@Blackboilingrobotoil Yes I went there once. But I went to Organ Grinder cuz I lived on SE 62nd between Powell and Foster I was just around the corner.
The Organ Stop in Mesa is missing the cedar-paneling look of Organ Grinder, but otherwise it'll satisfy cravings for this place. I'm working on a big list of all known pipe organ pizza parlors and restaurants, and the Organ Grinders (Portland, Denver, and two unconnected ones in Vancouver, B.C. and Toronto) were the tops in the 70s-80s.
I WENT TO THIS PLACE ALOT AS A Kid! my family had birthdays and my friends did too at the organ grinder, i loved playing the games upstairs and can still see it in my head the smell n feel of the place, it was so much neater than any place Today! someone needs to build a place like that again so family can go eat n have fun!! i miss the 80's when times were so much fun and music was the best! if i only had a time machine! btw they turned it into a Chinese buffet after it closed down it was SAD!
I grew up just a few blocks away and visits here were a truly magical facet of my childhood. It's a shame it shut down, because I bet that if it were around today it would make a killing. Portland is a very hipster/retro city and people would love that old-school stuff...live music from those huge pipes, 1920's projector cartoons, disco balls, bubbles from the ceiling - it was amazing. (The building is currently used by an overpriced Chinese/American buffet that stinks whenever I walk by it.)
The pizza was awful but the organ was amazing. Many professional church and concert organists used to sneak down there to have fun. Shame the organ was parted out when they closed. Now the place is a Thai restaurant.
As a kid, going to the Organ Grinder was disappointing because you always wanted to go to Chuck E Cheese! Course now being 29 I can see why my parents took us there instead. Less annoying boogery kids running around, better atmosphere and probably better pizza, can't really remember.
Audibly, I would agree with you, today's instruments are amazing... you can hardly tell digital versus real pipes. But visually, no... The Organ Grinder was a feast for the eyes with all of the polished pipework exposed, blowers spinning, tremulants bouncing, the tuned percussions & drums being struck by solenoids with pilot lamps. The swell shades opening and closing... It was a marvelous machine to watch, and it was all around you. A box with digital samples can't provide that experience.
@NardDogz I didn't realize actually the entire place had an atmosphere. It's a shame it closed down, I don't know how a place with such a resoundingly good sounding atmosphere could just shut down.
@Makron5 Actually, no you can't. When watching this organ live, you could almost feel the wind coming through that bass winds. The room shook from the low end sounds. You had the visual effects of the silent movies on the screen while the organ player played. Not at all like you would experience from a digital experience.
Kind of like the difference between a live concert and a cd. I'll take the live concert.
@cleffnote It's a shame the place is dead. I kind of want to go to one of these places. If we had functional wormhole technology places like this could be open because we'd be able to find a niche of people interested in going to the location of this attraction.
i miss that organ. That one i never got to see. I have alot of recordings of that from Jonas Nordwall. That was one of the best sounding organs in recording ever made. Dennis Headburg was a genius, too bad it was lost for parts. Most of it went to the Messa Arizona organ. I wish i could see more videos of that organ being played.
I hear you! I can't figure out why there aren't more videos of this wonderful place. Considering all of the birthday parties and other events that occurred there, there should be some home movies, and also some made by owners and staff. I don't get it! It's a shame. Thanks
That was a great time there. I remember back in the early 80' s a time when that place was filled with all the best classic video games. Centipede, Defender, Asteroids, Tron, Pac Man. ETC Etc. God bless my parents for giving me plenty of tokens even though we were poor.
No way that was in 1993!! 1983 yes! I've been to Toronto a lot (even in the 1980's.) Dont remember that place. Don't know 82nd strret?? I know Bloor and Church (gay district) and Younge is the main drag.
That's exactly what happend at the Joynt...poorly cleaned hood over the RotoPlex oven, a small fire from cornstarch in the bottom of the oven that spread to the roof. Pipe organs seem to attract fires...floods, too. We lost two rare original 1928 theatre organ installations in Cedar Rapids during the flooding in 2008, one Wurli, one Barton. At last count there are about 40 remaining original theatre instruments, and about 6 pizza parlors.
Actually, if you wanna know the truth, the VERY first such place in the world was Ye Olde Pizza Joynt, which opened in 1958, in Hayward, CA. The organ was an expanded Style "E" Wurli from the State Theatre, Fresno, CA. Then, several ranks of pipes and a 3-manual console from the Warfield Theatre in SF was added. The place burned in 2006. Happens, it was the first pipe organ I ever heard (in 1966 at age three), and is the reason I play today (if there WERE anywhere to play).
@NardDogz There weren't an awful lot. Ye Olde Pizza Joynt and the Tacoma, WA Pizza & Pipes had kitchen vent fires, and one of the Music Palaces (Springdale in Cincinnati) had the relay catch fire.
As a matter of fact, there was! The "Pizza N' Pipes" chain was begun by a fellow named Bill Brewer, who opened the first restaurant in Santa Clara, CA in 1964. Others followed, eventually numbering 7, with California locations in Santa Clara, Redwood City, Campbell, and Daly City, and locations in Washington State, in Tacoma, Seattle, and Bellview. All gone now, alas.
I used to go here on birthdays and sometimes just cause. From what I remember they used to make the best pizza. The peperoni edges used to be crunchy and burnt. Yummm :)
It was sold to investors and parted out in 1996. I'm sure part of the problem was that an Izzy's restaurant with much better pizza opened down the street at Eastport Plaza in 80's. Such a shame; but at least the instrument didn't go up in flames like several other local Pizza / Organ restaurants did around here! I know that the awesome 32' diapason rank ended up at Organ Stop Pizza in Mesa, AZ.
The news article I saw on TV the day it closed said that the organ console was moved somewhere. I am not exactly where. I did see the main air supply blower being hauled down 82nd Ave about a week after the restaurant closed. I knew then the heart of the giant was dead very sad indeed. My favorite song from my childhood there? "Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah" and then the bubbles drifting down from the ceiling.
Thanks for putting this up. I used to visit an Organ Grinder restaurant here in Toronto that closed in 96. It had a 1200 pipe church organ powering instruments throughout the dining area. No Ski Ball or Characters at this one. It was impressive I was sad to see it go.
I remember the Toronto organ grinder. i went there once had the same logos as the portland one on the record lables. But the one in Toronto was in sad shape too. its also no longer alive.
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jrc99us 6 months ago
If I ever take over the world, I promose to open up a quite a few of these places...complete with that "Zaxxon" arcade game....
MattTheSaiyan 6 months ago
Does anyone remember this places big brother Uncle Milts Pipe Organ Pizza just across the river in Vancouver?
Blackboilingrobotoil 7 months ago
@Blackboilingrobotoil Yes I went there once. But I went to Organ Grinder cuz I lived on SE 62nd between Powell and Foster I was just around the corner.
jrc99us 6 months ago
Check out my organ playlist- 'Organ Tunes even Organ Haters will love!' ( & II & III), also OTV ( Organ Television).
paulj0557 7 months ago
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paulj0557 7 months ago
I went there for multiple birthdays! I miss it so much!
jrc99us 8 months ago
The Organ Stop in Mesa is missing the cedar-paneling look of Organ Grinder, but otherwise it'll satisfy cravings for this place. I'm working on a big list of all known pipe organ pizza parlors and restaurants, and the Organ Grinders (Portland, Denver, and two unconnected ones in Vancouver, B.C. and Toronto) were the tops in the 70s-80s.
JonasClark 9 months ago
I remember going there as a kid,several times, THat place was cool, I wonder why it closed?
thedayxyz 10 months ago
I WENT TO THIS PLACE ALOT AS A Kid! my family had birthdays and my friends did too at the organ grinder, i loved playing the games upstairs and can still see it in my head the smell n feel of the place, it was so much neater than any place Today! someone needs to build a place like that again so family can go eat n have fun!! i miss the 80's when times were so much fun and music was the best! if i only had a time machine! btw they turned it into a Chinese buffet after it closed down it was SAD!
kaegi79 10 months ago
I grew up just a few blocks away and visits here were a truly magical facet of my childhood. It's a shame it shut down, because I bet that if it were around today it would make a killing. Portland is a very hipster/retro city and people would love that old-school stuff...live music from those huge pipes, 1920's projector cartoons, disco balls, bubbles from the ceiling - it was amazing. (The building is currently used by an overpriced Chinese/American buffet that stinks whenever I walk by it.)
c3bhm 11 months ago
ugh! I want to see more memories....... they should have never closed down.
sbeer6er 1 year ago
I sure miss it too. It struggled for many years, but I believe largely succumbed to the Chuck E. Cheese fad.
MrMiner49r 1 year ago
Too Bad it closed =(
Tdawg1978 1 year ago
The pizza was awful but the organ was amazing. Many professional church and concert organists used to sneak down there to have fun. Shame the organ was parted out when they closed. Now the place is a Thai restaurant.
Audinos 1 year ago
As a kid, going to the Organ Grinder was disappointing because you always wanted to go to Chuck E Cheese! Course now being 29 I can see why my parents took us there instead. Less annoying boogery kids running around, better atmosphere and probably better pizza, can't really remember.
pearlmax 1 year ago
You can get a similar environment with today's technology except for the socialization aspect and the pizza.
Makron5 1 year ago
Audibly, I would agree with you, today's instruments are amazing... you can hardly tell digital versus real pipes. But visually, no... The Organ Grinder was a feast for the eyes with all of the polished pipework exposed, blowers spinning, tremulants bouncing, the tuned percussions & drums being struck by solenoids with pilot lamps. The swell shades opening and closing... It was a marvelous machine to watch, and it was all around you. A box with digital samples can't provide that experience.
NardDogz 1 year ago 11
@NardDogz I didn't realize actually the entire place had an atmosphere. It's a shame it closed down, I don't know how a place with such a resoundingly good sounding atmosphere could just shut down.
Makron5 1 year ago
@Makron5 Actually, no you can't. When watching this organ live, you could almost feel the wind coming through that bass winds. The room shook from the low end sounds. You had the visual effects of the silent movies on the screen while the organ player played. Not at all like you would experience from a digital experience.
Kind of like the difference between a live concert and a cd. I'll take the live concert.
cleffnote 1 week ago
@cleffnote It's a shame the place is dead. I kind of want to go to one of these places. If we had functional wormhole technology places like this could be open because we'd be able to find a niche of people interested in going to the location of this attraction.
Makron5 1 week ago
i miss that organ. That one i never got to see. I have alot of recordings of that from Jonas Nordwall. That was one of the best sounding organs in recording ever made. Dennis Headburg was a genius, too bad it was lost for parts. Most of it went to the Messa Arizona organ. I wish i could see more videos of that organ being played.
Marshall7302 2 years ago
I hear you! I can't figure out why there aren't more videos of this wonderful place. Considering all of the birthday parties and other events that occurred there, there should be some home movies, and also some made by owners and staff. I don't get it! It's a shame. Thanks
NardDogz 2 years ago
The Wurlitzer was magical
interst8er 2 years ago
That was a great time there. I remember back in the early 80' s a time when that place was filled with all the best classic video games. Centipede, Defender, Asteroids, Tron, Pac Man. ETC Etc. God bless my parents for giving me plenty of tokens even though we were poor.
interst8er 2 years ago
No way that was in 1993!! 1983 yes! I've been to Toronto a lot (even in the 1980's.) Dont remember that place. Don't know 82nd strret?? I know Bloor and Church (gay district) and Younge is the main drag.
yaywhewclips242 2 years ago
I remember the Organ Grinder that was located in Denver, CO. This commercial brings back memories even though it was for the Portland one.
klrmsg 2 years ago
That's exactly what happend at the Joynt...poorly cleaned hood over the RotoPlex oven, a small fire from cornstarch in the bottom of the oven that spread to the roof. Pipe organs seem to attract fires...floods, too. We lost two rare original 1928 theatre organ installations in Cedar Rapids during the flooding in 2008, one Wurli, one Barton. At last count there are about 40 remaining original theatre instruments, and about 6 pizza parlors.
Sad...
deancook652 2 years ago
I grew up in Oregon, and no trip to Portland was ever complete without going to the Organ Grinder! Great clip!!!
Bradyhousetour 2 years ago
Sure is...it's the reason I'm unemployed!
deancook652 2 years ago
Actually, if you wanna know the truth, the VERY first such place in the world was Ye Olde Pizza Joynt, which opened in 1958, in Hayward, CA. The organ was an expanded Style "E" Wurli from the State Theatre, Fresno, CA. Then, several ranks of pipes and a 3-manual console from the Warfield Theatre in SF was added. The place burned in 2006. Happens, it was the first pipe organ I ever heard (in 1966 at age three), and is the reason I play today (if there WERE anywhere to play).
deancook652 2 years ago
Thanks for the info dean. it's too bad there aren't more of these sort of "joints" left anymore!
Salmagundiii 2 years ago
Hi Dean!
What's with all of the fires that occured with these type of restaurants, anyway?
People never cleaned out the grease hoods? It's really a shame...
I suppose all of the air moving about from the organ would really help combustion.
NardDogz 2 years ago
@NardDogz There weren't an awful lot. Ye Olde Pizza Joynt and the Tacoma, WA Pizza & Pipes had kitchen vent fires, and one of the Music Palaces (Springdale in Cincinnati) had the relay catch fire.
JonasClark 1 month ago
Comment removed
Salmagundiii 2 years ago
As a matter of fact, there was! The "Pizza N' Pipes" chain was begun by a fellow named Bill Brewer, who opened the first restaurant in Santa Clara, CA in 1964. Others followed, eventually numbering 7, with California locations in Santa Clara, Redwood City, Campbell, and Daly City, and locations in Washington State, in Tacoma, Seattle, and Bellview. All gone now, alas.
deancook652 3 years ago
So Pipes and Pizza was first with the idea, then Organ Grinder came along in the 1970s?
Salmagundiii 2 years ago
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Wow, I'd so go there! :)
Jal8919536 3 years ago
there must have been some kind of franchise of these Pizza and Pipes restaurants.
AntiMusick 3 years ago
I used to go here on birthdays and sometimes just cause. From what I remember they used to make the best pizza. The peperoni edges used to be crunchy and burnt. Yummm :)
Goobian 3 years ago
I also, as a kid, was taken to the Organ Grinder in Portland. Where did the organ go? Anybody know?
Kevintaylorsnell 3 years ago
Yeah, good times...
It was sold to investors and parted out in 1996. I'm sure part of the problem was that an Izzy's restaurant with much better pizza opened down the street at Eastport Plaza in 80's. Such a shame; but at least the instrument didn't go up in flames like several other local Pizza / Organ restaurants did around here! I know that the awesome 32' diapason rank ended up at Organ Stop Pizza in Mesa, AZ.
NardDogz 3 years ago
The news article I saw on TV the day it closed said that the organ console was moved somewhere. I am not exactly where. I did see the main air supply blower being hauled down 82nd Ave about a week after the restaurant closed. I knew then the heart of the giant was dead very sad indeed. My favorite song from my childhood there? "Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah" and then the bubbles drifting down from the ceiling.
mrksvideos 2 years ago
@mrksvideos It went to Uncle Milts Pizza in Vancouver which is now a church. I wonder if its still in there.......
muttville1 2 years ago
@muttville1 & 38 mins. later I found out it's not. It was sold to a doctor in San Diego & moved from Uncle Milts in Oct.1999
muttville1 2 years ago
@muttville1 I remember Uncle Milts :) Home of the large pizza for 3.99, LOL.
sangie172 1 year ago
@sangie172 was it 3?? damn good i remember!!
muttville1 1 year ago
Of all the Portland landmarks that are no longer, I miss Farrell's and the Organ Grinder the most. (sob)
crazyclimber80 3 years ago 6
Same here..those were the best places back in the day.
nikki4u22 3 years ago
@crazyclimber80 Absolutely to both of those places.
cleffnote 1 week ago
Thanks for putting this up. I used to visit an Organ Grinder restaurant here in Toronto that closed in 96. It had a 1200 pipe church organ powering instruments throughout the dining area. No Ski Ball or Characters at this one. It was impressive I was sad to see it go.
Cameronx 3 years ago
That sounds cool! I think there were several operating in the late 70's and early 80's.
NardDogz 3 years ago
The organist at the Toronto Organ Grinder was Don Thompson. The place had no relation to the Denver and Portalnd Organ Grinders.
deancook652 3 years ago
I remember the Toronto organ grinder. i went there once had the same logos as the portland one on the record lables. But the one in Toronto was in sad shape too. its also no longer alive.
Marshall7302 2 years ago