Bars in Northwest Portland
21st Avenue Bar & Grill
Specifically: 21st
Nondescript watering hole with a fantastic patio.
23 Hoyt
Fancy Farm to Table Cuisine
50 Plates
More high end Americana restaurant than bar & one of the few tolerable Pearlized places.
Acapulco's Gold
Relatively inexpensive Mexican restaurant and bar in the upper NW warehouse district.
Andina
Peruvian food served up with tasty Pisco Sours, live jazz nightly.
Aura
Good happy hour, decent food, lovely design, professional service...the crowds however, kill it.
Bar Due
Companion bar to Fratelli, oft raved about by foodies and Yelpers alike.
Bar Mingo
Specifically: 21st
Reasonably priced Italiano on NW 21st.
Barrel Room Rockin' Show Bar
Dueling piano bar in the heart of the amateur nightclub zone.
Bartini
Specifically: 21st
Tiny martini bar accompanying Urban Fondue (as opposed, to say, Rural Fondue - hot chee' straight from the goat's teat!)
Basta's
Specifically: 21st
Italian restaurant with a beautifully designed bar/lounge area.
Beauty Bar
Hipster haven boasting Manicures & Martinis for $10.
Besaw's
Specifically: 23rd
Popular eatery in NW with a bustling breakfast crowd that, according to them, obtained the first liquor license in Oregon.
Bitter End
Popular bar for the pre/post Timbers crowd.
Blitz Pearl
Low Key Sports Bar in the Pearl
Blitz Sports Pub
Specifically: 21st
Another Blitz - this one on NW 21st - slated to open soon.
Blue Moon
Specifically: 21st
One of the Better McMenamin Choices
Bluehour
Famous Bruce Carey restaurant with a separate lounge that's popular with those folks with $.
Boiler Room
Karaoke bar in the heart of the of the Old Town's amateur zone.
Bottoms Up
Strip club outside of Portland on highway 30
Boxxes Video Bar
Dancing, videos, boys.
Bridgeport Brewpub
Bridgeport's sterile flagship brewpub in the Pearl.
Brix Tavern
Pearl District lounge/sports bar with a VIP loft area.
Captain Ankeny's Well
Captain Ankeny's serves as the pre-func/food court green room in the venue blocks of Old Town.
Casa Del Matador
Specifically: 23rd
Not THE Matador on W. Burnside. Repeat. Not THE Matador on W. Burnside.
Casa Diablo
Specifically: Industrial Area
Much hyped, nationally famous vegan strip club, notorious for the dirtiest dances and two girl sex shows.
Casey's Nightclub & Lounge
Casual gay lounge in Old Town
Cassidy's
Perfect pre-Crystal or post ART mainstay.
CC Slaughter's
On a scale of 1-10, 1 being there may be some gays holding hands here, and 10 being you will definitely see naked gay boys, this is an 11.
Central
"Hidden" (as in signless) classy little joint in the Ankeny Alley
Cheerful Bullpen
Sports bar just a stone's throw from Jeld-Wen. Too bad they named themselves after baseball, since baseball left our fair city.
Cheers Northwest
Formerly known as an "Old man's bar," Cheers is now apparently marketing itself as a gastro pub.
Commodore
Fortified island citadel of slovenly drunkenness, faithfully resisting the surrounding gentrification.
Couture Ultra Lounge
Chic "Ultra-lounge" right in the heart of the weekend downtown douchebag zone.
Crackerjack's Pub
Relatively large but cozy bar on the outskirts of Nob Hill.
Crystal Ballroom
Even if you hate'em, the McBros have a great downtown music venue.
Cuda Beach Club
New name for Barracuda - the longstanding mainstay of Portland's very own Jersey Shore set.
Darcelle XV
Best and longest running Drag show in town.
Davis Street Tavern
More restaurant than tavern, for sure.
Dirty
Meat market for suburban set, located in the heart of the date rape district.
Dixie Tavern
Rock/urban cowboy themed bar is neither a tavern nor a rock bar, teeming with suburban 20 somethings eager to swap DNA and exotic diseases.
Dockside Saloon & Restaurant
Specifically: Industrial Area
More of a blue collar lunch diner than a saloon, it opens in the wee hours, and closes even earlier.
Dragonfish
Sushi restaurant in the bottom of the Paramount Hotel.
East Chinatown Lounge
Upscale bar with DJs nearly nightly.
Ella Street Social Club
Decent bar near Timbers Stadium
Embers
Queer-ish Dance Club
Fox & Hounds
Laid back, aww-shucks bar with a primarily older gay clientele.
Gilt Club
Expensive, but tasty cocktails in a chic setting.
Groove Suite
Multi-room lounge with dancing and sofas thrown in intermittently.
Ground Kontrol
Play every arcade game under the sun with a beer or cocktail in hand after 5pm.
Gypsy
Another Concept Entertainment Group creation, this time on NW 21st, featuring fish bowl cocktails.
Hamburger Mary's
Portland drag institution
Harvey's Comedy Club
Portland's oldest and entirely painful comedy club is marketed primarily by auto-dialers offering you 12 free tickets. Thank a clueless friend, you get what you pay for.
Hobo's
Tends towards a mostly gay clientele, far classier than the bump'n'grind meat markets of Vaseline Alley.
Jake's Famous Crawfish
100+ year old landmark extents an excellent happy hour to the mostly corporate/tourist set.
Jimmy Mak's
Long standing Pearl District jazz club.
Jinx
Exactly what you would expect from a Pearl District lounge with a four letter moniker.
Joe's Cellar
Specifically: 21st
Great dive bar you'd find if you walked all the way to the end of NW 21st.
Kell's Brew Pub
According to the OLCC filing, Kell's Irish is opening up a brew pub at this address. Not currently open.
Kells Irish
Perfect for when you and 300 other amateur hour weekend warriors simply must have an authentically Americanized Irish bar experience...
Kingston
Sports bar with tons of rooms next to Jeld-Wen.
Le Happy
Dark, tiny little crepe restaurant/bar, fulfills the PDX requirement for quirky irreverence. Open late for a post drinking session snack, or PBR nightcap.
Life of Riley Tavern
Not so much a dive, but as far as down to earthiness in the Pearl, the closest thing you will get aside from the Low Brow.
Low Brow Lounge
A dive island in an ocean of chi-chi codified boxes, the Low Brow is welcome respite. Expect double the surliness.
Lucky Labrador Beer Hall
Crunchy, dog-friendly brew pub.
M Bar
Specifically: 21st
Teeny tiny neighborhood wine bar for drinkers absent of uptight oenophiles and nouveau sophisticates
Magic Garden
This Portland institution is a bar first, strip club second, and a much sought notch on every off-key travel writer's belt. Friendly, up close and personal dancers on a tiny stage.
Marathon Taverna
Sports bar in the loosest sense: games play on numerous TVs, Budweiser banners adorn, the day shift old-timers could care less; at night, TapouT bedecked youngsters from god knows hoot & holler.
Matador
Frequented by homeless alcoholics, punks, D list celebrities, and slumming suburbanites, the Matador sets the bar by which all other Portland dives are measured.
Mazatlan
Completely ordinary Mexican restaurant/bar with no real discerning qualities, other than the clientele's perplexed stares at Ella St. Social Club patrons across the st.
McFadden's
In the heart of the Jagerbomb district, the 20something suburban throngs descend to shake to a surprisingly decent DJs.
McMenamin's Tavern & Pool
Specifically: 23rd
Quite tolerable northwest McJoint, sans touring families and uptight 23rd throngs.
Mission Theatre
McMovie theater with balcony seating, $3 movies, and other frequent events.
Muu Muu's
Specifically: 21st
Muu-Muus is quite possibly the best of the alphabet blocks: inventive comfort food & excellent atmosphere with just enough edge to scare away the amateurs.
New Old Lompoc
Specifically: 23rd
'Tis a brewpub designed for drinkers first, beer geeks second, with amiable yet edgy service and sporting a fantastic outdoor patio for smokers.
Nicolai St. Clubhouse
Specifically: Industrial Area
Small friendly strip club, typically filled industrial area workers swilling their post shift drinks.
Nob Hill Bar & Grill
"But the burgers...". What about'em? Completely ordinary. Still, as sustainable eateries and posh boutiques completely zone out the fun, it is good to know that this shithole stubbornly survives.
North 45
Specifically: 21st
Swell back patio (non-smoking) and interesting drinks, tends toward the clean cut, pre-yuppie type crowd.
O'Brien's
Specifically: 21st
A completely regular old sorta sports bar, loosely golf themed, rarely busy.
On Deck Sports Bar & Grill
Rooftop Pearl District sports bar (meaning, too damn clean) that has most packages, and an expansive rooftop patio.
Pope House Bourbon Lounge
Specifically: 21st
At some point, it had to happen: A bourbon cocktail focused and derby themed bar would open in a NW Victorian home, and yes, bourbon flights are available.
Republic
Go for the Food
Ringlers Annex
McMenamins pub in a tiny three floored flatiron building.
Ringside Steakhouse
Upscale steak house with a tiny lounge that serves amazing late night happy hour bites.
Rogue Ales Public House
Relatively basic brewpub and distillery that's an ultimate destination for traveling beer geeks. Go on your birthday and get a free t-shirt!
Roseland Theatre
1300 person capacity live music venue in the heart of downtown.
Santa Fe Taqueria
Tiny bar attached to a popular Mexican restaurant on NW 23rd.
Scandals
Since 1979 Scandals is one of Portland oldest continuously gay owned and operated bars in Portland.
Seres
Organic sustainable Chinese restaurant with a gluten-free menu (gluten free Chinese?!) located predictably in the Pearl.
Serratto
Upscale Italian restaurant with a huge bar in NW.
Silver Dollar Pizza
Specifically: 21st
Neighborhood Pizza and sports bar on NW 21st.
Silver Dollar Pizza II
Kind of a sports bar sans many sports fans, awkwardly fitting into it's place just up the street from landmark mainstays.
Skyline Tavern
Old-school bar on Skyline Drive with a huge outdoor space for horseshoes, BBQs and watching the sunset.
Slabtown
To quote Slabtown's Twitter profile: "Portland's only pinball dive and rock club, forgotten in the shadow of I-405."
Someday Lounge
Two level lounge by day/evening, music venue or dance club by night.
Spyce
Downtown strip bar featuring a $1 menu from 3pm-7pm Sundays-Thursday when you buy a dance.
Tanuki
From their website: "Please note that an izakaya is a place for adult relaxation and socializing. We do not allow children in our establishment." Score!
Teardrop Lounge
Schmancy, beautiful cocktail lounge in the Pearl that specializes in every detail of a perfectly crafted cocktail.
The Crown Room
Extremely loud bar/venue that's awkwardly designed in layout, but has a wide variety of events that cater to a wide crowd.
The Decoy
Specifically: Linnton
Divey neighborhood bar just outside of Portland that serves chinese food, but isn't an Asian lounge.
The Paragon
Nice Old-school Pearl District restaurant with a large bar area and porch/street seating. Perfect for scenesters on First Thursday.
The Ram's Head
Yet another McMenamin's. This time on NW 23rd Ave.
Tiger Bar
Self proclaimed rock and roll bar on the fringe of the Pearl
Tony's Old Time Tavern
Specifically: Burnside
One of the diviest bars in NW, which is a lot to say, considering it's next door to the Matador.
Trader Vic's
Legendary tiki chain of a bygone era risen from the ashes.
Tube
Tiny little future chic turned hipsta-matic irony trailer. Always lovely 20 somethings, always good tunes spinning.
Underdogs Sports Bar
Specifically: 21st
Historic Nob Hill Pharmacy refurbished into a completely bland sports bar, featuring an incredibly tasteless sign.
Uptown Billiards Club
Specifically: 23rd
Exclusive old money era gentleman's billiard parlor sans any actual exclusivity, save for pricier food & beverages, allowing unfettered self-congratulating conversation between the well-heeled.
Vino Paradiso
Unpretentious NW Wine Bar, soon to change names to Coppia.
Voicebox
Private booth karaoke parlor, beer/wine/sake only.
Whiskey Bar & Lounge
Old Town Dance Club
Wilf's
Specifically: Union Station
Classy jazz supper club with red booths adjacent to the train station.
Wimpy's
Yes it's still open. It's just a few doors down.
Yes & No
Downtown Hardwood Haven
Yur's
Down and dirty dive, unofficially Radio Cab driver's "lounge".
