42 — The Rainbow Cafe (Pendleton, OR)

Thought you'd heard the last of History by the Glass? Think again! After a 6-month hiatus, Alfredo & Nate are back for their fourth season of vintage bar-going adventures. As part of their annual curiosity-laden Bourdain Day observance, the boys squeezed into an 8-seat turboprop bound for the cowboy town of Pendleton — "The Real West" of Oregon — for their first official HBTG bar visit outside of the Portland metro. There they found a lively, highly walkable/stumbleable drinking town anchored by the 130ish-year-old Rainbow Cafe, cheerfully maintaining its (recently "Swindler-ed") claim of being the oldest bar in Oregon. Facts are indeed stubborn things, but no amount of verifiable contradictory history has ever kept the fellas from a good time over a few rounds in a high-character old joint! PLUS — a salute to the ultimate barstool everyman George Wendt, kudos to Esquire's favorite HBTG bar, and more!Bar visit and segment recording: Wednesday, June 25, 2025 Additional recording: Tuesday, July 1, 2025 HBTG theme song: "Frozen Egg" by Lame Drivers Interlude music: "Right Track" by Lame Drivers