Entry No. 62 — the Portland file — filed under: 1879
Huber's Cafe
Huber's has been pouring since 1879 and has occupied this room in the Oregon Pioneer Building since 1910, under arched Povey Brothers stained-glass skylights, mahogany paneling and terrazzo floor, with brass fixtures and spittoons still in place. The Spanish Coffee is comparatively recent — Jim Louie brought the idea over from the Fernwood Inn in Milwaukie a few decades back — but the presentation is what made it: rum, triple sec, Kahlúa and coffee assembled at your table, lit, and poured flaming from an alarming height, whipped cream and grated nutmeg landing on top. Willamette Week's line is that the fanciest bartenders like to light the pour while it's still in mid-air, scarily, tableside. By 1990 the restaurant was the largest independent user of Kahlúa in the United States, and there are plaques to prove it. The kitchen still runs about 100 pounds of turkey a day across a dozen preparations, a holdover from when every drink at the bar came with a turkey sandwich; Jim Louie died in July 2025 and his three sons, the fourth generation, run it now.
→ Three more weird eats & drinks in Portland — never the same twice
The story
Huber's opened in 1879 as the Bureau Saloon at 1st and Alder, took its current name after Frank Huber bought it, and moved into the Railway Exchange Building, now the Oregon Pioneer Building, shortly after it went up in 1910. The room is the reason to come: arched Povey Brothers stained-glass skylights in amber and yellow, mahogany paneling, terrazzo floor, brass fixtures, spittoons still in place. Prohibition turned the saloon into a restaurant and speakeasy, which is how it survived; both it and the building joined the National Register of Historic Places on March 13, 1979.
The other reason is the family. After Frank Huber died in 1912, Jim Louie, a Chinese immigrant who had arrived as a stowaway and was working as the cook, took over the place and made turkey the house dish. His nephew Andrew became sole proprietor in 1952 and brought his son James Kai Louie into the room in 1960, at eleven. Andrew died in 1988 and his wife Amy in 1990; David and Lucille Louie took ownership. Jim died in July 2025, leaving his share to his three sons, and his middle son, James Christopher Louie, became president that September, the fourth generation to run it. The kitchen still goes through about 100 pounds of turkey a day across a dozen preparations, descended from the years when every drink came with a turkey sandwich.
The Spanish Coffee is comparatively recent, borrowed from the Fernwood Inn in Milwaukie, and it is what most people now come for: rum, triple sec, Kahlua and coffee assembled at your table, lit, and poured flaming from an alarming height, with whipped cream and grated nutmeg landing on top. By 1990 Huber's was the largest independent user of Kahlua in the United States, with plaques to prove it, and Mayor Vera Katz declared July 24 of that year Huber's Day.
What it's like
The hardest part is the door. Huber's has no streetfront entrance; you go into the Oregon Pioneer Building off SW 3rd and follow a corridor back, past the point where you begin to suspect you have walked into an office lobby by mistake. Then the room opens up: mahogany, terrazzo, brass, and the Povey Brothers skylight overhead. Ask for the old back room if there is any choice in it. Order a Spanish Coffee and a server builds it at your table, sets it alight, and pours flaming liquor from an unreasonable height before the cream and nutmeg go on. Keep sleeves, menus and long hair well clear; the pour is theirs, not yours. Happy hour runs 4-6 p.m. and again from 9 p.m. to close, with an $8 beverage minimum and no takeout on happy-hour items.
The move: Get to the bar by 9 p.m. for the late happy hour, take seats where you can see the whole room rather than a booth, and order two Spanish Coffees so the fire show happens twice — then split a hot turkey sandwich with mashed potatoes and gravy while the nutmeg is still settling. Ask to be in the old back room with the skylights if there's any choice in it.
📍 Before you go Mon–Thu 11:30 a.m.–10 p.m., Fri–Sat until 11, Sun 4–10 p.m.; happy hour daily 4–6 p.m. and 9 p.m. to close, with seasonal exceptions. Phone (503) 228-5686; reservations run through Yelp. The entrance is easy to miss — it's inside the Oregon Pioneer Building off SW 3rd, down a corridor, not a streetfront door. The Spanish Coffee involves open flame at the table, so keep sleeves, menus and long hair clear, and don't expect to make the pour yourself. Downtown parking is street or garage; MAX and bus lines drop within a couple of blocks.
- 📍 Portland
- 💸 $
- ⚡ Up for anything
- 🌗 Indoors
Where: 411 SW 3rd Ave, Portland, OR 97204
Hours: Added 2026-08-26 — confirm current hours before you go.
Pair it with
- Jack London Revue — One block away on SW 4th and also down a staircase, which makes a basement jazz set the natural next move after a drink that was on fire.
- Mill Ends Park — Four blocks toward the river: a 452-square-inch tree pit in a highway median, ninety seconds of your evening, and a nice scale contrast with Portland's oldest restaurant.
- Kelly's Olympian — A block up on SW Washington and the same argument in a rougher key: open since 1902, motorcycles bolted overhead, salvaged neon everywhere.
More weird in Portland
Good to know
I am standing on SW 3rd and cannot find the entrance.
That is normal. The address is 411 SW 3rd Ave, but the door is inside the Oregon Pioneer Building and the restaurant sits down a corridor off the lobby, with no streetfront storefront of its own.
Can I book a table?
Reservations run through Yelp, and the phone is (503) 228-5686. Hours are Mon-Thu 11:30 a.m. to 10 p.m., Fri-Sat until 11, and Sun 4-10 p.m. The restaurant closes on Christmas, New Year's, Memorial Day and Labor Day.
When is happy hour, and are there catches?
Daily, 4-6 p.m. and 9 p.m. to close. There is an $8 beverage minimum, happy-hour items are not available to go, and the deal is suspended on Valentine's Day and from November 15 through December 31.
Is there anything to eat, or is it all the flaming drink?
Turkey, mostly. The kitchen runs roughly 100 pounds a day across a dozen preparations, including the roast young tom turkey and the turkey sandwich the bar has been serving since the 1890s.
How do I get there without driving?
It is central downtown, a couple of blocks from MAX and multiple bus lines. If you do drive, it is street metering or a garage, with no lot of its own.
Plan a visit & invite your people →
Further reading: Official site · Wikipedia · wweek.com · pdx.eater.com
last checked: 2026-08-26