The Hourglass Pub at Glisan & 74th makes the absolute best fried chicken in Portland, and have for decades. Many people know this. What most people don’t know is the bizarre billiard chalk phenomenon that happens only at the Hourglass.
They have a beautiful 9-foot 1950’s pool table there (free!). But I’ve always noticed the house chalks get “glazed”. Like almost ceramic so that no chalk goes onto your tip. Surface sealed. My first thought noticing this years ago was “impacted house cue tips” or “cheap chalk.”
Except when they upgraded to Master chalk it still happened. And when I’d happen to bring my personal cue (quality tip) it still happened. Impossible to get chalk onto the tip. I was there two weeks ago (4 legs & 4 thighs) and it was perfect timing as they’d just put out some brand new, high end Triangle chalk. And those fresh cubes were working great. Full coverage and adhesion like you want in billiard chalk.
However – last night I went in and it and the change had already happened – those high quality, new Triangle chalks were infected with “the glaze”…
Here you can see the result of using one of their house chalks vs. a cube I had with me. It makes you miscue endlessly. It’s like trying to chalk with a broken Hummel figurine. You can actually see the rings from the Kumui tip’s stack of 10 pigskin layers! Ain’t no chalk on that cue, period.
The difference is obvious when chalking with my personal cube.
Thus, based on evidence, I can now only believe the cause of the mystery glazing is… chicken grease from people’s fingers.
It’s been many years since I’ve been to Reel M’ Inn – the second best fried chicken in Portland – as I no longer live nearby, and even when I did live nearby, I rarely went because the pool table is too crowded by tables and no fun, but I’ll have to make an observational stop-in.