The Backstory: Three quarters of a century on, the Alibi is thumping along strong as ever. Sure, there are more enthusiastically themed bars out there, and there are bars turning out more involved tiki drinks. But nowhere has the same energy of this expansive, gritty karaoke grotto. What is a birthday but another year on the calendar without a stop at the Alibi?

A Bit of Advice: For drinks, go for the classics: mai tais, Singapore slings, the odd banana hammock (it comes with a plastic toy monkey), or the obligatory piña colada, if you’re so inclined. If you have the crowd for it, get a “bowl” (“for two or more partiers”). Why not. We’re partial to the Scorpion Bowl—because it’s served aflame.

Love It Because: The Alibi has always been there for those in need of a night to remember. And that’s why we love it. They have the drink umbrellas; they have totem pole-shaped glasses—the hula murals, fish tanks, seashell chandeliers, and cracked pleather banquettes and scuzzy video lottery lounge to tie it all together. Come for the crazy matrix of neon signs announcing the bar out front, and stay long enough to belt out some Whitney Houston. —Matthew Trueherz

4024 N Interstate Ave

The Backstory: For a decade now, bartender Kyle Linden Webster and James Beard Award–winning chef Naomi Pomeroy’s escapist bar has escaped classification. They’ll tell you that it serves drinks and snacks “far-flung in origin and adhering to tradition only if it yields delectable results.”

A Bit of Advice: You’re better off trusting its precise list of cocktails blindly instead of trying to decode it. The Cricket, for instance, gracefully pairs Cocchi Americano with mezcal, corn liqueur, the grassy French liqueur avèze, and celery bitters. Food follows suit, sometimes conspicuously pared back (see: James Beard’s own butter and onion sandwich) and sometimes artfully wrangled, as in the Thai-inspired wonton nachos, or the “properly spiced” (with Szechuan chili) fried chicken sandwich.

Love It Because: The room itself, centered around an ornate golden Chinese arch serving as the bar’s backsplash, and a prominently featured turntable (Webster is a known audiophile), hints in a few different directions, though it leaves you feeling, pleasantly, that you’re anywhere but here. —MT

5424 NE 30th Ave

The Scene: Hey Love feels like a vacation-themed pop-up bar that never left the sleek lobby of the Jupiter Hotel, and it’s better for it. A canopy of plants and rattan lighting fixtures cover the HVAC and popcorn ceiling, and a scattering of eclectic rugs warms up the concrete floors. A soul-heavy playlist hums below the chorus of conversations—it’s always buzzing.

A Bit of Advice: I’m not sure vacation qualifies as an explicit theme, but the cocktail menu loaded with tropical spirits might have you reaching for sunscreen while you’re taking off your raincoat. Mezcal and tequila are swapped into several classic cocktails, like the Heart of Gold, a thorough retooling of a Pimm’s Cup, twisted with pineapple: it’s sweet but refreshing, served over a mountain of crushed ice and slightly effervescent with a float of ginger beer, and tequila swapped for the gin, of course. Everything has a little touch added to stay within the world its built, even a simple vodka soda with cucumber is listed on the menu as a Sharon Is Karen. It’s also something of a slushie haven—see the whipped cream and Oreo-topped frozen Irish coffee. The abbreviated food menu is very vegan-friendly and suitably worldly (vegetarian hearts of palm ceviche, a jerk-spiced burger, fried tofu sandwich, and mahi mahi tacos breaded with Rice Krispies).

Love It Because: All of this amounts to a focused bar that manages to escape the intimidating “destination spot” classification. You can pop in for a Tuesday evening drink on a whim, or make a weekend night of it. Order something tropical either way. —MT

920 E Burnside St

The Backstory: If you stepped inside the blacklight posters on your dorm room wall, and there was a bar on the other side of that threshold, what would be there? For Mariah and Thomas Pisha-Duffly, the couple behind Gado Gado and Oma’s Hideaway, the answer involves their signature mix of playful pan-Asian cuisine, pulling from Singaporean, Malaysian, and Indonesian recipes, and making burgers and the like through that lens—or French onion soup instant ramen.

A Bit of Advice: Dinosaurs are involved. Many Things Can’t Fly, a cocktail with “dinosaur” among its ingredients (paired with rum, blackberry, black sesame, and Jäger), arrives at the table in a speckled egg. A pair of wing-like mint leaves wrap around the sides, framing a plastic toy dinosaur. Drinks skew tropical and favor rum, such as the Thot Experiment slushie—laced with blue curacao and soursop. You can also order an Aperol-spiked Miller High Life (a Spaghett) and boba-studded Jell-O shots.

Love It Because: You can put virtually anything on a blacklight poster, so the theme becomes something of a send up to all things throwback. 702’s “Where My Girls At” might be playing, and the walls—wrapped in a black wallpaper designed by Portland artist Kate Blairstone, filled with anthropomorphized and slightly sultry animals—glow like one big poster, culminating in a hand-painted mural behind the bar. It’s a trip. —MT

2100 Southeast Clinton St

The Scene: On the first floor of a newer, nondescript commercial building next to the train tracks on SE Division Street, acclaimed bartender Ricky Gomez has carved out a little tile-floored, radiantly painted ode to his Cuban heritage that feels like a trip to Miami.

A Bit of Advice: Two pages of cocktails, neatly divided into shaken, stirred, blended, and bubbles await you, adding twists on classics like a little coconut and masala spice in an old fashioned, or raspberry in a classic gin fizz. Daiquiris are also key to the menu, as are boozy, caffeinated numbers like the Matcha Flip with chartreuse. They’re all well-crafted and flavorful, and not too heavy on the sweetness.

Love It Because: The Cuban-inspired food by chef Ricky Bella is just as much of a draw. The frita Cubana is a must, a burger combining beef and chorizo that’s topped with feathery, crisp potato strings. The ultimate salve for seasonal depression. —Katherine Chew Hamilton

959 SE Division St, Ste 100

The Backstory: Known for getting the Multnomah Whiskey Library’s impressive cache of spirits up and running a decade ago, Tommy Klus opened his own swanky cocktail cave in 2019.

A Bit of Advice: Order a glass of something you’ve never heard of from the pages-long whiskey and scotch menu. Or go for one of the mad-scientist cocktails. Pisco with yuzu, Yakult, cucumber, mint, and blueberry popping boba? Bourbon with cacao nib–infused ruby port, nocino, and amaro whip? Or order the bar’s calling card: the Painkiller Cobbler, which gets its cheery purple color from ube cream of coconut, boozed up with sherry and brightened with pineapple and orange. The food carries equal weight, with a sizable menu of elegant dishes that reliably hit the spot when you’ve had a drink or two. Devour a pile of pickle-spiced fries, nosh on pumpernickel-breaded fried brie, or slurp fresh pappardelle slicked with seaweed butter. The room itself is worth the trip: down a flight of stairs, wallpapered and filled with dark wood, it has all the cut-crystal charms of a speakeasy but, like the food and drink, leaves behind a dusty adherence to tradition for tradition’s sake.

Love It Because: Some bars you visit for impeccable versions of classics. But you visit Scotch Lodge to be surprised. —KCH

215 SE Ninth Ave, Ste 102

The Backstory: Wife and husband duo Jessica Baesler and Graham Files—the pair are a constant presence—give Someday a deeply personal feel. You’ll see it at an order-ahead barbecue oyster Sunday, on the cheery patio populated by several food carts, and in the deftly curated menu assembled from inspiration collected on their frequent travels abroad. House cocktails gracefully bend classic formulas and are coolly presented: simple glassware, minimal garnishes, lots of soul.

A Bit of Advice: The gin gin fizz, made with the Japanese milk soda Calpico and a whisper of rosewater, feels like a breeze washing through a linen shirt. They also serve a tidy list of classic ’20s and ’30s cocktails, citing their historical sources, like the Waldorf-Astoria Bar’s high-proof Chauncey. Ten wines are offered by the glass or bottle, name-dropping a few local favorites like Spumoni Wines and Cutter Cascadia. Snacks are light but well-chosen: radishes and butter, a rotating cheese plate that puts the pallid, obligatory placeholder brie found on most menus to shame. See also: the no-frills hot dog that never leaves the menu, and the Ritz cracker-sidled shrimp cocktail.

Love It Because: Someday’s community ties run deep, and it shows in the events they host. Whether that’s their recurring series of collaborations with Basque cidery Son of Man, a glass-pour takeover from natural wine royalty Hiyu, or even a pottery painting workshop. It’s hard to believe this place opened just two months before the pandemic hit; it feels built on top of decades-deep roots. —MT

Down the alley at 3634 SE Division St

The Backstory: Underneath the hottest table in the city (that would be Kann) rests a subterranean sibling of sorts—and it’s anything but an afterthought. Sousòl’s food and drinks are pan-Caribbean, contrasted with Kann’s strict focus on Haiti, which lends the bar an entirely unique identity and energy. Wall-to-wall forest-print wallpaper sets a low-lit, sexy tone and serves as a foil for velour banquettes in a bombastic fuchsia.

A Bit of Advice: What’s consistent across chef Gregory Gourdet’s establishments are the gluten- and dairy-free menus, as well as a generous offering of zero-proof cocktails. I like the warm-spiced Kokoye; it’s rich with coconut and lightened by Haitian ginger tea. From the boozy offerings, don’t miss the Djon Djon Djin, a punchy apple brandy–spiked cocktail named for the Haitian black mushrooms it’s infused with. The focus is on the cocktails, but there are several must-order snacks on the menu. Crispy and sticky Trini-Chinese chicken wings are delicately held by a single clean bone—the most date-appropriate wings in existence. Doubles, the chewy, fried flatbreads born from the influence of Trinidad’s Indian population, are served with tamarind chutney and spicy curried chickpeas.  

Love It Because: This is not merely the place to wait for your reservation at Kann. In fact, you’d be wise to make one for Sousòl. —MT

227 SE Sixth Ave

The Story: Any game day—for WNBA, NWSL, women’s tennis or golf, college softball, and more—can bring a crowd to this year-old, minors-allowed sports bar dedicated to showing women and nonbinary athletes. People aren’t swarming in for the food and drink, though the fried cauliflower in a shallow pool of cilantro tahini is crave-worthy.

A Bit of Advice: The cocktail menu (backed by woman-owned Freeland Spirits) will make you stand at attention for the bourbon-peach Title IX or the briny, gin-forward ode to everyone’s new favorite sport, Pickle Ball, and the tap list showcasing women brewers offers a good mix for hop-hounds and easy-drinking lagerheads alike.

Love It Because: The crowds are here for the joy of not having to ask someone to please turn on a women’s game, and the thrill of watching the thing you’re most excited about in public with other people who are just as pleased to be there. If there’s no live game, expect replays or highlights series. On a really slow sports day, a vintage Jane Fonda workout might pop up. —Margaret Seiler

2512 NE Broadway

The Story: Everything is relentlessly on point at this four-year-old North Portland “tavern,” a word that describes the Tulip Shop on paper, but falls short in addressing its devotion to nailing the details. 

A Bit of Advice: Classics like a sticky boulevardier and, no doubt, a flawless espresso martini fly off the bar, as do inventive seasonal cocktails, like the autumnal Part Time Lover, a mix of herb-scented pear and apple brandies and housemade falernum, the almond-based, warm-spiced tiki drink elixir. But bartenders are just as happy to serve you a Shop Dog, a Kokanee tallboy and a bartender’s choice “scoot.” The textbook smashburger is my favorite in town, and the onion rings—battered, not breaded, and the size of a Krispy Kreme—are truly best in class. Food specials including hard shell “mom tacos” and hand-dipped corn dogs sell out early, and are not to be missed.

Love It Because: On somewhat rare occasions, this might also be the only place you can get a chopped cheese (a NYC bodega staple) in Portland. Probably, Black Sabbath is playing. If it’s early, you’ll spot couples with their dogs having dinner on the heated and covered patio. If it’s late, groups of friends swarm—from bikers to goths to the small beanie set—and you probably won’t be able to find a table. —MT

825 N Killingsworth St