Drinking in Portland (Oregon)

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Take advantage of the Northwest's famous microbrews - small breweries that serve their own (and other's) craft beers. A world away from the generic beers that are the mainstay of America. Portland also has more traditional nightlife drinking establishments mainly located downtown and in 'The Pearl' - you will find everything from dance clubs, gay bars, an assortment of karaoke bars and much more. Portland likes its alcohol.

• Bagdad Theater and Pub, 3702 SE Hawthorne, +1 503 228-4651. www.mcmenamins.com/index.php?loc=9 2:30PM-midnight daily (depending on feature). The Bagdad is one of the great things about Portland: a 700-seat second-run movie theater serving a selection of regional craft brews you can drink while you watch.
• Mission Theater 1624 NW Glisan, and Kennedy School Theater 5736 NE 33rd, are part of the McMenamins Empire. Cinema 21, 616 NW 21st Ave, www.cinema21.com A non-chain, non-McMenamins owned cinema brew pub showing more foreign, documentary and experimental film. Laurelhurst Theater www.laurelhursttheater.com/home.html and Clinton St Theater www.clintonsttheater.com are other cinemas serving beer, wine and food.
• Bartini 2108 NW Glisan. A cocktail bar with an extensive and interesting drink list, it has excellent atmosphere and good Happy Hour prices. As for food, they have a wide variety of fondues (including a scrumptious chocolate fondue) and other great dishes.
• Belmont Station www.belmont-station.com 4520 SE Stark, Belmont Station is both a store and bar/cafe. The store side hosts over 1000 bottled beers from around the world, and the cafe offers a solid lineup of sandwiches, soups, and light pub fare, as well as interesting beers on draft. The friendly and knowledgeable staff make this the place to go to explore Portland's beer scene.
• Bailey's Taproom, 213 SW Broadway, ☎ +1 503 295-1004, baileystaproom.com. 4PM-midnight. Offers 20 constantly rotating taps, plus one beer engine, encompassing the entire range of beer styles with emphasis on Oregon breweries. Located in downtown Portland, convenient to most hotels, mass transit, events, nightlife, restaurants and welcome to both microbrew fanatics and the uninitiated. One of the most eclectic selections of beer around and encourages enthusiasm for the unfamiliar. (Closed Sundays) $10.
• Coffee People, www.coffeepeople.com. Now available only at a small handful of locations inside Portland International Airport, it used to be Portland's answer to Starbucks' empire, except with real milkshakes, and better coffee. Try a Velvet Hammer if you need caffeine.
• The Delta Cafe on SE Woodstock, serves messy Barbecue Pork sandwiches, lemonade in a jar, mixed drinks and 40 oz Mickey's.
• Dots, SE Clinton and 26th. A funky night spot.
• Fireside Coffee Lodge, 1223 SE Powell Blvd, www.firesidecoffeelodge.com. What would a trip to Portland be with out 24-hour coffee with WiFi? Lots of sandwiches and breakfast from Midnight.
• Hair of the Dog Brewing, 4509 SE 23rd Ave, +1 503 232-6585, www.hairofthedog.com. A microbrewery that achieved a weird sort of notoriety for high-alcohol-content beers, including "Dave," which had an astonishing 29% alcohol by volume. (It's no longer produced.) Not a brewpub but its beers can be found around town at such places as Higgin's and Horse Brass.
• Hopworks Urban Brewery, 2944 SE Powell Blvd, www.hopworksbeer.com One of the newest additions to the Portland brewpub scene. They emphasize sustainable practices business model. Hoppy beer with a distinct flavor.
• Horse Brass Pub, 4534 SE Belmont, www.horsebrass.com. Another English-style pub that also serves a range of English-style food. An "old-world" atmosphere, reasonable prices, an huge beer list, free darts, and a friendly and knowledgeable staff make this a great place to relax with a pint and catch up with old friends. The smoke in here used to reach epic levels on weekend nights before Oregon's smoking ban took effect.
• Laurelwood Public House & Brewery, 1728 NE 40th Ave (also a NW location at 2327 NW Kearney St). For the quintessential Portland brewpub experience. Enjoy beer crafted by award-winning Brewmaster Christian Ettinger along with excellent food in a family-friendly setting. The garlic fries are not to be missed, desserts are huge and appealing, and the Laurelwood Spinach Salad is the best salad in Portland. Very child-friendly, so be aware of unsupervised toddlers darting around between the tables. Entrees are creative and of high quality.
• McMenamins, www.mcmenamins.com. Opening with its original location in 1983, The Barley Mill Pub, McMenamins now boasts over 50 locations in Oregon and Washington, which include the Bagdad Theater and Pub, Mission Theater and Pub, and the Kennedy School. Not all locations have theaters.
• Teardrop Lounge, 1015 NW Everett St, teardroplounge.com/teardrop.html One of the more upscale, inventive cocktail spots in PDX. The great drink concoctions have been written about in many national publications.
• Pied Cow, 3244 SE Belmont St, Phone: +1 503 230-4866. A great coffee house in Portland. No other place like it. If you visit for the summer, you must come to this place. It's a great experience.
• Red and Black Cafe, 400 SE 12th, redandblackcafe.com. A Worker owned collective in SE. Usually carries at least one craft beer from Captured by Porches, a local microbrew which is prevalent around the punk rock community. Everything, including the beers are vegan. If you are not in the mood for alcohol try their daily brewed iced teas in flavors like lemon ginger mate, and nettle peppermint, or their cold pressed coffee. Cheap eats too host to Portland's best Vegan Reuben.
• Ristretto Roasters, 3520 NE 42nd Ave (note that the shop is on the side street across from the school even though the address is on 42nd), www.ristrettoroasters.com. Great, hard-core coffee roaster where craft is more important than flash. This small coffee shop roasts its own coffee in a visible back room. Be sure to take some home as there are not many places that do such a good job with their roasting. Free Wi-Fi on site. In 2008, Ristretto Roasters opened its second, larger location and coffee lab, 3808 N Williams Ave, +1 503 288-8667.
• Rogue Ales Public House, 1339 NW Flanders, +1 503 222-5910, www.rogue.com. Best burger and fries downtown, and more beers then you can handle.
• Stumptown Coffee Roasters, three locations; SW 3rd and Pine, SE 35th and Belmont, and SE 45th and Division. One of the most celebrated and appreciated local coffee roasters in a city known for good coffee, Stumptown is credited for having beans that taste as fresh as a good home roast. Frequent customers include a quirky assortment of hipsters, yuppies, artists and the like. Many other coffee shops around town sell exclusively Stumptown coffee, and beans can be purchased whole at any of the three locations, as well as more gourmet grocery stores such as Wild Oats and Whole Foods.
• World Cup Coffee and Tea, on 18th and NW Glisan, in Powell's City of Books downtown and the Ecotrust building in the Pearl District. Great locally owned company who's on-site coffee roasting has won awards. Serves organic, sustainable coffees in a great and comfortable atmosphere. One of the best coffee shops in Portland.

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