At times over the years, Andy Bigley regretted not getting his beer into distribution.

But as he looks around at the current brewery landscape, he has a different thought: “Now I’m very happy.”

Bigley and his wife and co-founder Shelly Bigley resisted the call of going big, instead traveling a different route after opening Old Market Pub & Brewery in 1994: They kept things simple.

“We’ve heard a lot of complaints about things leveling off -- we’ve all seen the breweries close,” Andy Bigley says. “It’s a tough market for people who are distributing and people who are overleveraged. We are neither.”

The Bigleys also have leaned heavily on an old adage: location, location, location. The couple opened Old Market a bit off the beaten path for a brewpub, buying a local produce market at the confluence of Southwest Portland’s Garden Home, Ashcreek and Maplewood neighborhoods.

They built a place that would be a consistently popular neighborhood draw for a quarter century and counting.

“I got out of school and I didn’t want to get a real job,” Andy says. “I started working for the McMenamins, and that was one of the funnest jobs I ever had. I had a great time, so I thought, ‘Well, let’s give it a shot.’”

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For a short period, the couple operated a few pizza places. But then they saw Comella and Son Produce Market, which before that had been a cannery with ample parking and high visibility at a bend on well-traveled Multnomah Boulevard. They met the Comella owners, who were selling.

“We thought, what a great place for a brewery,” Andy says. “And it just went from there. We kind of did it by the seat of our pants. … It was a moneymaker from the beginning.”

They named it Old Market because “we wanted to keep familiarity with the neighborhood,” Shelly says. They built a family-friendly, decidedly unpretentious restaurant with big wooden booths and a comfort-food driven menu of burgers, sandwiches, pizza, salads and more. Kitschy antique pieces and signs fill the place.

The spacious building has evolved over the years to seat over 200, and on a recent weekday many of the booths were full with a lunch crowd that had the place hopping. Old Market also offers a banquet room in the back for private parties and room for 60 more, two bars, a pool room with multiple tables and lottery machines, and several shuffleboard tables that are open to kids as well.

“Families are a really big part of our business,” Shelly says.

The Bigleys installed a brewhouse and got the brewing operation up and running with the help of industry friends. By Andy’s count, Old Market has seen six or seven head brewers over the years. Those include Tomas Sluiter, who went on to open Northeast Portland’s Culmination Brewing, and Shaun Kalis and Devin Benware, who co-founded Ruse Brewing in Southeast Portland.

Today, the 15-barrel brewery, which produces about 700 barrels a year, is overseen by Bobby Stevens, who started in the pub 10 years ago and moved into the brewery a year later as a keg washer. He then learned the brewing side and eventually took over.

Old Market has always focused on pub-style classics. It started with about five beers and has evolved to a 10-beer standard lineup that includes a pale ale, stout, porter, red ale, IPA, amber IPA, berry wheat, plus three to five seasonals. Andy says he prefers to stick with what has always sold across the counter at Old Market, though the brewhouse dabbles in the occasional sour or farmhouse.

“There’s the hazies,” he says. “We’re talking about it right now, but I don’t like to trend chase.”

British Bombay IPA, a classic old school West Coast IPA, is Old Market’s best seller by far. Another longtime customer favorite is Mr. Toad’s Wild Red, Old Market’s first beer. And Mr. Slate’s Gravelberry, a white wheat raspberry ale, is the most popular beer for those who prefer something less hoppy and lighter.

In 2006, the Bigleys expanded and bought a struggling restaurant in Northeast Portland. They started the Broadway Grill & Brewery in the Sullivan’s Gulch neighborhood, opening a second outlet for Old Market’s beers.

“It’s not as big and has no parking so it’s never going to do the business we do here. But it’s still a very good business,” Andy says.

Andy says Old Market may fly under the radar outside its neighborhood, but it’s a model that has worked and should keep working.

“Out here, after all the new (breweries) come in with all their new ideas and everything, you don’t get a lot of publicity when you’re out of the downtown core,” he says. “I think a lot of people put a lot of money into infrastructure to rely on distributing, which is disappearing pretty quickly. Since we don’t have those kinds of problems, I think we’re going to be just fine no matter what.”

Adds Shelly: “It’s grown every year. We’ve gone through all the recessions like everybody else has and we’ve been able to make it through.”

Portland Breweries Series: Old Market Pub & Brewery Posted by The Oregonian on Friday, November 22, 2019

Old Market Pub & Brewery sampler

Why go: For a satisfying meal and pub-style beer in a comfortable, fun environment at one of Portland’s oldest breweries.

What to drink: Like hoppy, bitter IPAs? The British Bombay IPA is for you. Want something lighter? Mr. Slate’s Gravelberry, a white wheat raspberry ale that’s smooth and drinkable. And if a good old mass-produced American lager like Pabst Blue Ribbon or Coors Light is your beer, Old Market isn’t above it and has some on tap, too.

What to eat: What not to eat? The menu goes on and on, from chicken wings to pasta and meatballs, and Shelly Bigley says much of it is made from scratch, with the kitchen grinding beef for burgers and making pizza dough by hand. There are 10 burgers, and you won’t go wrong with the one that fits your eye. Mine? The Bleu Lou, with blue cheese and bacon.

Details: 6959 S.W. Multnomah Blvd.; 503-244-2337 (503-BIG-BEER); 11 a.m.-midnight Monday-Thursday, 11 a.m.-1 a.m. Friday, 9 a.m.-1 a.m. Saturday, 9 a.m.-11 p.m. Sunday; 18 taps, Old Market beers plus guests; full bar, wine and cider; minors OK, and dogs OK on patio; drinkbeerhere.com; Broadway Grill & Brewery: 1700 N.E. Broadway, 503-284-4460.

-- Andre Meunier

Subscribe to Andre’s text service to get alerts about beer releases and news from the Portland and Oregon beer scene. Also, check out his beer reviews of Old Market Pub & Brewery on Untappd, where he’s andremeunier13, and follow him on Instagram, where he’s @oregonianbeerguy.

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