The day after its final night, the TV on the porch of Taylor’s Bar & Grill lay dormant, only reflecting the bustling street. The picnic table blocked access to the entrance. Next to stickers calling it the best campus bar was a sign, secured to the front door with a Band-Aid, that read, “closed forever — no trespassing.”
It was the favorite bar in Eugene for University of Oregon students, alumni and Duck fans. At least, that’s what the final order report on whether to cancel the liquor license for Taylor’s said, along with sworn testimony and the complete list of alleged incidents that had occurred over the course of almost two years. With the deliberation process concluded, Taylor’s, after 98 years of operations, closed its doors for the last time on Feb. 25, 2020.
“A history of serious and persistent problems”
The last two years were rough for Taylor’s. In June 2018, staff from the Oregon Liquor Control Commission, the state institution that regulates Oregon’s alcohol and cannabis industries, met with Taylor’s owner Ramzy Hattar for an intervention meeting to discuss the incidents that had occurred either at Taylor’s or in areas near the bar — 24 proven incidents, to be exact, from June 2017 to June 2018.
A patron’s tooth was almost knocked out after being kicked in the head in December 2017.
Another patron was rendered partially blind after being assaulted, knocked unconscious and choked by a group of people in January 2018.
A female patron reported that a male patron put a hand up her skirt, threatened further sexual assault and later threatened both her and her family if she reported the incident in March 2018.
That same month, an intoxicated individual entered an employees-only area of the bar and caused property damage by pulling down a rack of dishes.
About two weeks after the intervention meeting, Hattar gave the OLCC a list of proposed changes to make at the bar to better control the premises. The list, shared with the Daily Emerald via email, said that Taylor’s renovated the surveillance system “to capture 27 angles in and around the bar in full HD.” The bar also upgraded lighting and posted signs in the women’s bathroom about the “angel shot” — a code word to help women get out of uncomfortable situations. Documents showed that Hattar hired additional state-certified security personnel to monitor the area surrounding the bar and the lines to get into Taylor’s.
But OLCC inspectors continued to investigate.
On Aug. 22, 2018, Hattar received a notice from the OLCC, saying that his liquor license was at risk for cancellation with refusal to renew. With four subsequent amendments, the notice ultimately listed 42 alleged incidents over the course of nearly two years.
The notice charged Taylor’s and its owner with two main violations: the bar had a “history of serious and persistent problems,” and Hattar, “previously permitted disorderly activities on the licensed premises.”
Incidents of stolen phones and debit cards, a woman believing she had been drugged after “she was later found wandering without her possessions and without any knowledge of how she got there” and “a female patron who reported being punched by a male patron earlier in the night while on the dance floor of the licensed premises” were all allegations detailed within the first violation. Other alleged incidents involved more violence and injury.
“Several of these incidents resulted in serious injury to patrons, including a dislodged front tooth, a fractured skull, a broken orbital bone, partial blindness, two concussions, a broken arm and an open jaw fracture,” the notice stated.
One serious incident was a fatal DUI, which, according to OLCC Compliance Specialist Andrea Chiller, involved the passenger, a former UO football player, being thrown from the vehicle. That was one of six DUIs over the 22-month period.
The second violation detailed an incident involving, according to Chiller in the OLCC audio, “a bartender physically escorting a patron from the premises to a location across the street, punching him in the face with a closed fist and knocking him unconscious.”
In September 2018, Hattar requested a hearing of the charges with a senior administrative law judge, convening in June 2019. Thirty-three witnesses testified at that hearing over the course of seven days.
In January 2020, the judge issued a proposed order recommending to cancel the license, after OLCC staff found sufficient proof for 36 of the 42 incidents.
The proposed order went to the OLCC Board of Commissioners, a governor-appointed group. Their last meeting was Feb. 20, 2020 — the meeting where they voted to revoke Taylor’s liquor license.
At that February meeting, Hattar, his legal representative and Chiller were all present and spoke before the commissioners. The commissioners voted unanimously — Taylor’s Bar & Grill lost its liquor license, with no chance at a renewal.
The last generation
“I bought the bar a couple of years ago to save it,” Hattar, the owner, said in an interview with the Emerald. “I felt like I was doing everything in my power, everything possible.” He declined to comment on the OLCC’s ruling but said that he “had to respect their decision.”
Hattar graduated from UO in 2000. “I love that university,” Hattar said. “The university is a big part of my life. I love Eugene. I love that campus, and that’s what drew me to buying my college bar.”
On that final night of operations, the air was somber, he said. There was a different energy between the staff and the customers, “all the people who have spent so many hours and so much time trying to do the right thing, trying to create memories for everyone.”
“When you’re going to school there,” Hattar said of UO, “you don’t really understand how important those years are and how fun those years are and how simple those years are. And that’s why Taylor’s meant so much and means so much to all of us alumni because we get to feel that again.” As the owner, he wanted to save it for his own children and future generations of UO students.
Hattar said that, while there was “always room for improvement,” he was running Taylor’s “as strict and as well as it had ever been.”
“It’s been a very emotional week,” he said. “There were a lot of those employees who were there for a decade or more, who had families. I had to write final checks.”
Notorious reputation: community reacts
Students interviewed by the Emerald were, by and large, not surprised at Taylor’s losing its liquor license. In the case of fifth-year student Curtis Fountain, who was at Taylor’s on its last night, said that it “has been a long time coming.”
Sophomore Nick McCorkle felt “kind of upset” about the idea of Taylor’s closing. His sister went to the bar, he said, and now he won’t be able to experience it for himself. “If you think about it,” he said, “I feel like this stuff happens to, like, a lot of bars and Taylor’s has been pretty notorious for being kind of always under some sort of watch or some sort of, you know, suspension, from what I’ve heard.”
UO senior Anneka Jansson said, simply, “I’m happy. I don’t like Taylor’s,” explaining that her friends had “bad experiences” at the establishment and said that she was aware of the police reports associated with Taylor’s.
Former Ducks quarterback and former NFL player Dennis Dixon felt total shock when he heard that Taylor’s was closed. When the news first broke, he said he didn’t pay it much mind, but everything became real when Hattar called him to tell him it was all true.
“The time that I was there at the University of Oregon, that was pretty much the hub that me and my friends would go to,” Dixon said. For UO alumni, he said, it was the place for meeting before and after games.
Dixon said that visiting Taylor’s as a student, he embraced the “celebrity status.” He said that returning to UO, the recognition is still the same for him. “Being outside, being removed 10 to 12 years,” he said, “things don’t really change. People know who I am in that spot. It’s a humbling experience; out of all the spots, that’s one of the pivotal spots where I get recognized right away.”
Dixon said that he did not personally experience any serious incidents at Taylor’s and said that Hattar’s character speaks for itself. “He cares for his workers and he cares about the community, in general,” he said.
“Taylor’s, it’s in our DNA as alumni,” Dixon said. It’s a place allowing alumni to return to an environment “where you can be free and yourself with your peers.”
UO senior Karli Renken said that she had mixed feelings about the bar closing. “It’s obviously a little sad because the first thing I thought of was, ‘Where are we supposed to go on the day of graduation?’” she said.
Renken said she was there on Taylor’s final night of operations. Arriving at 8 p.m., she attested that the bar wasn’t super packed but was playing “sad ass music” and “throwback songs.” She said that the night was fun but also nostalgic. “I realized it would be the last time I was ever there,” she said.
Renken said she had been going to Taylor’s since junior year, when she turned 21, and was sad for people who wouldn’t get to experience the history for themselves.
“I’d always see people I loved that I wouldn’t get to see during the school day,” Renken said.
For Renken, however, the reputation of the bar was also a factor. “It’s finally getting the repercussions that it should have gotten far sooner,” she said. “It’s entirely deserving, and I’m surprised it took so long.”
—Ardeshir Tabrizian contributed reporting to this story.
Taylor’s Bar and Grill was a popular University of Oregon-themed bar in Eugene, Ore. The bar’s well known outdoor sign thanks its customers for creating memories there since 1922 after losing its liquor license in 2020. (Maddie Knight/Emerald)