The Noriega Hotel Bar Set is a fine example of Streamline Moderne commercial design, distinguished by its curved bar counter and matching back-bar cabinet. Now permanently installed inside the Pioneer Village Trolley Car Station at the Kern County Museum in Bakersfield, California, the ensemble was successfully salvaged from the historic Sumner Street restaurant after its closure. As a surviving fixture of the Noriega Hotel — a landmark Basque boardinghouse and restaurant — the bar stands as a tangible reminder of Basque-American social life, where communal meals and iconic Picon Punch cocktails shaped generations of local tradition. Over decades of service, the bar earned a legendary reputation for mixing an estimated one million Picon Punches, the potent Basque-American drink made with Amer Picon (or Torani Amer), brandy, soda water and a splash of grenadine. - AsNotedIn
| Y/M/D | Association | Description | Place | Locale | Food | Event | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1940/00/00 | The Noriega Hotel expands by adding a dining room and installing a massive wooden bar and back-bar. | Noriega Hotel | Bakersfield, CA | Picon Punch | |||
| 2020/06/25 | Kern County Museum staff and a team of community volunteers dismantled the wooden bar and back-bar from the Noriega Hotel, load onto flatbeds, bound for the museum. | Noriega Hotel | Bakersfield, CA | ||||
| 2020/06/26 | After decades of serving Picon Punch, the Noriega Hotel's wooden bar and back-bar is moved to its permanent home inside the Kern County Museum's Pioneer Village Trolley Car Station. | Kern County Museum | Bakersfield, CA | Picon Punch |
| Particulars for Noriega Hotel's Bar Counter (furniture): | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Commercial furniture | Back Bar Cabinet | commercial back bar is the workstation and display area directly behind the bartender | |
| Commercial Furniture | Bar Counter | elevated horizontal surface in bar or pub, for serving and consuming drinks | |
| Cultural Affiliation | Basque-American | ethnic group of Americans tracing their ancestry to the Basque Country, straddling northern Spain and southern France. | |
| Area of Significance | Entertainment - Recreation | ||
| Object | Furniture | large movable objects used to make a space suitable for living or working | |
| Sight Category | Object | ||
| Area of Significance | Social History | ||
| Architectural Style | Streamline Moderne | ||
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