In the early 80's, I went there as a kid. I loved the fact the entire building was an instrument controlled by one person. And my Rigler elementary 3rd grade music teacher was that person. In fact, my teacher and her husband both played the Organ Grinder. I loved the movie time bits, where the screen would come down, lights go low, and we got a Chaplin, or Buster Keaton, or some other fun silent film. I loved the little battle between the chimp with cymbals and the player. Nothing a little bonk on the head won't cure. I liked the Pizza, but I was a kid that didn't know any better. And upstairs, all those arcades. Such good times. I knew then it was a special place. Sad it couldn't survive 82nd Ave, and time. When I think of that place, I also think of Mom's fav place to do kid birthdays - Farral's Ice Cream Parlor. It was a chain, there were 50 or more in the US. Now there is one somewhere in California, and it's the last one standing. But for an Ice Cream overload for a birthday party, it was a good one. Brother's birthday is 10 days apart from mine, so we usually did both Farral's and Organ Grider in November.
Yes! Another video full of nostalgic memories! I love your videos, because I too feel grateful for growing up a kid in the 80’s and love remembering these crazy family places, but they seem to be rare these days...😔
Thanks for sharing DUDE! Yes, I'm 41 and I remember going there for my birthday several times when I was a kid!!! I havent been past there in several years myself.
Thanks for the trip back in time brother. I was born in 79 and it was a weekend treat to go here and watch the old B&W movies, eat great pizza, play games and win prizes back when I was a little boy. I've moved away from Oregon since but very often wonder about that place. Nice job on the video and thanks again.
My favorite place to go for parties as a kid.There was always a line out the door in the 70’s and 80’s on weekends.The wait was usually 30 min just to get in and sit down,but it was totally worth it as a kid.What an awesome place to go.A few years before it closed(1992-93?,the place was a shell of its former self and you could tell they didn’t keep up on maintenance,updating and cleaning.I was at the auction when it closed and it was so sad to see.Thanks for posting the video, I still drive by and reminisce.
My best friend Brian and his dad used to take me here when u was like 8 or 9 and he was older than me and always knew of the best places. I feel very fortunate to have been a kid in the 80s.,this place was sooo cool.. 😎🍕💕Lisa thanks for always watching I really appreciate that
I appreciate you doing these amazing vlogs!!! Sounds like a fun friend..my family would go there..we always got a salad bar pizza and root beer. You got the salad bar do you could get goodies to add onto the pizza to make it taste that much better.
Cool retrospective on Organ Grinder! One thing, though: I don’t remember where I read this, but I read that the organ went up to the opera house at Alpenrose Dairy. I’m bummed to find out that it didn’t. Anyway, thanks for the blast from the past!
Yeah that really stinks..I wish someone would have kept the sign, I tried to locate it over at security sign company but they wouldn't let me have permission to film the property.
I'm getting so many flashbacks from watching your vids. Used to cruise 82'nd in the early 80's. Good times. Whatever happened to 82'nd ave bowling alleys? Went there a lot.
I grew up a few blocks away from this place and I would stop at The Organ Grinder on my way home from school a couple times a week and spend my allowance in the arcade that was in the upstairs part.
I loved the fact that when you entered the restaurant you also entered the body of the organ. Such memories! Another favorite place just up the street on 82nd was the old Pop Shoppe Pop place. I loved going there as well!
Great memories of going here in the ‘80s. We have the similar Organ Stop Pizza which is alive and well here in Mesa, AZ. As an RPHS grad, the place my family misses most up there in the NW is Tebo’s on McLoughlin in Milwaukie.
When I managed the Shakey’s Pizza on 122nd many years ago I once went there to check out their product, I was not a fan of the music. But after a bit you do get used to it. Sad they are gone now. Thanks Kreeper for doing here. Fun times for sure!!!
Yup as a kid I remember going here for my birthday and the pipes played 🎵happy birthday to me" but as kids we were more about checking out donkey kong and having a slice of pie🍕😎that's right u did work there that's cool Stephen good bud..how cool
Great video!... so many memories here. You should one on the old East Gate movie theater. That was one of the go to places to see big blockbuster movies like 1989 Batman.
Loved that place as a kid. we would drive the 40 miles from home Yale Valley Lewis river into Portland spent quite a few birthdays there. good pizza galloons of root beer on tap. My dad even auditioned to be a Organist there. when Star Wars came out in the theaters the organist did a star wars Medely that rocked the place. also you could see the workings as the Oregon was played. the Grinder will be missed.
In the late 80s we would visit family not far from there the whole family would head on down. As a kid I remember the Pizza and the the organ playing we thought it was so cool. I think the tables were long and had that 80s whit and red squares. I miss that place I miss those times in the 80s if I had a DeLorean I'd be right there. I love Nostalgia
I’m so old that I don’t think they had games upstairs or anywhere else. Think they put them in later. Remember sitting upstairs and don’t remember games. At that time ,I’d heard that the guy behind it being there was A guy Named Pete Wiley, Who was student Body President at Franklin High school in SE. Portland before Marshal High School was built. It would make sense because he was a very ambitious guy. 🥰
Always wondered what happened to that restaurant. Sad to see. It was always such a fun place. But when Chucky Cheese started to franchise, you could see the end coming. A little ironic the organist is playing “Rainbow Connection,” the song being about dreams and fulfillment. 😔
This type of "Pizza and Pipes" joint was quite popular during the 70's and 80's but the trend died down in the 90's and 2000's. There are 3 of these businesses open currently: Organ Piper Music Palace in Greenfield, Wisconsin, Beggar's Pizza in Lansing, IL and last but not least Organ Stop Pizza with the 2nd largest theater organ in the world, featuring some Organ Grinder parts as well!
Wow 🤩 this brings back so many old memories. I loved going here as a kid and the pizza was the best! Thank god they haven’t taken out “Chuck E Cheeses” it’s sad to see so many things disappear 😢
Please forgive a comment on a three-year-old video, but this place came up today in a conversation with a friend about the very 70's trend of both "spaghetti factory"-type restaurants and "pizza and pipes" restaurants. It must've been a lot harder to set up a place that used an actual pipe organ, though! The upkeep! I didn't live here and was only a visitor when Organ Grinder was open but I did go a time or two. Did they also play silent movies or am I dreaming that part? I was also today-years-old when I heard that that district is now called the Jade District, but I like it. I'll never not be angry that gentrification pushed a lot of the Chinatown businesses so far east, but it's interesting that FuBonn and some other southeast Asian shopping places have established themselves along that street. The Foster Fred's is an Asian grocery, the old Safeway around Glisan or Burnside, FuBonn, and I'm sure I'm forgetting something else. At any rate, thanks for the video! As soon as I remember something local like a defunct restaurant and look for it on TH-cam, you're often the only person who has taken the time to document it. It is appreciated! It helps me fill in the gaps from things I saw once or twice on summer or holiday visits out here, ages ago.
Oh man, that takes me back... Pizza Baron (SE Division and 122nd) was and still is better pizza, but it was a really fun place to go when I a kid growing up in PDX.
I loved that pizza place would go with the whole family ,grand parents loved eating there. Definitely a lot of birthdays party's there. My mom and dad still live a few blocks from there, they get their car stolen every 6 months in that neighborhood 😑
WOW! The old place is still standing! There are few small things in the history.. Dennis Headberg owned and operated this location, as well as the Denver location. He started with the Portland location, (73 I think) and in 79 opened the Denver location. He wanted both locations to be exactly the same. Only thing was, the Denver location was slightly bigger, and unfortunately, fell into the hands of two brothers that didn't see Denni's dream, the way he did. One afternoon, they all were in the office in Denver, and Dennis came storming out. Stated that he didn't care if the Denver location lived, died, or caught fire. His name would NOT be associated with the location ever again, That was the end of the fun times. Unfortunately, that happened in the late winter, early spring of 85. The two brothers were snorting the profits up their noses and the employees stopped being paid. Bills didn't get aid, and utilities were being shut off. People quit, and I don't even remember how many times the sheriff show up with warrants in his hand for those two. The freezer hadn't been paid on and was about to be repoed. The one brother split, and left the other brother running out the back door every time there was trouble. Finally the place closed. Dennis still ran the Portland store. 3 more people tried to keep the Denver location running, but 2 failed because 3 wires were cut on the organ, rendering it useless. The last owner figured it out, but it was too late. I also know that Dennis just was tired, and wanted to retire, and his family didn't want to run the Portland location. It probably wasn't netting profits as much as it used to. I DO know that some of the pipes, and aux instruments like the tuned timpani (that used to hang up on the wall) made their way down to Mesa AZ.. The organ console (portland) ended up at a private residence somewhere in MA. The Denver's "publix" console went to a B&B in Colorado springs, and then someplace back east, and last I heard, it ended up somewhere in England. Thanks for the great memories of the Portland location!
My family and I used to go to The Organ Grinder for birthdays and other family gatherings for years! We lived on SE 62nd Ave and Lafayette right near Powell Blvd. I wish I could take my family now! Chuck E. Cheese had NOTHING on The Organ Grinder!
Old Portland- brings me back to the good old days..Portland is safe and a beautiful city. 🍕
In the early 80's, I went there as a kid. I loved the fact the entire building was an instrument controlled by one person. And my Rigler elementary 3rd grade music teacher was that person. In fact, my teacher and her husband both played the Organ Grinder. I loved the movie time bits, where the screen would come down, lights go low, and we got a Chaplin, or Buster Keaton, or some other fun silent film. I loved the little battle between the chimp with cymbals and the player. Nothing a little bonk on the head won't cure. I liked the Pizza, but I was a kid that didn't know any better. And upstairs, all those arcades. Such good times. I knew then it was a special place. Sad it couldn't survive 82nd Ave, and time.
When I think of that place, I also think of Mom's fav place to do kid birthdays - Farral's Ice Cream Parlor. It was a chain, there were 50 or more in the US. Now there is one somewhere in California, and it's the last one standing. But for an Ice Cream overload for a birthday party, it was a good one. Brother's birthday is 10 days apart from mine, so we usually did both Farral's and Organ Grider in November.
Such a great comment. Love this.
I used 2 go there wen i was younger. Loved going there. Was alot of fun. Loved seeing the old black abd white movies ifbthe silent eara
Yes! Another video full of nostalgic memories! I love your videos, because I too feel grateful for growing up a kid in the 80’s and love remembering these crazy family places, but they seem to be rare these days...😔
Thanks jess..yup the good old places always bring back old Portland memories! Thanks so much 😎
So so many memories of going here and drinking beer and listening to that magnificent machine. What sadness I feel right now. Thank you for this.
Thanks so much
So sad they took it away. The music was wonderful. ♥️♥️🎶🥀🎶♥️♥️Chris.
Thanks for sharing DUDE! Yes, I'm 41 and I remember going there for my birthday several times when I was a kid!!! I havent been past there in several years myself.
Apperciate ya
Thanks for the trip back in time brother. I was born in 79 and it was a weekend treat to go here and watch the old B&W movies, eat great pizza, play games and win prizes back when I was a little boy. I've moved away from Oregon since but very often wonder about that place. Nice job on the video and thanks again.
im the same age as you,born in 79, I loved that place, super cool
I remember going here with my family when I was around 10 years old. So many good memories.
Thanks Jay
@@KLEARSKITHEKREEPER I remember the pizza being pretty damn good too!
Man I hope to one day visit this brings back memories of some of the old places I used to visit as a kid that are long gone
Heck yes broski...I know I miss the old places alot. 😎🍕🍕🍕🍕good to see ya michaganderbannanaman
This Place Has Fish Swimming In Little Pool But It's Not There!
My favorite place to go for parties as a kid.There was always a line out the door in the 70’s and 80’s on weekends.The wait was usually 30 min just to get in and sit down,but it was totally worth it as a kid.What an awesome place to go.A few years before it closed(1992-93?,the place was a shell of its former self and you could tell they didn’t keep up on maintenance,updating and cleaning.I was at the auction when it closed and it was so sad to see.Thanks for posting the video, I still drive by and reminisce.
I find it hard to believe that Chuck E cheese put them out of business. I mean Organ Grinder takes the cake over that place!
Super King Buffet Did Reopened Today!
I'm hungry 🤤
And you got me wantin' pizza 🍕💚‼️
Don't forget the Ice Cold WAdderS. ;)
@@Time-Chaser
😮 wAddeR, yes! ⛲
🧊 Ice cold, no! 🙅🏻♀️
_"No ice, no lemon"_ *that's me!* 👍😂👍💦‼️
Crystal clears and lurkers warms. :)
@@Time-Chaser
🤤 Yesssss... so I can consume _moRe_ and _fasteR!!_ 😂 #wAddeRsLocosFeReVeR 🌊💚‼️
@@SherrySherry ;)
Oh wow..best.place in the world!!! Great great vlog today Chris😁😁
My best friend Brian and his dad used to take me here when u was like 8 or 9 and he was older than me and always knew of the best places. I feel very fortunate to have been a kid in the 80s.,this place was sooo cool.. 😎🍕💕Lisa thanks for always watching I really appreciate that
I appreciate you doing these amazing vlogs!!! Sounds like a fun friend..my family would go there..we always got a salad bar pizza and root beer. You got the salad bar do you could get goodies to add onto the pizza to make it taste that much better.
It was always a must-go-to place when our family would visit Portland back in the day.
Cool retrospective on Organ Grinder! One thing, though: I don’t remember where I read this, but I read that the organ went up to the opera house at Alpenrose Dairy. I’m bummed to find out that it didn’t. Anyway, thanks for the blast from the past!
Last time I was in Portland I stopped by and all of the windows were busted out and graffiti was all over the building. It was heartbreaking.
Yeah that really stinks..I wish someone would have kept the sign, I tried to locate it over at security sign company but they wouldn't let me have permission to film the property.
I'm getting so many flashbacks from watching your vids. Used to cruise 82'nd in the early 80's. Good times. Whatever happened to 82'nd ave bowling alleys? Went there a lot.
you did a good job on this - it was a great place !!
Thanks so much
I grew up a few blocks away from this place and I would stop at The Organ Grinder on my way home from school a couple times a week and spend my allowance in the arcade that was in the upstairs part.
Little Pacman and donkey Kong never hurt anyone..😂yup it was a cool place!!
I loved the fact that when you entered the restaurant you also entered the body of the organ. Such memories! Another favorite place just up the street on 82nd was the old Pop Shoppe Pop place. I loved going there as well!
Very cool , thanks so much
Great memories of going here in the ‘80s. We have the similar Organ Stop Pizza which is alive and well here in Mesa, AZ. As an RPHS grad, the place my family misses most up there in the NW is Tebo’s on McLoughlin in Milwaukie.
When I managed the Shakey’s Pizza on 122nd many years ago I once went there to check out their product, I was not a fan of the music. But after a bit you do get used to it. Sad they are gone now. Thanks Kreeper for doing here. Fun times for sure!!!
Yup as a kid I remember going here for my birthday and the pipes played 🎵happy birthday to me" but as kids we were more about checking out donkey kong and having a slice of pie🍕😎that's right u did work there that's cool Stephen good bud..how cool
Hey Stephen, so we understand you were checking out the product. Did it end up being better pizza than Shakey's? :)
Time Chaser no not really. I was disappointed a bit.
@@stephenphillips9392 lol! Thanks, we just wondered. Hope you have a great day. :)
Great video!... so many memories here. You should one on the old East Gate movie theater. That was one of the go to places to see big blockbuster movies like 1989 Batman.
Thanks very much, that's a great idea .
Loved that place as a kid. we would drive the 40 miles from home Yale Valley Lewis river into Portland spent quite a few birthdays there. good pizza galloons of root beer on tap. My dad even auditioned to be a Organist there. when Star Wars came out in the theaters the organist did a star wars Medely that rocked the place. also you could see the workings as the Oregon was played. the Grinder will be missed.
Appreciate that.. my family loved this place what great memories for sure!
In the late 80s we would visit family not far from there the whole family would head on down. As a kid I remember the Pizza and the the organ playing we thought it was so cool. I think the tables were long and had that 80s whit and red squares. I miss that place I miss those times in the 80s if I had a DeLorean I'd be right there. I love Nostalgia
I'm thinking of building a new Organ Grinder in Las Vegas. Same as Portland had.
That would be very cool!
I’m so old that I don’t think they had games upstairs or anywhere else. Think they put them in later. Remember sitting upstairs and don’t remember games. At that time ,I’d heard that the guy behind it being there was A guy Named Pete Wiley, Who was student Body President at Franklin High school in SE. Portland before Marshal High School was built. It would make sense because he was a very ambitious guy. 🥰
Always wondered what happened to that restaurant. Sad to see. It was always such a fun place. But when Chucky Cheese started to franchise, you could see the end coming.
A little ironic the organist is playing “Rainbow Connection,” the song being about dreams and fulfillment. 😔
This type of "Pizza and Pipes" joint was quite popular during the 70's and 80's but the trend died down in the 90's and 2000's. There are 3 of these businesses open currently: Organ Piper Music Palace in Greenfield, Wisconsin, Beggar's Pizza in Lansing, IL and last but not least Organ Stop Pizza with the 2nd largest theater organ in the world, featuring some Organ Grinder parts as well!
Cool video!
Thanks mmn🎬😆
Wow 🤩 this brings back so many old memories. I loved going here as a kid and the pizza was the best! Thank god they haven’t taken out “Chuck E Cheeses” it’s sad to see so many things disappear 😢
Thanks
Lord bless you guys.
All love
Hey! There's Used To Be Chervon Gas Station In This Town!
Across the street I think!
Hope you had a nice Christmas
@@KLEARSKITHEKREEPERBecause I Saw It On Google Image!
Please forgive a comment on a three-year-old video, but this place came up today in a conversation with a friend about the very 70's trend of both "spaghetti factory"-type restaurants and "pizza and pipes" restaurants. It must've been a lot harder to set up a place that used an actual pipe organ, though! The upkeep! I didn't live here and was only a visitor when Organ Grinder was open but I did go a time or two. Did they also play silent movies or am I dreaming that part?
I was also today-years-old when I heard that that district is now called the Jade District, but I like it. I'll never not be angry that gentrification pushed a lot of the Chinatown businesses so far east, but it's interesting that FuBonn and some other southeast Asian shopping places have established themselves along that street. The Foster Fred's is an Asian grocery, the old Safeway around Glisan or Burnside, FuBonn, and I'm sure I'm forgetting something else.
At any rate, thanks for the video! As soon as I remember something local like a defunct restaurant and look for it on TH-cam, you're often the only person who has taken the time to document it. It is appreciated! It helps me fill in the gaps from things I saw once or twice on summer or holiday visits out here, ages ago.
Not sure about the silent movies..possibly tho..thanks it was a fun place for sure
Oh man, that takes me back... Pizza Baron (SE Division and 122nd) was and still is better pizza, but it was a really fun place to go when I a kid growing up in PDX.
Loved this Vlog!!! You seemed more relaxed and in tune with the content. Love ya K.T.K ;)
Took my time a little more, thanks for that I really enjoy the feedback 😎timechasa..LOVE YOU TOO
I loved that pizza place would go with the whole family ,grand parents loved eating there. Definitely a lot of birthdays party's there. My mom and dad still live a few blocks from there, they get their car stolen every 6 months in that neighborhood 😑
Went to a rave party there as well back in 1997
Let me add this, When Tebos closed about four years ago On mcloughlin In Gladstone I thought that would be a PERFECT location for such a business!
So the Buffet I've need to like 20 times in my life was once a Pizza place? That's cool to know.
Yup it was the coolest! 😁
Yesterday I Went Super King Buffet And It's Was Delicious!
I'll have to try them! Thanks cool it's back open
@@KLEARSKITHEKREEPERI Went There Yesterday Again!
WOW! The old place is still standing! There are few small things in the history.. Dennis Headberg owned and operated this location, as well as the Denver location. He started with the Portland location, (73 I think) and in 79 opened the Denver location. He wanted both locations to be exactly the same. Only thing was, the Denver location was slightly bigger, and unfortunately, fell into the hands of two brothers that didn't see Denni's dream, the way he did. One afternoon, they all were in the office in Denver, and Dennis came storming out. Stated that he didn't care if the Denver location lived, died, or caught fire. His name would NOT be associated with the location ever again, That was the end of the fun times. Unfortunately, that happened in the late winter, early spring of 85. The two brothers were snorting the profits up their noses and the employees stopped being paid. Bills didn't get aid, and utilities were being shut off. People quit, and I don't even remember how many times the sheriff show up with warrants in his hand for those two. The freezer hadn't been paid on and was about to be repoed. The one brother split, and left the other brother running out the back door every time there was trouble. Finally the place closed. Dennis still ran the Portland store. 3 more people tried to keep the Denver location running, but 2 failed because 3 wires were cut on the organ, rendering it useless. The last owner figured it out, but it was too late. I also know that Dennis just was tired, and wanted to retire, and his family didn't want to run the Portland location. It probably wasn't netting profits as much as it used to. I DO know that some of the pipes, and aux instruments like the tuned timpani (that used to hang up on the wall) made their way down to Mesa AZ.. The organ console (portland) ended up at a private residence somewhere in MA. The Denver's "publix" console went to a B&B in Colorado springs, and then someplace back east, and last I heard, it ended up somewhere in England. Thanks for the great memories of the Portland location!
Can you visit the iconic places Portland
🍕👍✌
😎🍕
My family and I used to go to The Organ Grinder for birthdays and other family gatherings for years! We lived on SE 62nd Ave and Lafayette right near Powell Blvd.
I wish I could take my family now!
Chuck E. Cheese had NOTHING on The Organ Grinder!
Does anyone have the recipe for authentic Organ Grinder pizza? I want to make some at home....
That would be awesome
Cool old pizza joint, but not a fan of organ grinder music👍💕😊
It's unique sound..😁
Wow 2020 masks outside mandate...crazy.
Then it was the sketchy Onyx club for a while
Om my gosh I remember that...😂