Tony's Tavern harkens back to earlier scene, good tunes
by Lew Thomas Jones
Tony's Tavern, 10524 N.E. Sandy, is a new addition to the area, as well as a second club for owner Tony Kassapakis, who also has a bar on 20th and West Burnside.
At first sight, this writer walked in and went back in time to circa 1979 Portland to The Beer Engine, which was on 30th and N.E. Glisan until outside money turned it into the Laurelthirst Pub House. Tony's is like the Beer Engine and harkens back to the old Portland scene, which was invariably undefined and usually locally-owned like Tony's new place here.
The old bar style is apparent in the free-pour hard drinks, pinball machines, 50 cent pool and a juke box that is stacked with great CDs from the likes of Hank Williams, John Lennon, Stevie Ray Vaughan and more. The menu is a tavern menu i.e., completely unpretentious. This is real Portland without the hype and illusion of some hokey, motley affluence.
Gracing the bar is Nicolette Walls, who tells this writer she's been here since April 27 after working other east side clubs such as Greg's Backyard and The Daily Planet. Walls says that Kassapakis (who is Greek) built the cooler and bar himself after gutting the old wood and starting from scratch. The new wood is stained a beautiful chocolate mahogany. The bar and the cooler are quite long, as is the layout of the room itself. This is a western bar, a classic northwest house of libations.
Tony's on Sandy opened Feb. 22 and received their hard liquor license on April 22. Walls tells this writer that the favorites are Thursdays Texas Hold 'Em and Fold 'Em, the Gyro sandwich; Sunday Bloody Marys with the happy hour prices seven days a week from 2 to 7 p.m. Beer is from $1.25 to $1.75 for Coors or Bud and $2.25 for hard liquor.
Walls goes on to say, "It's a little slow, but she still gets her regulars." She says Tony is a great owner to work for and that this club is bigger and more posh than the other Tony's on the west side of town.
There is plenty of room to dance to the juke box and cuddle a drink at Tony's, so cruise on in sometime and feel the old Portland vibe when people could bring personalities to gatherings rather than just numbers; and agreements were made with handshakes. While there, check out the beautiful artwork.