Formerly: Workers Cafe
Astoria, Oregon · Founded 1926 · Building: 1929 (present building; predecessor Workers Cafe reportedly dated to 1906)
A working Uniontown bar with disputed 1906/1926 roots, a 1929 rebuild, Finnish waterfront history, and a long-running Sunday Meat Bingo tradition.
Workers Tavern is an active bar and restaurant at 281 West Marine Drive in Astoria's Uniontown neighborhood. Its current owners trace the site to a Workers Cafe said to have opened in 1906 for employees of Union Fish Packing Cooperative, while independent reporting found a 1926 phone-book record and described Finnish owners William and Daisy Still as the original founders. The venue says the earlier structure was rebuilt in 1929, making its working-class waterfront story richer—and less simple—than an unbroken 1906 building claim.
Workers Tavern's current owners say historical Sanborn maps show that Workers Cafe first opened in 1906 to feed newly unionized workers at Union Fish Packing Cooperative. The underlying maps were not independently reviewed in this entry.
Source: Workers Tavern, "About," accessed September 1, 2026
The Great Astoria Fire destroyed large portions of downtown. Workers Tavern and a 2019 profile say the Uniontown site was unaffected, but this review did not inspect fire maps or property records to establish the exact building impact.
Source: Workers Tavern, "About," accessed September 1, 2026; Vice, "I Played Meat Bingo at a Century-Old Oregon Dive Bar," May 21, 2019
A 2019 Vice profile reported that the earliest written record owner Diana Kirk found for Workers was a 1926 phone-book entry and described Finnish owners William and Daisy Still as the bar's original founders. This conflicts with the current owner's claimed 1906 Workers Cafe origin.
Source: Vice, "I Played Meat Bingo at a Century-Old Oregon Dive Bar," May 21, 2019
Workers Tavern's current history says the earlier Workers Cafe was rebuilt into a larger building with a cement basement, creating the present structure.
Source: Workers Tavern, "Stay" and "About," accessed September 1, 2026
Workers Tavern's current history says longtime owner William Still died in 1967; Daisy Still died in 1969. The account says the Stills had owned the Workers building from 1920 onward, a chronology that conflicts with the 1926 founding account and needs primary-record review.
Source: Workers Tavern, "About," accessed September 1, 2026
Diana Kirk and the Kirkndopp family purchased Workers Tavern.
Source: Workers Tavern, "About," accessed September 1, 2026; Vice, May 21, 2019
Vice profiled Workers Tavern's Sunday Meat Bingo, then described as a weekly event with a history of at least 37 years.
Source: Vice, "I Played Meat Bingo at a Century-Old Oregon Dive Bar," May 21, 2019
Workers Tavern continues operating at 281 West Marine Drive, with food, drinks, overnight rental, and a Sunday Meat Bingo tradition listed on its current website.
Source: Workers Tavern official website, food, contact, stay, and Meat Bingo pages, accessed September 1, 2026
Every claim gets rated. A business's own website can never earn "documented."
The current owner says Smithsonian-held Sanborn maps show a Workers Cafe opening in 1906 to feed workers at Union Fish Packing Cooperative. However, a 2019 independent profile reported that the earliest written record owner Diana Kirk had found was from 1926 and described William and Daisy Still as founders. The 1906 predecessor-cafe story is credible but unresolved until the Sanborn maps, directories, licenses, and property records are reviewed.
No reviewed source establishes Workers Tavern as Astoria's oldest bar. The venue instead markets itself as the "oldest bar on the Oregon Coast," while independent reporting calls it one of Astoria's oldest taverns. Its own disputed 1906/1926 origin and 1929 rebuild also make a definitive continuous-operation claim premature.
Workers Tavern currently markets itself as the oldest bar on the Oregon Coast. The 1906 Workers Cafe origin is possible, but the earliest independently reported written record in this review is 1926, and no Oregon Coast-wide comparison of historic bars has been completed. The regional title remains unverified.
Workers Tavern's own current history says the original Workers Cafe was first built around 1906 and then rebuilt in 1929 into the present larger structure with a cement basement. The site may have avoided the 1922 downtown fire, but the current building should not be described as an untouched 1906 structure.
The venue's current pages call Sunday Meat Bingo a tradition of more than 30 or 40 years, while Vice described it in 2019 as having run for 37 years. The event is clearly longstanding and remains part of the business's current identity, but the precise start year and any claim that it was created for charity were not verified.
Workers Tavern says the Kirkndopp family bought the business in 2017, and Vice independently identified author and real-estate rehabber Diana Kirk as the purchaser that year. The exact legal entity and property ownership are not resolved here.
Workers Tavern is Astoria's oldest continuously operating bar, founded in 1906.
Workers Tavern markets itself as the oldest bar on the Oregon Coast, not specifically Astoria's oldest bar. Its early date is disputed: the owner cites a 1906 Workers Cafe on Sanborn maps, while a 2019 Vice profile says the earliest written record located was a 1926 phone-book entry. No citywide oldest-bar comparison was completed in this review.
Source: Workers Tavern, "About," accessed September 1, 2026; Vice, "I Played Meat Bingo at a Century-Old Oregon Dive Bar," May 21, 2019
Workers Tavern's current building was built in 1906 and survived the Great Astoria Fire unchanged.
Workers Tavern's own current history says an earlier Workers Cafe existed around 1906 but was rebuilt in 1929 into the larger present building. The Uniontown site may have avoided the 1922 downtown fire, but the existing structure is not an unchanged 1906 building.
Source: Workers Tavern, "Stay" and "About," accessed September 1, 2026; Vice, May 21, 2019
Sunday Meat Bingo began in 1980 as a fundraiser for local charities.
Workers Tavern clearly has a long-running Sunday Meat Bingo tradition, but reviewed sources differ on its age and do not document a 1980 launch or a charitable-fundraising origin. The venue currently describes it as more than 30 or 40 years old.
Source: Workers Tavern, "Fun" and official homepage, accessed September 1, 2026; Vice, May 21, 2019
Workers survived because Uniontown kept a need for a durable, unpretentious gathering place near the river. The building sits in Astoria's Finnish/working-waterfront neighborhood, and its long history is tied to fishing, logging, cannery work, gambling-era stories, and the social rituals of people who lived nearby. Diana Kirk and the Kirkndopp family bought the bar in 2017 and turned its small scale, eccentric décor, food, outdoor space, rental unit, and Sunday Meat Bingo into a contemporary reason for locals and travelers to keep coming back.
Workers Tavern is an active Uniontown bar in Astoria whose early history is disputed. The current owners say a Workers Cafe opened in 1906 to feed workers at Union Fish Packing Cooperative, but a 2019 Vice profile reported that the earliest written record found was a 1926 phone-book entry associated with Finnish owners William and Daisy Still. The business says its earlier structure was rebuilt in 1929, and Diana Kirk and the Kirkndopp family have owned the tavern since 2017.
No settled evidence in this review establishes Workers Tavern as Astoria's oldest bar. The tavern markets itself as the oldest bar on the Oregon Coast, while independent reporting calls it one of Astoria's oldest. Its early business date is also disputed between a claimed 1906 Workers Cafe origin and the earliest written record found in 1926, so no city-oldest title is awarded here.
Not the present building. Workers Tavern's current owners say the first Workers Cafe was built around 1906 on posts and beams near the river, but that it was rebuilt in 1929 into the larger building with a cement basement that stands today. The 1906 date refers to a reported predecessor structure, while 1929 is the relevant date for the present building.
The dates come from conflicting historical accounts. Workers Tavern's owners say Sanborn maps show a Workers Cafe opening in 1906, while a 2019 Vice profile reported that owner Diana Kirk found the earliest written record in a 1926 phone book and described Finnish owners William and Daisy Still as founders. Original maps, city directories, liquor licenses, and property records are needed to resolve the discrepancy.
Workers Tavern has hosted Sunday Meat Bingo for decades. Its current website describes the event as more than 30 or 40 years old, while a 2019 Vice profile said it had occurred for 37 years. The exact first year was not verified, but Meat Bingo remains a current Sunday tradition at the tavern.
281 W Marine Dr, Astoria, OR 97103
(503) 338-7291
Workers currently lists daily hours and Sunday Meat Bingo, but schedules, kitchen service, overnight rental availability, and event times can change. Confirm the current plan directly before making a special trip.