Newport bar and concert staple Hogue Barmichael’s is closing

After 35 years in business, Newport Beach bar and concert venue Hogue Barmichael’s is closing to make way for a new restaurant and jazz bar.

Owner Gary Folgner sold Hogue’s to Jack Jasper, former owner of the restaurant Jack Shrimp, which shut its doors six months ago. While Jasper will maintain the establishment as Hogue’s for the next month or two, it will eventually reopen as Campus Jax, a healthy soul restaurant with occasional jazz and blues concerts.

Hailed as one of the few stages for local musicians in Orange County — and the only such spot open to all ages — Hogue’s became an important part of the community over the past three decades.

“It’s really sad,” said Carri Gallagher, manager of Hogue’s since 2011. “I think we’re missing something that was just a landmark.”

Hogue Barmichael’s first opened on Newport Boulevard in 1980, according to Gallagher, and has had a variety of owners.

“It had a good long run there prior to the 55 Freeway going in,” she said. In 1992, it moved to Campus Drive, and in 2011, Folgner, who also owns the Coach House in San Juan Capistrano, took over.

While Hogue’s started off as a bar more focused on its food than music, it evolved into an important venue for local musicians trying to break into the industry.

One reason was that Hogue’s didn’t require bands to pay to play or to sell a certain number of tickets in advance — something unheard of anywhere else in the area — explained Orange County Music League president and co-founder John Safari, who regularly booked local bands at the bar.

“It was definitely a breath of fresh air,” Safari said. “To be able to go in, not having to worry about those things, you had more fun, and that made it a better atmosphere. You really felt like you were getting taken care of, instead of getting taken advantage of.”

Gallagher said this feature was important in how she ran Hogue’s.

“A lot of rooms have made a good deal of money off bands themselves, who are just trying to play,” she said. “So what you end up with is a bunch of musicians who are trying to get their careers going, but who are making mom and dad put up a bunch of money for it. But we wanted to make it a lot more fun for everybody, to take the stress out of it.”

According to Gallagher, Hogue’s typically hosted about four concerts on the weekends, plus karaoke nights during the week, with audiences ranging from 25 to 300 people.

But what Gallagher said she would miss the most are the people.

“I had the most amazing customer base,” she said. “We turned it into the kind of place where it didn’t matter how many people were there, or who was there, you could sit down and talk to anyone. It was all around a warm environment.”

While Hogue’s will remain open for a while longer under Jasper, it has already started transitioning to a new type of establishment.

“It’s been kind of dilapidated — it needs a little TLC,” Jasper said. “I’m coming in and putting in new chairs, new tables, repainting the whole place, getting it updated a bit.”

In addition to renovating the interior, Jasper has already introduced new dishes to the menu — including his famous jambalaya and rice from Jack Shrimp — and stopped live entertainment. Once the building is in better shape, he said, the music will return, but will feature more blues and jazz instead of the hard rock it favored in the past.

Jasper also wants to open up the new eatery for lunch during the week and brunch on weekends, and move away from traditional bar fare.

“I’ll put a lot of focus on plant-based foods and brain foods, better ingredients that are better for you and have health benefits,” he said. “It’ll be food with benefits — instead of friends with benefits.”

While Safari is sad to see the end of the old Hogue’s — he’s been going there since he was 15 years old — he’s willing to give Campus Jax a chance.

“Hogue’s is going to be missed — it was a staple in the community for many years,” he said. “But I know [Jasper] had his restaurants, and there’s been nothing but good stuff said about them, so I might try to eat there.”