Bars, Restaurants, & Taverns
HAMBURGER MARY’S - WEST
One block north on Park and Yamhill was Embers. Some have thought that the old Roberts Restaurant was Hamburger Mary’s location – it looks like it, but it wasn’t. The building was torn down to build the Nordstrom anchor store downtown. Located behind the Fox and Music Box Theatres which were torn down in 1997 to make way for Fox Tower which took the whole block. [COMMENT ON FACEBOOK: And The Spot Tavern, which became Mary's Spot. Spot was only downtown bar I remember selling quart bottles of beer
Above article from the NW Fountain, February 1981, page 3, “They’re cleaning up my favorite spot!” Below two pages on businesses 1983-84 in the Cascade Voice newspaper February 3, 1984.
840 SW Park [N.E. corner of Park and Taylor
Years: 1975? Until 1992 or 1993
Mary’s moved to SW Broadway for a couple of years.
(There was also a Hamburger Mary’s East it closed and Dugan’s took over, it is now a Peets Coffee Shop).
It moved down by the Benson Hotel later in 1992 or 93? I believe the address was: 225 SW Broadway Ste 100, Portland, OR 97205 ·SW Broadway and Oak where Independence Sports Grill is located 9/2021. Marv Bondarowicz, The Oregonian Hamburger Mary's Kitsch ruled the day at this Portland offshoot of the famous San Francisco burger joint, which operated in a number of downtown locations, most notably on the corner Southwest Park Avenue and Taylor Street, where it ran from the 1970s until 1996 (where the Fox Tower is now). When it moved to Southwest Broadway that year, Bruce Holmbeck and Jeff Capps salvaged many of the signs and bric-a-brac that made Mary's feel funky. The most-recent incarnation in Old Town closed in 2013. https://www.oregonlive.com/dining/2016/12/tasty_memories_97_long-gone_po.html#0
Good burgers and quirky vibes at Hamburger Mary's The real hey-day of Hamburger Mary's happened between the '70s and the '90s when Oregonian writers described it as "dark, funky" with "eclectic decor." When a new Portland location of the international franchise reopened in October 2010, people welcomed the return of a Portland institution. But that iteration has since shut down. https://www.oregonlive.com/trending/2016/08/portland_in_the_90s.html
Oregon Journal, August 22, 1977, page 13
Oregon Journal September 15, 1978, page 2
Bruce Holmbeck and Jeff Capps taking out stuff as it closed
2021 Photo - where Hamburger Mary's stood
Interior shot
Jordon Powell one of the original San Francisco and Portland Hamburger Mary MARYETTES
Capitol Forum newspaper April 1981
Cascade Voice newspaper ad, January 28, 1983
Gay Rights Report newspaper, September 1978
citations & references:
Listed in Damron Address Book/Address Guide 1977 under Restaurant with notation R – restaurant, M- Mixed, C – Coffee, Soft Drinks, Juices, Snacks, YC- Youth/Collegiate
Listed in Damron Address Book/Address Guide 1978 under Restaurant with notation R – restaurant, M- Mixed, C – Coffee, Soft Drinks, Juices, Snacks, HIP – Heads Frequent/marijuana
Listed in Damron Address Book/Address Guide 1979 under Restaurant with notation R – restaurant, M- Mixed, C – Coffee, Soft Drinks, Juices, Snacks, HIP – Heads Frequent/marijuana
Listed in Damron Address Book/Address Guide 1980 under Restaurant with notation R –
restaurant, M- Mixed, C – Coffee, Soft Drinks, Juices, Snacks, HIP – Heads Frequent/marijuana
Per the One Dollar Magazine May 1975 – page 16 “Fey clientele, but great atmosphere. A sort of Granma Moses after three hits of LSD-25 motif. Good Food.”
Cited in the Oregon Journal, August 22, 1977, page 13, Hamburger Mary’s opens a new restaurant,
Roxy Heart’s Memorial Diner.
Mentioned in an article about an accident in the Oregon Journal September 15, 1978, page 2.
Article in NW Fountain, February 1981, page 3, “They’re cleaning up my favorite spot!”
Cited in handout Majestic Hotel and Club Baths of Portland presents PORTLAND 1983. 840 SW
Park phone: 233-0900 – connotations: R & T - restaurant – beer/wine.