The McMenamins Franchise Keeps Portland Weird

McMenamins is a family-owned chain of pubs, hotels, restaurants, and event spaces with more than 50 locations across Oregon and Washington. What sets it apart is its signature approach to adaptive reuse: taking abandoned or historically significant buildings and restoring them as fully functioning gathering places, with original artwork, on-site brewing, and programming tied to each property's past.

 

 

How Did McMenamins Start?

McMenamins grew from a single neighborhood pub opened by brothers Brian and Mike McMenamin in 1983. The Barley Mill on Hawthorne is still there.

From one pub on a southeast Portland street corner, the McMenamins empire expanded to more than 50 properties — and the whole operation is still family-owned. That origin story matters, because it shapes what McMenamins actually is: not a franchise, not a corporate hospitality brand, but a sprawling local institution that has kept growing on its own terms for over four decades.

What Makes McMenamins Different from a Regular Bar or Hotel?

McMenamins specializes in adaptive reuse — buying forgotten or abandoned buildings with historical significance and converting them into multi-use properties that include bars, restaurants, hotels, event spaces, theaters, and sometimes vineyards or distilleries. Each property tells the story of its specific building.

The Kennedy School in Northeast Portland is one of the best-known examples. Built in 1915 as an elementary school, it sat decommissioned and empty before McMenamins converted it into a hotel with multiple bars, a soaking pool, a movie theater, and event spaces — all inside the original structure. You can watch a film in a converted classroom while sitting on a couch with a beer. The rooms are named for people connected to the school's history.

Edgefield, out in Troutdale, was originally the Multnomah County Poor Farm, built in 1911. It's now a full resort with a vineyard, distillery, golf course, multiple bars, and a live music venue that draws significant crowds. If you're moving to Portland and want to understand the region geographically, an afternoon at Edgefield is a good excuse to explore east of the city.

Not every McMenamins location has that kind of dramatic backstory. Some are in strip malls. But the menu, the house-brewed beer, and what I'd call the McMenamins aesthetic carry through regardless of where you are.

What Is the McMenamins Aesthetic, Exactly?

McMenamins employs a permanent in-house team of artists who create original, site-specific artwork for each property. The style is whimsical and surreal, always rooted in the history of the specific building and location.

Every surface gets considered. Ceilings, stairwells, hallways, bathrooms. The art at Kennedy School references the school. The art at Edgefield connects to the land and the people who worked it. There are plaques throughout each property explaining the history, so even a quick visit gives you a real sense of what came before.

The passport program is worth knowing about: you can collect a stamp at each location you visit, and there are rewards for completing it. Given that the company keeps expanding, finishing the passport is genuinely ambitious.

Is McMenamins Good? What Should I Actually Know Before I Go?

The food is reliable but not exceptional. McMenamins is not a dining destination. It is a gathering place with a strong sense of place, good beer, and a lot of history packed into every building.

I'll be honest with you on the food because it comes up. Locals have a complicated relationship with McMenamins, and a lot of that centers on the menu. It's fine. It's not going to be the best meal you eat in Portland. But we eat plant-based, and McMenamins is one of the most reliable options we have, especially after a hike when we want something filling without overthinking it. The plant-based burger is good. The tots with Mystic 18 sauce are mandatory.

The real reason McMenamins matters to your Portland research isn't the food. It's what the brand represents culturally. McMenamins preserves local history, employs local artists, brews its own beer on-site, and keeps revenue circulating locally. It is structurally the opposite of what most chains do. For people relocating from cities where the independent businesses got squeezed out years ago, that's going to feel different in a way that's hard to describe until you experience it.

When I'm working with clients who want to understand what Portland is actually like beyond the housing market, McMenamins almost always comes up in conversation. It's one of the easiest things to point to when someone asks what this city values.

If you're planning a visit before your move, Kennedy School and Edgefield are both worth your time. Neither one will feel like anything you've been to before.

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If you're relocating to Portland and want to talk through neighborhoods, timing, or what to expect from the market, I'd love to hear from you. Contact me here.