Just over 40 years ago it wasn’t legal to serve beer at breweries. But McMenamins helped change that, opening the first brewpub and helping create a signature Oregon industry. In honor of McMenamins' 40th anniversary, the City Cast Portland podcast weighed in with their picks for the best of the now-63 McMenamins across the Pacific Northwest.
“I went to Edgefield just a couple weeks after I moved here, which is now about two years ago. I just remember approaching the front gates and it's all these metal detectors, surrounded by these trees that are growing around them. And I remember thinking to myself, this is so whimsical. This feels magical. I'm just walking into this concert forest. Since I went that first time, I've gone about five or six times, which is quite a few.
“Hot tip, there is a bus line that will take you directly in front of the concert grounds. You hang out on the bus for 50 minutes (I usually drink a secret beer) and then you're right in front of the concert, it's fabulous!” —
Giulia Fiaoni, City Cast Portland audio producer
“[It’s] next to the Bagdad Theater on Hawthorne. This place is amazing: I would go and hang out there tonight. The Bagdad Theater is this old, giant movie palace type of theater, right? And what had been the backstage of this historic theater, they turned it into a bar. The ceilings are like 70 feet tall. It is just this crazy, beautiful open space that they turned into this tiny bar. It's really, really cool.” —
John Notarianni, lead producer
“My favorite McMenamins that I've been to I found by accident. I was wine tasting, as I do. But a lot of wineries don't have a full menu. The Grand Lodge in Forest Grove is strategically placed in an area where you could jump off from a wine tour and end up there. It's such a wonderful post-wine-tour hangout because there's so many outdoor areas. It's like the same whimsy of Kennedy School where there's like all these little bars everywhere. There's always a wedding. It's like a million different people are using the space for their own unique way. It's fun to share that energy, you know?” —
Claudia Meza, host
Anyone out there been to all 63? Even if you haven’t, do you have a favorite? Email me.
