Huber's
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Huber's (originally The Bureau Saloon) is a restaurant in
Portland, Oregon Portland ( ) is the List of cities in Oregon, most populous city in the U.S. state of Oregon, located in the Pacific Northwest region. Situated close to northwest Oregon at the confluence of the Willamette River, Willamette and Columbia River, ...
that bills itself as the city's oldest restaurant, having been established in 1879. Known for its turkey dinner and Spanish coffee, Huber's is often listed as a recommended restaurant to eat at in Portland. The establishment has also been featured in a film by
Gus Van Sant Gus Green Van Sant Jr. (born July 24, 1952) is an American filmmaker, photographer, painter, and musician. He has earned acclaim as an independent film, independent auteur. His films typically deal with themes of marginalized subcultures. His ...
. Huber's is within the Railway Exchange Building (now known as the Oregon Pioneer Building).


Description

Located in Portland's historic Pioneer Building, Huber's contains "arched stained-glass skylights, mahogany paneling and terrazzo flooring". Original fixtures such as spittoons, overhead lights, a pewter wine stand, and cash registers, fans, and operable clocks made of brass still remain, "reminders of its rich history". The restaurant's yellow and amber skylight was made by the
Povey Brothers Studio Povey Brothers Studio, also known as Povey Brothers Art Glass Works or Povey Bros. Glass Co., was an American producer of stained glass windows based in Portland, Oregon, Portland, Oregon. The studio was active from 1888 to 1928. As the largest a ...
. Continuing with the tradition of preparing turkey dinners since the 1800s, Huber's prepares around 100 pounds of turkey each day to make "at least a dozen different dishes including the classic turkey dinner, hot and cold sandwiches, turkey marsala, cordon bleu, piccata, gumbo, drumsticks and wings, and Chinese barbecue turkey." Turkey-related foods that failed to catch on with patrons included "turkey coffee" (a combination of
Wild Turkey The wild turkey (''Meleagris gallopavo'') is an upland game bird native to North America, one of two extant species of Turkey (bird), turkey and the heaviest member of the order Galliformes. It is the ancestor to the domestic turkey (''M. g. dom ...
bourbon,
coffee Coffee is a beverage brewed from roasted, ground coffee beans. Darkly colored, bitter, and slightly acidic, coffee has a stimulating effect on humans, primarily due to its caffeine content, but decaffeinated coffee is also commercially a ...
and
whipped cream Whipped cream, also known as Chantilly cream or (), is high-fat dairy cream that has been aerated by whisking until it becomes light, fluffy, and capable of holding its shape. This process incorporates air into the cream, creating a semi-soli ...
) and an "Americanized" version of "turkey giblet chop suey". Spanish coffee has become the signature drink of Huber's, introduced by Jim Louie after "stealing" the idea from a bar in Milwaukie known as Fernwood Inn. Spanish coffee is made tableside with "great flair" and consists of
rum Rum is a liquor made by fermenting and then distilling sugarcane molasses or sugarcane juice. The distillate, a clear liquid, is often aged in barrels of oak. Rum originated in the Caribbean in the 17th century, but today it is produced i ...
,
triple sec Triple sec is an orange-flavoured liqueur that originated in France. It usually contains 20–40% alcohol by volume. Triple sec is rarely consumed neat, but is used in preparing many mixed drinks such as margaritas, cosmopolitans, sidecars, L ...
,
Kahlúa Kahlúa () is a brand of coffee liqueur owned by the Pernod Ricard company and produced in Veracruz, Mexico. The drink contains rum, sugar, and arabica coffee. History Pedro Domecq began producing Kahlúa in 1936. It was named Kahlúa, m ...
, coffee, whipped cream, and
nutmeg Nutmeg is the seed, or the ground spice derived from the seed, of several tree species of the genus '' Myristica''; fragrant nutmeg or true nutmeg ('' M. fragrans'') is a dark-leaved evergreen tree cultivated for two spices derived from its fru ...
. In 1990, Huber's earned the distinction as the largest user of Kahlúa in the United States by an independent restaurant.


History

Huber's bills itself as the oldest restaurant in Portland, having been established in 1879 as The Bureau Saloon at the corner of 1st and Alder in
downtown Portland Downtown Portland is the central business district of Portland, Oregon, United States. It is on the west bank of the Willamette River in the northeastern corner of the southwest section of the city and where most of the city's high-rise buildi ...
. The name of the establishment changed to its current form after Frank Huber purchased The Bureau Saloon. Throughout its history, the restaurant has occupied four separate locations, settling in the Pioneer Building (its current location) shortly after it was built in 1910. During this time, Huber's was a saloon with a bar and
spittoon A spittoon (or spitoon) is a receptacle made for spitting into, especially by users of Chewing tobacco, chewing and dipping tobacco. It is also known as a cuspidor (which is the Portuguese language, Portuguese word for "spitter" or "spittoon", ...
s where "downtown professionals spat their chewing tobacco". After Huber died in 1912, Jim Louie took over management of the establishment. Louie, a
stowaway A stowaway or clandestine traveller is a person who secretly boards a vehicle, such as a ship, an aircraft, a train, cargo truck or bus. Sometimes, the purpose is to get from one place to another without paying for transportation. In other c ...
Chinese immigrant, was the cook that helped to popularize the turkey dinners that Huber's is still known for today. During
Prohibition Prohibition is the act or practice of forbidding something by law; more particularly the term refers to the banning of the manufacture, storage (whether in barrels or in bottles), transportation, sale, possession, and consumption of alcoholic b ...
, the saloon was converted into a restaurant and
speakeasy A speakeasy, also called a beer flat or blind pig or blind tiger, was an illicit establishment that sold alcoholic beverages. The term may also refer to a retro style bar that replicates aspects of historical speakeasies. In the United State ...
so that food and alcoholic drinks could continue to be served. A few years after Louie's death, his nephew Andrew became the sole proprietor of Huber's in 1952. In 1960, Andrew introduced his eleven-year-old son James Kai Louie ("Jim") to the business, who eventually became an owner of the restaurant. David and Lucille Louie also became owners with the passing of Andrew in 1988 and his wife Amy in 1990. The Railway Exchange Building and Huber's Restaurant were added to the
National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...
on March 13, 1979. In 2010, Huber's was featured as a stop on the "Sweet Cakes, Long Journey"
walking tour A walking tour usually refers to either, # A guided walk of a historical or cultural site, usually in an urban setting, or # A long walk over several days in the countryside. Also called backpacking. Definitions (1) Also included are a walking ...
, which explores the history of Portland's
Chinatown Chinatown ( zh, t=唐人街) is the catch-all name for an ethnic enclave of Chinese people located outside Greater China, most often in an urban setting. Areas known as "Chinatown" exist throughout the world, including Europe, Asia, Africa, O ...
, not for its food but for being owned by the same Chinese family for multiple generations.


Reception

Brooke Jackson-Glidden Brooke Jackson-Glidden is a food writer and the editor of '' Eater Portland''. In 2023, she received the Jonathan Gold Local Voice Award from the James Beard Foundation in part for her essay about Either/Or. Jackson-Glidden has been the editor o ...
included the Spanish coffee in ''
Eater Portland ''Eater'' is a food website by Vox Media. It was co-founded by Lockhart Steele and Ben Leventhal in 2005, and originally focused on dining and nightlife in New York City. Eater launched a national site in 2009, and covered nearly 20 cities by 2 ...
'' 2024 overview of "iconic" Portland dishes.


See also

*


References


External links

*
KPTV news segment spotlighting Huber's
* {{Portal bar, Food, National Register of Historic Places, Oregon 1879 establishments in Oregon National Register of Historic Places in Portland, Oregon Restaurants established in 1879 Restaurants in Southwest Portland, Oregon Restaurants on the National Register of Historic Places in Oregon