Favorite
It’s difficult to ignore the inviting bar at the front of this four-decade-old Portland institution—especially when you spy diners huddled in booths, feasting on bacon-wrapped dates as they sip superb manhattans. But the dining room in back, as well as the patio outside, make the bar worth forgoing. Exuding both casual opulence and Old Portland charm, this waterfront bastion of Read more...
Favorite
Take a ride over to Saucebox, where a decidedly hip crowd unwinds to down-tempo electronica and some of the best happy hour chow in town. The Bachelor Pad Thai is filling and formidable, and at $3, a sweet deal. Saucebox’s happy hour thankfully extends past the 6 o’clock hour (it runs from 4:30 to 6:30, Tuesday through Friday), allowing the Read more...
Favorite
Oysters on the half shell elevated on a silver pedestal feels devilishly decadent, and on any night you can soak in one of Portland’s premier cocktail scenes at the slim, chic bar. The loading-dock seats offer prime people-watching and are a hot spot for one of Portland’s best happy hours. Read more...
Favorite
Sleek, chic, and seductive, this spot from two Multnomah Whiskey Library alums is a destination for clever cocktails and a seriously geeky wine list. With its 100-plus roster of classic and sought-after Euro and West Coast bottles (including natural and experimental labels), Shift rightly bills itself a “professional drinking establishment.” Read more...
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Two Ned Ludd alumni, Benjamin Artaiz and Jeremy Wilson, just opened their late-night Las Vegas-inspired hot dog bar on Northeast Alberta. The former Luddites are offering six, minimally bedazzled $4 hot dogs (the wildest flavor, Dog Japon, features cream cheese, scallions, and Togarashi seasoning) with cocktails on tap, from a hyper-local Moscow Mule to a carbonated White Russian with Stumptown cold brew. Read more...
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Navarre’s sister bar, a jewel box of a space dominated by conversation-starting pink, flowered walls, charms with French plates and artful cocktails. Portions are small, but the homey-yet-polished flavors are huge, like a stew-y French onion soup hiding gobs of gruyère, or a poached egg swimming in an impossibly silky, tart broth of red wine and onion. The steak tartare Read more...
Favorite
In this windowless underground bunker, time is erased as bartender supreme Jeffrey Morgenthaler (away from his usual post behind the bar at Clyde Common, located upstairs) lovingly stirs drinks we secretly desire, in near-pitch darkness. Schlocky cocktail pariahs rise again with newfound glory: espresso martinis croon velvety odes to Stumptown cold extract and Kahlúa; amaretto sours luxuriate under towering piles Read more...
Favorite
We lamented the demise of the iconic Music Millennium on Northwest 23rd Avenue as much as anyone. But after six long years of vacancy, what’s risen from its ashes is a small triumph: an enticingly homey neighborhood joint with a fireplace-to-space ratio that we heartily approve. Yes, the Fireside is inspired by (you guessed it!) all things fire, from its ax Read more...
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If Gigantic’s austere Southeast tasting room were a stage, the IPA would be its lone actor, delivering a silver-tongued soliloquy. “We make IPA. All year. That’s what we do,” says master brewer and Rock Bottom veteran Van Havig. In 2012, Havig teamed up with former Hopworks brewmaster Ben Love to build a brewery around Portland’s favorite hoppy ale. (Havig and Read more...
Favorite
At his cavernous Northeast Portland cidery and taproom, 36-year-old Virginia native Nat West will go through nearly 200 million apples this year—all part of his mission to realize “the apple’s deepest purpose.” That mission began a decade ago with a prolific apple tree in a friend’s yard. West’s casual experiments with the surplus fruit quickly evolved from pies to butters to Read more...