This Week's Evan's Eats
Jerry's Tavern -- 3010 NW Nicolai St
Well long time no see, friends. Yes, I know… I have neglected you, but rest assured, you have not been forgotten! Life has been going well lately, thank you. Though you haven’t seen anything from me in some time, I thought it would only be appropriate to pull you back into my clutches and take you on a trip to a tavern that has absolutely stolen my heart. If you can reach into the catacombs of your memory, you will recall I am somewhat of a rigid Chicago boy. I like my pizza a specific way. I don’t like ketchup on my hotdog. I like the way a cheese curd will squeak against your teeth if it is made a specific way. I don’t like your presumptive attitude. In a way, I am just like my father with my specific idiosyncrasies, and in other ways I am not like him at all. One of the ways I am just like him is that when I find a place I like, I tend to go there a lot. I will poke fun at my dad for his frequent trips to places he goes out to with my mother, but in reality, I’m just like him. I frequent places in my neighborhood. I go to the same bars I liked during, and shortly after college; and even though my purpose here is to try and show some different hidden gems around the city, I routinely will crawl back to what is most comfortable. Why, you ask? Because these places I haunt don’t require the mental capacity to try and acquaint myself with the locals—it just happens. It doesn’t require me to fan through a menu to find something that suites my needs—I know the burger and fries will suffice. It doesn’t take much effort for me to feel at home, and in this specific instance, that is exactly what this place does—transports me home to a tavern that looks, feels, sounds, and acts like the Midwest. That place is, Jerry’s Tavern.
Jerry’s Tavern Review
Generally speaking, whenever I have made food reviews for places in the past, I really do my best to breakdown each dish. I will point out specific ingredients and entertain thought experiments to try and see food differently than how it is presented on a menu. I try and put flowery language around topics I am writing so you will think I am smarter than I actually am. Additionally, the food I have reviewed in the past will present complexities that are hard to ignore and require a deeper level of understanding in order to appreciate the dish as a whole. As for Jerry’s Tavern, the food and drink options are rather straight forward due to the nature of it being a tavern. There are no bells and whistles, no chic or flair. Jerry’s is a no bullshit kind of place. Burgers, wings, (teased with pizza here or there) beer, and other finger food you would find at your local tavern in town. That is why this review will likely read slightly different.
I first met Jerry a couple of years back before Jerry’s Tavern materialized. Prior to me actually meeting him, I was first introduced to the native Chicagoan via Instagram (Jerry Benedetto (@jerrystavern). Prior to the pandemic, Jerry had been working out of a small joint called the Bear Paw Inn (see below). Fitting for a guy who is from Chicago (da bears). In a sense, he is Portland’s real life Jeremy Allen White. Personally, I would much rather have a beer with Jerry than Jeremy. I don’t need to spend time with some big hot shot, mousey looking actor to have a good time. Give me the guy with a big ole black mustache who understands the struggles of being a White Sox fan and will endure the perilous winters of watching the Bears every Sunday, even if they do break your heart every season (this year will be different—I swear!)
Introduction to Pizza — Pizza Basics 101
Prior to the pandemic, Jerry had been working out of this tavern’s kitchen making menu items that were typical for a bar—sandwiches, french fries, mozzarella sticks, nachos… you get the idea. It was also here where he began adopting methods from back home to make an authentic tavern style pie like the ones you see all over the Chicagoland area. Something for you folks that aren’t from, or familiar with Chicago—when I am talking about pizza/pies, I am not talking about deep dish. You might be scratching your head thinking—then what are you talking about? If you are from Chicago, you know very well that we tell all the tourists that deep dish is the best! We do this so we can actually divert you from enjoying the pizza the locals enjoy. Yes, surprise, you were tricked by natives to keep secrets to themselves… but does that really surprise you? If not, do you mind if I hold onto your wallet? But in all seriousness, native Chicagoans do love their deep-dish pizza, but this isn’t the pizza we grew up eating and enjoying. Whenever you went to a birthday party as a kid or went out to dinner after your baseball game on a Friday evening during the summer, or when you would call a pizza to be delivered to the house for a night of watching football or hockey, nine times out of ten, you were getting a tavern style pie that was cut “party style” (cut in squares). This style of pizza for us native Chicagoans is truly what we define as Chicago style pizza. As for the many people who are reading this and have visited Chicago and had deep dish and thought you were culturing yourself with the smells and tastes of Chicago, congrats, you are now a part of a running joke we have on tourists. Fortunately for you, I am putting myself at serious risk of being permanently exiled from back home in hopes that I can bring you closer to what we deem as truly authentic. Yes, I’m sweet like that, but don’t test me, who knows if even what I am saying here is the truth, so keep reading.
Once the pandemic hit, the Bear Paw Inn no longer had a pizza slinger. At the time, this likely seemed discouraging, but in hindsight, without the pandemic, Jerry’s tavern wouldn’t exist. Maybe it would, but not in this universe… not in the one I am writing. Shortly after we all were told to stay home and rot in our living rooms, Jerry took to the oven. As many of us resorted to becoming sourdough bread makers, Jerry decided to perfect a thin crust pizza that would ultimately take hold on his Instagram and amass a whopping 12,000 followers in a handful of months. You can follow the man of the hour here — Jerry Benedetto (@jerrystavern) • Instagram photos and videos
Introduction to Jerry
Shortly after Jerry amassed a following and would routinely post his pies on his social media, Portlanders could only drool as they anxiously waited for the OK to be able to leave the confines of their homes, but even so, now that Jerry was no longer at the Bear Paw Inn, we could only vicariously live through his posts. This led to people routinely asking Jerry, “When can I get a pie?” I was one of these people.
In 2022, on a Saturday morning, at the Hollywood farmer’s market off Sandy blvd., my partner and I were walking in and out of the vendors booths, collecting produce and other such items for us to bring home that day. One of the booths we sometimes tried, Scratch Meats, was set up with someone handing out free samples. Me being who I am, a person with a pulse and an enthusiast of meats, found myself standing before the gentleman about to give me free food. He wore black Ray-Ban wayfarers, a White Sox hat, and had a thick black mustache. I immediately saw this and had to ask, “Are you actually a White Sox fan, or do you wear that like soccer mom sports a Yankees hat to go get their morning Starbucks run?” If you are unaware, there are three baseball teams in the MLB that have logos that parallel pop culture, these three logos are the New York Yankees, The Los Angeles Dodgers, and the Chicago White Sox. You likely have seen all three of these logos at one point of another, and more likely than not, you have seen them on someone who couldn’t even name the team they are representing. Why? These logos are resemblant of status and could be traced to moments in pop culture that we still reference today. Jerry responded, “I’m from Chicago.” At this point I knew I already liked the guy. He supports the same team as me, he’s from where I grew up, and is now handing me free meat samples.
As soon as Jerry confirmed he was from Chicago, Bella (my partner) started walking away because she knew I was about to talk to this guy for a while, and she was right. Jerry and I talked about sports, the food back home, where we can find similar food here, and finally, I asked if he had an Instagram to stay connected. When I went to look up his Instagram handle, I noticed I had been following Jerry for years but never put it together that I was standing in front of him now. In that moment it clicked. When I looked up from my phone and looked at Jerry, I felt like Ryan Gosling in Bladerunner 2049 when his AI companion, Joi, whispers to him, “You look lonely. I can fix that.”
At this point, who even cares where my partner is, I had just met my new husband. Jerry and I wrapped up our chat by me letting him know I would love to try one of his pizzas sometime. Fast forward 3 years later, Jerry’s Tavern now is alive and well in the NW Industrial district out behind the Montgomery Park building. Since Jerry has opened his doors, I have been here once a week supporting our new local hero and haunt.
Inside Jerry’s Tavern
When I was growing up, my dad and I would get our haircuts together on a Saturday afternoons. During our outings, we would first visit our barber/hair stylist—Paul. He cut our hair for years (shout out to Paul!). After that, we would head over to the car wash, and every so often after this stop, my dad would take me to meet my mom over at Charlie Beinlich’s Food & Tap in Northbrook, IL.
Growing up in northern Chicago, this was the first tavern I had become accustomed to. Routinely, I would urge my dad to have us go meet Mom for a burger at Beinlich’s. As you could imagine, it didn’t take much convincing for my father to take me there on those Saturday afternoons. This is where my love for taverns began. What I had found is that even though they are different in name and location from one another, and might have some slightly different menu items, every single one of them all had the same feel and ambiance. The feel you get walking into a place like this is strikingly similar to the next spot you visit a few miles down the road… all of which feel like a similar iteration to the previous. These are what Midwest bars do. I can’t explain the science behind it, just trust me. They all feel like communal spaces with all the same end goal in mind, enjoy the day, together. Sit down and have a meal. Chat with a stranger about the game on tv, or dont… and even if you don’t, you are still apart of this symphony of bodies all passing time. The thing I have found that stands out about taverns that differs from a bar is that I always end up talking to someone I have never met before entering that bar on that given day. By the time I am closing my tab, I have usually made about one or two new friends. There are legitimately only two bars in Portland where I have experienced this, and Jerry’s is one of them.
I think the thing that truly differs from Jerry’s Tavern, and just your run of the mill tavern, is that Jerry’s has serious character. Jerry’s has cemented themselves as one of, if not the only Midwest themed sports bar in the city of Portland. Sure, you have a lot of places that call themselves taverns, but those are very black and white. No personality. Jerry’s oozes something that no other bar in Portland has.
After coming here from some time now, I have gotten to know the bartenders, the cooks, and some of the regulars. Some would even say I am one from time to time.
Although a small bar, just by walking in, you immediately get a sense of what you are signing up for. When Jerry originally purchased this space, it used to be an old teriyaki join that had a cockroach as their main dishwasher. When renovations began, the ceilings were torn down, and when the rafters appeared, instead of covering these up, Jerry used it as a chance to really dial in the tavern vibe by putting up lights, banners, flags and other nic nacks. You can even donate a dollar “for the kids,” and they will let you right on it and hang it from the rafters.
On game day during football season, you have to get the bar early or else you won’t have a spot to sit. When the Bears play the Packers, it feels like everyone, and everyone’s mother is in Jerry’s trying to get a look at a screen. I will say, this is one of the most annoying, yet somehow most comforting features of Jerry’s. It feels like you are at the game when it gets this crowded. When I grew up and watched games with my father, he would either take me to Soldier field on Sundays, or we would watch the game somewhere. I guess exposing me to these types of environments at a young age somehow prepared me to appreciate a packed space with everyone fixated on the same thing—watching their team. What Jerry has provided Portland isn’t just another bar, it’s a place like nothing in the Pacific Northwest, and to me, it’s a trip back home.
Food and drinks at Jerry’s
If you are looking for an Old Fashioned with a big rock and the finest whiskey around, the exit is the same way you came in. Jerry’s bartenders will make you an old fashioned, but it’s likely one you haven’t had before. Here is what they would serve you instead — Wisconsin Old Fashioned. If you are looking for a gourmet meal, that isn’t Jerry’s either. What you can expect is cold beers, cheeseburgers, cheese curds, wings, brats, fries, and miscellaneous other bar food and staples of the Midwest. All of which is done perfectly. Why is it perfect? It just is. I have had every single food item on Jerry’s menu, and I can attest, this is a great neighborhood tavern. Next time you want to escape, go to Jerry’s and ask for Malort.
Evan’s Eats Report Card: Jerry’s Tavern
Ambiance…………………………A+
Wait staff………………………….A
Drinks……………………………… A
Appetizers………………………. N/A
Main course…………………….. A
Expense……………………………. A
Overall Experience………… A
Need to goooooo!!!!
da bears