For 146 years, Portland has gathered under our stained-glass ceiling. The bar is the city's oldest. The turkey is still carved. The Spanish coffee still arrives in a flame.
We opened our doors as a downtown Portland saloon in 1879. Five years before the city paved its first street. Ten years before Oregon got its first electric streetcar. Every era of the city since has walked through this room.
If you visited us in the 1890s, you'd have seen patrons conversing with a drink in one hand and a turkey sandwich in the other. Over a hundred years later, we're still known for our turkey — the same roast Young Tom, the same sage dressing, the same cranberry sauce, served the way it was when the Pioneer Building was new.
The decor is reminiscent of another time — because it is another time. Stained glass overhead. Brass and dark wood throughout. A back dining room our guests have been telling visitors not to miss for generations. Walk in on any given Tuesday and you'll find the same room our great-grandparents knew.
What we serve has evolved. The room hasn't. That's the point.
Ask any Portlander where to take an out-of-town friend, and somewhere in the answer is "and order the Spanish coffee." The drink isn't ours alone — but the tableside ritual is.
Kahlúa, Cruzan 151, Bols Triple Sec, and coffee. A sugared rim. The 151 is ignited and the cup is tilted, the flame swirling for a full half-minute before it's capped with whipped cream and grated nutmeg. The room turns to watch every time.
Hot or iced. Sixteen dollars. Every visit, without exception, ends the same way: with the next table over leaning forward to ask what that was.
We went for the legendary Spanish coffee cocktails. They were amazing, as always. They put on quite a show when making them. Kristin D. · Yelp · ★★★★★
Frank Huber opens a saloon in downtown Portland. The room is loud, the bar is long, and the famous turkey sandwich is poured along with the whiskey.
Patrons line the bar with a turkey sandwich in one hand and a drink in the other. The turkey becomes the signature it remains today.
Huber's coleslaw — a house specialty going back to the saloon days — is added to the menu and never leaves. It still arrives with the burgers, the sandwiches, and Jim's Shrimp Salad.
The tableside Spanish coffee becomes a fixture of the dining room — a thirty-second pour, a flame, a finished cup. It is what every reviewer mentions first.
Pendleton Farms beef. Willapa Bay oysters. Northwest cioppino. The same roast turkey. 3,315 Google reviews and a 4.6 rating. The bar is still Portland's oldest. The room is still the room.
We sit on the ground floor of the Oregon Pioneer Building, on Southwest 3rd Avenue, two blocks from the MAX line and four blocks from the river. Stained-glass overhead. A back dining room our regulars insist you not miss. Brass, dark wood, and high ceilings that pre-date most of the buildings around us.
The architecture is part of the meal. It always has been.
Oregon-raised, grass-fed cattle. The 8-oz tenderloin under the Filet Mignon and the Montreal Gorgonzola Filet. Flame-broiled, finished with merlot butter or port-wine demi-glace.
Floured, pan-fried, served with tartar, rice pilaf, and sautéed vegetables. From Willapa Bay, the way they've been pulled out of Pacific tidewater for as long as we've been pouring drinks.
Fresh salmon, white fish, and tiger prawns, simmered in a broth of tomato, onion, and fennel. The Pacific in a bowl.
Roast Young Tom, sage dressing, fresh mashed potatoes or baked yams with hazelnut butter, cranberry sauce. The dish that's been on the menu, in one form or another, since the 1890s.
A house specialty going back to the saloon days. Served with the burgers, the sandwiches, and on its own with bay shrimp. Same recipe, century-plus.
Remy Martin Louis XIII by the half-ounce. Hennessey XO. Martell Cordon Bleu. A bar built for the after-dinner pour the room was made for.
What surprised me most was how much the building itself adds to the visit. The architecture invites you to pause and look around, with details that give the place character and a sense of history. A memorable stop on every level.
Sometimes things are just a classic for a reason. Definitely get the Spanish coffee — you can order it hot or iced. Never enjoyed Thanksgiving food from a restaurant before, but we loved it here. The turkey wasn't dry, the ham wasn't chewy, the sauces were great.
Ronia and Olivia were so attentive, particularly to our infant. We felt very loved and welcomed. We split the turkey special, which was a flavorful classic. They even had a violinist playing beautifully which entertained our little one as well.
Huber's would be honored to host or cater your next event. Each one is built around what you and your guests want, in the room that's hosted Portland's gatherings for nearly a century and a half.