Formerly: City Oyster Co. · Oregon Oyster
Portland, Oregon · Founded 1907
A fourth-generation Wachsmuth family seafood restaurant with a 1907 oyster-business lineage in Portland's Old Town.
Dan & Louis Oyster Bar traces its roots to 1907, when Louis C. Wachsmuth opened a wholesale and retail seafood business that served oyster cocktails in Old Town Portland. In 1919, he took over the food bar of the Merchant's Exchange Saloon and added oyster stew, expanding the enterprise into the restaurant people know today. Keoni and Michelle Wachsmuth, Louis's descendants, currently operate the restaurant as a fourth-generation family business.
Louis C. Wachsmuth opened a wholesale and retail seafood business in Portland, described in historical accounts as City Oyster Co. or Oregon Oyster, and served oyster cocktails.
Source: National Trust for Historic Preservation, "Dan and Louis Oyster Bar in Portland, Oregon," September 15, 2016; Dan & Louis Oyster Bar, "About"
Louis took over the food bar of the Merchant's Exchange Saloon and added oyster stew to the business's offerings.
Source: National Trust for Historic Preservation, "Dan and Louis Oyster Bar in Portland, Oregon," September 15, 2016; Dan & Louis Oyster Bar, "About"
Dan Wachsmuth, Louis's son and a longtime presence in the business, died; historical preservation reporting says the restaurant's eventual Dan & Louis name honored Louis and Dan.
Source: National Trust for Historic Preservation, "Dan and Louis Oyster Bar in Portland, Oregon," September 15, 2016
Louis C. Wachsmuth died, after which ownership passed through later Wachsmuth family members.
Source: National Trust for Historic Preservation, "Dan and Louis Oyster Bar in Portland, Oregon," September 15, 2016; Dan & Louis Oyster Bar, "About"
The restaurant's own history says Louis John and Doug Wachsmuth took over the business.
Source: Dan & Louis Oyster Bar, "About"
Dan & Louis says Doug Wachsmuth passed the business to Meinert 'Keoni' Wachsmuth and Michelle Wachsmuth.
Source: Dan & Louis Oyster Bar, "About"
The restaurant closed for nine months during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Source: OregonLive, "A literal ghost town: 118 years in, one of Portland's oldest restaurants is struggling to stay afloat," November 26, 2025
OregonLive reported that Keoni and Michelle Wachsmuth were operating Dan & Louis Oyster Bar five days a week as a fourth-generation family business.
Source: OregonLive, "A Hail Mary plea saved this 119-year-old Portland restaurant," April 21, 2026
Every claim gets rated. A business's own website can never earn "documented."
OregonLive reported in 2026 that Keoni and Michelle Wachsmuth own and operate Dan & Louis Oyster Bar and that Wachsmuth family ownership has continued through four generations. The restaurant's own history says Keoni and Michelle took over in 2013.
Independent 2026 reporting describes the restaurant as a fourth-generation family business, not a fifth-generation operation. In addition, OregonLive reported a nine-month COVID closure in 2020, which breaks a claim of uninterrupted operation.
National Trust preservation reporting and the restaurant's own history describe Louis C. Wachsmuth opening a wholesale and retail seafood business in 1907 and serving oyster cocktails before expanding restaurant service.
Dan & Louis has a long 1907 seafood-business lineage and remains one of Portland's oldest operating restaurants, but OregonLive reports a nine-month closure in 2020. That documented interruption prevents a continuous-operation claim from 1907.
National Trust reporting says Louis added small dining rooms as the customer base grew and filled them with steins and maritime objects collected over decades. The exact provenance, age, and authenticity of individual artifacts were not established in this review.
Dan & Louis Oyster Bar has operated continuously without interruption since 1907.
Dan & Louis has a 1907 seafood-business lineage, but OregonLive reported that the restaurant closed for nine months during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.
Source: OregonLive, "A literal ghost town: 118 years in, one of Portland's oldest restaurants is struggling to stay afloat," November 26, 2025
Dan & Louis Oyster Bar is currently operated by the fifth generation of the Wachsmuth family.
OregonLive described the restaurant in 2026 as a fourth-generation Wachsmuth family business operated by Keoni and Michelle Wachsmuth. The restaurant's own history describes the fifth generation as hoped-for future successors.
Source: OregonLive, "A Hail Mary plea saved this 119-year-old Portland restaurant," April 21, 2026; Dan & Louis Oyster Bar, "About"
Louis Wachsmuth began Dan & Louis Oyster Bar in the basement of his father's grocery store and moved it to 208 SW Ankeny in 1919 with Daniel Marks.
The reviewed histories describe Louis Wachsmuth opening a wholesale and retail seafood business in 1907, then taking over the Merchant's Exchange Saloon food bar in 1919 and adding oyster stew. They attribute the Dan & Louis name to Louis and his son Dan, not to a verified Daniel Marks partnership.
Source: National Trust for Historic Preservation, "Dan and Louis Oyster Bar in Portland, Oregon," September 15, 2016; Dan & Louis Oyster Bar, "About"
The Wachsmuth family acquired proprietary Yaquina Bay oyster beds in 1931.
The reviewed sources trace the Wachsmuth family's oyster-farming background to Oysterville, Washington. They do not substantiate a 1931 acquisition of proprietary Yaquina Bay beds by Dan & Louis Oyster Bar.
Source: National Trust for Historic Preservation, "Dan and Louis Oyster Bar in Portland, Oregon," September 15, 2016; Dan & Louis Oyster Bar, "About"
Dan & Louis has survived through a combination of family succession, a focused seafood identity, and an Old Town setting that makes its history visible rather than abstract. The restaurant grew from oyster commerce into a collection of small dining rooms filled with maritime objects, while the Wachsmuth family retained control through multiple generations. Its survival is not an unbroken operating streak—the business closed for nine months in 2020—but it remains a rare example of long-lived family restaurant stewardship in Portland.
Dan & Louis Oyster Bar began in Portland in 1907 when Louis C. Wachsmuth opened a wholesale and retail seafood business serving oyster cocktails. In 1919, Wachsmuth took over the food bar of the Merchant's Exchange Saloon and added oyster stew, expanding the business into the restaurant that developed over later decades. The restaurant is now operated by fourth-generation family owners Keoni and Michelle Wachsmuth.
No, Dan & Louis Oyster Bar should not be called Portland's oldest continuously operating restaurant. It has a 1907 seafood-business lineage and is among the city's oldest restaurants, but OregonLive reported that it closed for nine months during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. A complete Portland oldest-restaurant ranking would also require consistent comparison of founding dates, business identities, locations, and interruptions among rival establishments.
Keoni Wachsmuth and Michelle Wachsmuth own and operate Dan & Louis Oyster Bar, according to OregonLive reporting from 2026. The article identifies them as fourth-generation members of the Wachsmuth family to run the restaurant. The restaurant's own history says they took ownership in 2013.
Dan & Louis Oyster Bar says it serves local oysters, fish, beer, and wine, and its family history traces Louis C. Wachsmuth's oyster knowledge to the Wachsmuth family's oyster-farming background in Oysterville, Washington. This review did not verify a current farm-by-farm supply list or the claimed 1931 acquisition of proprietary Yaquina Bay oyster beds.
Yes. OregonLive reported in April 2026 that Dan & Louis Oyster Bar was operating five days a week under Keoni and Michelle Wachsmuth. The restaurant has faced financial pressure and a lease expected to expire in 2028, so visitors should confirm current hours and reservations directly before going.
208 SW Ankeny St, Portland, OR 97204
(503) 227-5906
Dan & Louis Oyster Bar is in Portland's Old Town near Ankeny Alley. Recent reporting says it has operated five days weekly; confirm current hours, reservations, menu, and accessibility before visiting.