by Lame Drivers
Interlude music: "Right Track" by Lame Drivers
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 bar in Portland serving complimentary warm cookies at last call.
Bar visit and episode recording: Thursday, March 7, 2024
HBTG theme song: "Frozen Egg" by Lame Drivers
"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 year of old bar adventures.
Thank you all for listening and telling your fellow bar aficionados about us. It's been one of the true creative joys of our lives to be able to celebrate these places and communities with you.
We'll see you all in February of 2024 for season 3 of History by the Glass. In the meantime, may we never let auld acquaintance be forgot and enjoy many cups of kindness yet for auld lang syne.
Happy New Year!!
Bar visit and initial recording: Wednesday, Dec. 27, 2023
Special Guest: Bill Clifford
HBTG theme song: "Frozen Egg" by Lame Drivers
Interlude music: "Right Track" by Lame Drivers
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 Monday night before digging into the somewhat surprising history and unique experience of this venerable Portland institution.
Bar visit and initial recording: Monday, November 20, 2023
HBTG theme song: "Frozen Egg" by Lame Drivers
Interlude music: "Right Track" by Lame Drivers
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 reanimation, Warren Boothby and Marcus Archambeault, it proved to only be MOSTLY dead and was brought back to life in late July of 2023.
This beautiful Frankenstein of an old bar (featuring pieces from some of its deceased peers) is back and puttin' on the Ritz better than ever. With unpretentious drinks, great food, historic authenticity and character, and plenty of patrons, it's proof that old joints don't have to be "Bar Rescued" to stay relevant and vivacious today.
Bar visit and episode recording: Thursday, Oct. 26, 2023
HBTG theme song: "Frozen Egg" by Lame Drivers
Interlude music: "Right Track" by Lame Drivers
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 on a Monday Night Football night to experience the underrated and historic A & L Sports Pub — the latest of a series of watering holes in this century old building going back to 1945.
The epitome of a local sports bar with nightly regulars, knowledgeable and affable staff, and enough space to fit the entire 1979 Pittsburgh Steelers team, the A & L has been bringing folks together to slosh pitchers of beer, catcall opposing fans, and do all that good communal sports bar stuff we know and love so well since the dawn of the ‘90s. Buckle up your chinstrap and get in the game!
Bar visit and recording: Monday, Oct. 2, 2023
HBTG theme song: “Frozen Egg” by Lame Drivers
Interlude music: “Right Track” by Lame Drivers