McMenamins is a family-owned chain of brewpubs, breweries, music venues, historic hotels, and theater pubs in Oregon and Washington. Many of their locations are in rehabilitated historical properties; at least nine are on the National Register of Historic Places. According to the Brewers Association, McMenamins is one of the top 50 largest craft breweries in the United States.

History

McMenamins was founded by brothers Mike and Brian McMenamin, who grew up in northeast Portland, Oregon. They trace the beginning of McMenamins to the 1974 opening of Produce Row Café. In 1985, McMenamins opened Oregon's first brewpub in the Southwest Portland neighborhood of Hillsdale. Their first theater pub was the Mission Theater & Pub (1987). The company then entered the broader hospitality business starting in 1990, when they converted a 74-acre site (that at one time served as the Multnomah County Poor Farm) into McMenamins Edgefield. By 1997, food accounted for over half of McMenamins' total sales. The company opened its 55th location in April 2018.

First outside investment

While still primarily family-owned, in May 2020 McMenamins began raising $20 million from private investors in a Preferred Stock Offering to retire short-term debt as a result of COVID-19 shutdowns, to fund "secret projects" and to enable future expansion. This was the first time the company had opened direct investment in McMenamins, Inc. to those outside the McMenamin family. The private equity offering conferred preferred shares at $100,000 each in private placements to 150 to 200 high-income individuals. The shares do not carry voting rights for their holders but McMenamins indicated that investors could expect a 3% annual cumulative dividend and a 6.5% overall return. The decision to open McMenamins to outside investors was in-part driven by impacts from COVID-19 with total revenue for McMenamins down 50% in the first 5 months of 2020.

Locations

Individually notable locations include: