Otto's Sausage Kitchen facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Otto's Sausage Kitchen |
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The kitchen's front exterior in 2012
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| Restaurant information | |
| Established | 1922 |
| Current owner(s) | Jerry and Gretchen Eichentopf |
| Previous owner(s) | Otto Eichentopf; Edwin Eichentopf |
| Street address | 4138 SE Woodstock Blvd. |
| City | Portland |
| County | Multnomah |
| State | Oregon |
| Postal/ZIP code | 97202 |
| Country | United States |
| Coordinates | 45°28′44″N 122°37′11″W / 45.47900°N 122.61974°W |
Otto's Sausage Kitchen is a famous place in Portland, Oregon. It's a restaurant and a meat market that sells delicious sausages. It used to be called Otto's Meat Market.
A German immigrant named Otto Eichentopf started the business. He opened his first meat market in Washington in the 1910s. Then, he moved to Portland in 1921. Otto's Meat Market opened on Southeast Woodstock Boulevard in 1922.
The business moved into a new building in 1936–1937. Otto's son, Edwin, took over the store in the 1940s. Later, Edwin's son, Jerry, became the owner in 1983. Jerry started working at Otto's full-time when he was eighteen.
Jerry and his wife have made the store even bigger. The family, including their children and other relatives, still works there. They make over forty different kinds of sausages right at the store. Some of these sausages use Otto Eichentopf's original recipes from Germany!
Contents
The Story of Otto's Sausage Kitchen
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Otto Eichentopf was born in Germany in 1890. He started Otto's Meat Market in Aberdeen, Washington, in the 1910s. In 1921, Otto moved to Portland, Oregon. He came with his wife, Selma, and their son, Edwin.
Otto's Meat Market first opened on Southeast Woodstock Boulevard in 1922. A new building was built for the business in 1936–1937. This new building had a special smokehouse that was two stories tall! The front of the building was a market called Moreland Market. Otto and his son kept making sausages in the back.
A Family Business Through Generations
Edwin, Otto's son, married Eleanor in 1942. After spending some time in Germany, Edwin came back to work for his father. He eventually took over the meat market and store. In 1942, Edwin and Eleanor had a son named Jerry.
Jerry started working for his father, Edwin, full-time when he was eighteen. In 1976, Jerry met Gretchen at Otto's, and they got married. The couple bought the store in 1983. Gretchen has helped make the retail part of Otto's much larger over the years.
Today, Jerry and Gretchen's three daughters, Heidi, Christie, and Bereka, help run the business. Heidi's husband, Justin, and their two children also help out. The family has passed down their sausage-making skills for many years. They make more than forty different kinds of sausages right there. Some of these are still based on Otto Eichentopf's old recipes from Germany.
What You Can Find at Otto's
Otto's menu has many tasty items. You can find British bangers, bratwurst, and chicken sausages. They also have ham hocks and frankfurters. The kitchen serves homemade relish and sauerkraut.
Besides sausages, Otto's sells other special items. They have chocolates from Europe and German beer and wine. You can also buy imported mustards, local honey, and peppered jellies.
Amazing Murals at Otto's
In 2014, an artist named Michael Burge Smith painted a huge mural for the Eichentopf family. It was almost 1,000 square feet! The mural showed beautiful scenes of the Swiss and German Alps. Smith and Gretchen worked together on the idea. Smith had seen the blank 64-foot wall outside the building a year before.
Before painting the outside wall, Smith painted a mural inside Otto's. He also painted one at the Eichentopfs' daughter's house. Most of the mural was painted by Smith. His business partner, Kenny Spurlock, helped at the beginning. Smith worked on the mural for two months. He often painted late at night, from 9 p.m. to 3 a.m. He liked being able to choose his own hours. Smith has painted many murals in Portland. He has also taught painting to high school students.
In February 2019, Smith came back to paint another "magical" mural. This one was 33 feet long and on the north side of the building. It shows scenes from German folklore. You can see castles, fairies, and flying horses around a central "tree sprite." There's also a "Lord of the Forest" figure painted over a column and onto nearby benches. The tree bark was painted to look either "friendly or fearsome." The staff at Otto's say that Smith usually paints new seasonal murals four times a year.
See also
- List of companies based in Oregon
