Mo's - Newport, OR
Posted by: 
silverquill
N 44° 37.719 W 124° 03.302
10T E 416311 N 4942240
This is the original Mo's started in 1940, now a legend in this region. From local folks and tourist to the famous, such as Bobby Kennedy, Paul Newman and Paul Harvery, all know there's no better chowder than Mo's!
Waymark Code: WM6H4E
Location: Oregon, United States
Date Posted: 06/04/2009
Views: 5
From the restaurant web site - where there is more fascinating history
(
visit link)
Mohava Marie Niemi, Newport’s crusty, big hearted chain smoking mother's entry into the business world began in 1940 when she and her father bought the Bay Haven Inn on Newport’s salty waterfront. In 1946 they sold the tavern when Mo joined her friend Freddy Kent, to start a café called “Freddie and Mo’s” (a few years later when Freddie became ill, Mo bought her friend out, thus sealing the legacy of Mo’s.)
Mo liked the majority of the people she met, and she did meet many people over the years, including the rich and famous. It was her giving way to come down to the “joint” during the dinner rush and play hostess. She’d see the line of people waiting for a table, then go straight to the cook and say, “Give me a plate of Halibut, and some of those oysters,” which she would then pass out to the hungry people standing in line. “Here,” she’d say, “You’d better try some of these.” In this same way she entertained dignitaries such as Governor Tom McCall, Senator Mark Hatfield, and Representative Les AuCoin. Once news commentator Paul Harvey walked in and asked, “is there a Mo here? I’m supposed to meet her.”
Paul Newman, Joanne Woodward, Henry Fonda, Lee Remmick and the entire cast and crew of “Sometimes A Great Notion,” the movie made from author Ken Kesey’s novel, became friends of Mo’s while filming in Newport. Mo, herself, was in a scene which took place in the Bay Haven Inn, renamed The Snag in the film.
Senator Robert Kennedy, who came through Newport on his presidential campaign tour in May of 1968, liked the chowder so much he took a couple of buckets with him on the plane and even invited Mo to join them for the trip to Los Angeles. She politely declined, and then bitterly regretted her decision. Shortly thereafter Kennedy was shot to death after a campaign speech at the Ambassador Hotel.
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Mo's opened and Annex across the street in 1968, and a third location at Otter Rock was added in 1970, three more locations have been added since then, but it is still and independent, family business. Mo's even does a mail order business.