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Local businesses are the lifeblood of our community. The Mid-county Memo offers this section to our business neighbors for news, advancements, promotions, expansions and other noteworthy events to be shared with the community at large. Business Memo submissions for the April issue are due by Thursday, March 15. For best results, e-mail Darlene Vinson at editor@midcountymemo.com. You may also mail submissions to 3510 N.E. 134th Ave., Portland, OR 97230. To leave a phone message, dial 503-287-8904. The Mid-county Memo fax number is 503-249-7672.
Eatery enters east Portland market
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| On Fat Tuesday last month, Dog House Saloon General Manager Mike Pifher, standing, poses with customers, from left, Terrie and Dave Potter, and Lisa and Pete Borho. Since they discovered the place last month, the Potters, both recently retired mail carriers, added the new saloon to their list of places to dine and drink. Mid-county Memo photo/Tim Curran |
Now, he is bringing his decade of restaurant and nightclub experience home as general manager of the Dog House Saloon, on Southeast 122nd Avenue near Stark Street in the old Wai Kong Asian Bistro & Bar space. “A contemporary, urban sports bar,” as Pifher described it recently.
Coincidentally, his career comes full circle in the same building where his sister served Plush Pippin pies to customers 25 years ago.
The Dog House Saloon is part of Urban Restaurants, Inc., a company that owns and operates four venues in Northwest Portland and the Pearl District: Urban Fondue, Bartini, Brix Tavern and Urban Studio. Pearl Catering is also part of the group.
After three months remodeling, the Dog House opened last month. Entering, you notice the smell, then the bar's brightness. Like a car in a 122nd Avenue showroom, the place smells new: a mixture of fresh cut wood, food cooking and fresh paint. Pifher said he found the stunning, old-growth Flame Maple wood bar top, cut in 1961, in the back of an old warehouse (the wood, also called Tiger Maple, is usually used to make musical instruments).
As he does for all Urban Restaurant venues, Executive Chef Kevin Kennedy, the former executive chef for Salishan Spa and Golf Resort, the Heathman Group and Sun Mountain Lodge, designs the saloon's menu.
The menu has traditional sports bar fare: burgers, steaks, fries and chicken. But, according to Pifher, with menu items like rotisserie Prime Rib; Chicken Fried Chicken; Southern Style Meatloaf; Pot Roast; Crab Cakes; Mole-Braised Pork & White Cheddar Dip; Meatloaf Sliders; fondue and an Iceberg Wedge salad topped with barbecue sauce, the menu features dishes not seen in the usual bar milieu. He said he considers the new venture equal parts restaurant and sports bar.
Sensitive to how east Portlanders perceive the Pearl District, Pifher said, “I don't want to come across as snobby, just because we're bringing Pearl restaurant flavors out here. Our prices are fair, comparable to other places around, but I think our food stands out because a chef who competes with downtown restaurants every day created our menu. This area deserves a place like this.”
Retired mail carrier Dave Potter (“Long-time Parkrose mail carrier retires” August 2011), who lives near Ed Benedict Park, discovered the place by accident. “I was just going home one day after a trip to Costco and I saw 'Grand Opening' on the sign,” he said. “I stopped in, and we have been coming back since.” On Fat Tuesday last month, he and wife Terrie, a retired mail carrier also, had dinner and drinks with another couple at the new place.
“The thing we like about this place,” Potter said, “is there are so many things going on: the games, the food specials, the drink specials, the Happy Hours; so many windows. Many of the bars around here are dark; there are no windows. We like the openness. It's all so modern. Now that Terrie and I on fixed incomes,” he said using air quotes, “Happy Hours work out for us. It's our way of socializing and having an easy meal. We don't do big meals anymore and we're always looking for a bargain.”
Terrie added, “You know what else is cool, they have big tables for a lot of people, little tables, all different kinds and heights. They accommodate many different people.” Potter quipped, “We're adding this place to the circuit!”
One customer commented on their meatloaf slider, “This is the first meatloaf I've eaten in more than forty years. I had very bad meatloaf experiences growing up and thought I would live the rest of my life never eating it again.”
Daily, the Dog House Saloon has an early and late Happy Hour, as well as Mondays from 3 p.m. to close. They have 12 big and small screen high definition televisions to watch your favorite sporting event.
Weekends, they serve breakfast from 9:30 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Pifher encourages groups and parties to book their event at Dog House Saloon. “We have a completely covered patio that seats up to 100,” he said. “We can accommodate most any size party or group.”
Pifher attended Mill Park Elementary, Floyd Light Middle School, and graduated from David Douglas HS in 1982. He attended Mt. Hood Community College, transferring to the University of Oregon to finish his degree in Communications.
After five years selling radio ads for a station in the Willamette Valley - eventually becoming general manger - he returned to Portland, and for the next ten years, ran an Oregonian newspaper dealership in Oregon City. About the same time, he got into real estate, flipping homes, creating enough capital to buy and operate bars, restaurants and nightclubs around Portland with partners, garnering his restaurant and hospitality experience.
He invites Memo readers to his new home away from home.
Open every day, from 11 a.m. to 1 a.m. and on weekends at 9 a.m., Dog House Saloon is at 620 S.E. 122nd Ave. The website is doghousesaloon.com.
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