A fire at Gol on SE Hawthorne seriously damaged the Eurosports bar, neighboring bakery, Likely Ivy, and Big Top Tattoos early Tuesday morning, as reported by The Oregonian and other outlets. Portland Fire & Rescue crews arrived on scene around 1 a.m.,
and the blaze was extinguished by 1:30 a.m., according to the PF&R spokesperson. There were no reported injuries, although a post on Gol’s Instagram account stories described the damage to Gol as “severe.” The post also notes that smoke from the fire, which started at Gol, traveled through a crawlspace running the length of the building and damaged other businesses on the lot.
Devil’s Dill and the adjacent No Fun Bar were able to reopen Tuesday, but Ivy Nacol, owner of nearby vegan bakery Likely Ivy, told KOIN 6 News that most of her equipment was covered in corrosive soot and may need to be replaced. KOIN also talked to a restoration company at the site who speculated that repairs to Gol could take at least “six months to a year.” Gol’s owner Peter Mahr has established a GoFundMe to support GOL’s recovery and staff. Nacol and former news anchor-turned-realtor Stephanie Domurat have also started a fundraiser for the bakery. Big Top Tattoos was boarded up when Eater visited the location on Wednesday; that business has also launched a GoFundMe.
Property records indicate that the building was constructed in 1925, although it’s not listed in Portland’s historic building inventory. Like many buildings along Hawthorne and Belmont, the storefront was constructed in conjunction with a wave of streetcar lines that expanded into SE Portland in the early 1900s. A 2021 fire completely destroyed a similar row of vintage storefronts on SE 13th and SE Hawthorne, during which two firefighters were injured. The Belmont Goats, a beloved herd of urban ungulates, got their start grazing on a lot left vacant after the Monte Carlo restaurant, constructed in 1927, burned down in 2002. (That’s why the nearby Goat Blocks are called the Goat Blocks, in case you were wondering).
Gol was a well-loved spot, both by fans of international sports as well as by the army of neighborhood regulars who gathered there. It made Eater Portland’s list of Best Sports Bars thanks to its warm atmosphere and accessible vibe. It was a bit of a Ship of Theseus, starting out as a European corner grocery store in the early 2000s before transitioning to a soccer-focused bar 4-4-2 with a Bosnian menu in the 2010s. 4-2-2 regular and amateur soccer player Peter Mahr purchased the business when it closed in 2019, and after experimenting with Peruvian cuisine in the early days, turned it into more of a general purpose Eurosports-leaning neighborhood bar. Eater reached out to Mahr for more information, and we will update this piece if we hear back.
It’s a real loss for the neighborhood and the Portland sports community at large. There are plenty of watering holes with a line of TVs on the wall and the relevant sports packages, but true communal gathering places are harder to come by. Gol was one such spot, and welcomed a wide mix of transplants and locals alike from a variety of fandoms. It wasn’t hard to pull up a stool and start a conversation about Messi or the Portland Fire or the best stadium nachos in town. Hopefully that community can come together for those affected, and the recovery will be quick.
