Portland’s Historic Besaw’s Name Tied to Property Lease, Says Landlord
Thursday, April 30, 2015
This perception was perhaps triggered by the restaurant owner, Cana Flug’s press release, which stated, “Due to factors beyond our control, the property owners have refused to renew our lease.”
The dispute is over the ownership of the name “Besaw’s”—a beloved neighborhood restaurant that has been in business for 112 years. Is Besaw’s simply a restaurant? Or a building? Or a legacy in Portland’s historically blue-collar neighborhood?
The building's land lord, Jim John of C.E. John’s, said the name is both the restaurant and the building. It is after all, actually written into the lease as a part of the property. Yet Cana Flug, Besaw’s current operator, announced that she is moving and taking the name from 2301 NW Savier St. in Nob Hill, the home of Besaw’s since 1903.
Flug declined to explain what factors may have led to the lease’s end, saying it was the landlord’s decision. “I’m not sure why they didn’t renew the lease. It was really abrupt and a bummer,” she said. “Ideally we would have loved to stay in this location, and we would have liked to stay in this location for a long time. There were actions not matching their words for a long time.”
But John said the lease negotiations have been going on for almost five years, and it’s really over the name. It’s unusual, he said, but the lease clearly states that Besaw’s name comes with the location.
“A number of operators have been in Besaw’s over the years. Operators have come and gone but Besaw’s is about that building and that location,” said John. “It was clear in the lease that while she was an operator in there the name stayed with the building and the location.”
What’s in the name Besaw’s? Well, it belongs to the first owner George Besaw, who opened it in 1903 with Medric Liberty to serve the loggers and longshoremen that lived in that area. Originally, a saloon called Besaw & Liberty, the establishment opened with some seed money from Henry Weinhard, according to local writer Heather Arndt Anderson, author of the culinary history book "Portland: A Food Biography.”
According to today’s Besaw’s, the business got a boost from the 1905 World’s Fair in Portland, but when the Prohibition hit, Liberty sold his half to Besaw, who renamed it the Solo Club and started selling the comfort food expected by the working men of the neighborhood. When the Prohibition ended, it was the first Oregon business to get a liquor license.
When his son Clyde Besaw took over after 40 years, he renamed it Besaw’s. Clyde Besaw operated it until it closed in 1979. But it reopened in the same location but new ownerships as Besaw’s in 1987.
Flug began leasing the location in 2005.
She also leaves readers to imagine what C.E. John’s might be doing with the space following Besaw’s departure: “We don’t know what the property owner has in mind for this space; at this point we can only control certain things, one of which is our commitment to staying in the neighborhood.”
But John attempted to add some details.
While C.E. John’s is seeking to develop that property along with some neighboring ones, the intent is to make Besaw’s the centerpiece, said John. “The property is in need of some major repair. Between ADA and structural issues, the kitchen and everything, it’s a very complicated building to redo.”
For that reason, it had left the lease on a month-to-month basis. There are no solid development plans yet, so the intent is to seek another tenant to manage Besaw’s in the same place it always has been. Whether a Besaw’s under new management could continue to operate once a redevelopment project started is not yet known.
Flug said she never disagreed with C.E. John’s development plans, saying she had hoped to be that tenant someday. “We had proposed to them that we would be willing to close for any period of time and reopen as their anchor tenant in the same location,” she said.
Eventually, Besaw’s would be operating in a historic rebuild that “maintains the integrity of what Besaw’s is,” said John. “Unequivocally, we’ve been very aware that we are a steward of a major tradition in Portland, and we don’t take that lightly.”
C.E. John’s has preserved a number of historic buildings amid new development, including the old Esquire building, also on Northwest 23rd Avenue, which now houses Salt and Straw, Bamboo Sushi and other businesses.
“It was a dilapidated old movie theater that was falling down, and it could no longer operate as a theater. We have repaired and remodeled it… and kept the integrity of the structure,” said John.
In 2013, Joe’s Cellar, a tavern on Northwest 21st Avenue since 1941, closed when the city deemed the building too dangerous. C.E. John’s bought and remodeled the building to bring them back. “We’ve done this a lot where we’ve renovated or rebuilt old buildings and put long-term tenants back in,” said John.
C.E. John’s intends to treat Besaw’s with the same spirit.
Their plans, however, are complicated due to Flug’s intention to take the name Besaw’s with her to a new location that would open by the end of the summer.
“Who we are and what we do is far bigger than just our brick and mortar,” said Flug. “We love the Besaw’s brand. It stands for a place in this neighborhood where people can come together and have a good time. That is our foundation. We feel strongly that brand belongs to us.”
But whether there’s room for two Besaw’s in town is to be determined. The name remains a legal dispute.
In January, C.E. John’s applied for a trademark application with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office for the name “Besaw’s.” Flug’s Tuatara Enterprises followed up in March with an application for “Besaw’s” and “Besaws Eat Drink,” which included a visual logo.
“We’re surprised that people aren’t more supportive of making sure the name and the building stays were it’s been for the last 112 years,” said John. “She’s been a great operator, but one in a line of many operators starting with Mr. Besaw. I think it’s very important that it stays with the building and the location. I’m surprised people don’t agree with that.”
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