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Portland has become something of a base for up-and-coming alternative-rock bands, which perform in clubs scattered throughout the city. Good jazz groups perform nightly in a handful of bars as well.
Portland’s most diverting neighborhoods for bar-hopping are, not surprisingly, its favored dining districts, too—the West End, Pearl District, and Nob Hill on the west side of the Willamette River, within walking distance (or a streetcar ride) of downtown hotels; Alberta Street, North Mississippi Avenue, East Burnside Street in the 20s, the Central East Side, Belmont Street, Hawthorne Boulevard, and Division Street on the East Side. Note that many of the restaurants listed in Where to Eat also double as highly popular nightspots; especially notable for sipping and socializing are Bluehour, Clyde Common, Departure, Interurban, Irving Street Kitchen, RingSide Steakhouse, Smallwares, and Veritable Quandary.
The best way to experience quite a few of the city's hottest spots is to check out the happy hour menus offered at most Portland bars; these offer excellent deals on both food and drinks. Typically, bars present late-afternoon happy hour deals from about 4 until 6 pm; a smaller number of establishments also offer late-night happy hours from 9 or 10 until typically 11 or midnight.
It’s worth noting that Portland is a bit less of a late-night destination than many cities its size—chalk this up, perhaps, to the local love of the outdoors, as many locals like to set out early on weekend mornings for road trips, hikes, and bike rides. Bars often become quite crowded by late afternoon or early evening, and they tend to peak in popularity—even on weekends—by midnight. You’ll find some exceptions downtown, especially among the handful of warehouse-style dance clubs around Old Town and Chinatown, which pulse well beyond last call (2 am).
Portland’s reputation for high-quality microbreweries rivals that of any city in the country; you’ll find dozens of small breweries around town producing hoppy IPAs (Oregonians tend to favor crisp, aromatic, bitter beers), complex Belgian-inspired saisons, unfiltered farmhouse-style beers, potent barley wines, rich porters, and luscious stouts. Most of them serve food to complement their brews, and several others have food carts parked beside them and encourage patrons to bring food inside from other restaurants to snack while they sip. "Brew theaters," former neighborhood movie houses where patrons enjoy food, suds, and both recent and vintage theatrical releases, are part of the microbrewery phenomenon here . Many are branches of McMenamins, a locally owned chain of quirky bars, restaurants, nightclubs, and hotels, many of them installed in restored historic buildings.
In recent years, a number of artisanal distilleries and boutique wineries have opened in Portland; most have tasting rooms open during weekends and some weekdays, usually during the afternoon and early evening (some are listed as Sights). A wine-tasting rooms stay open late and serve food and other drinks and are listed in Nightlife.
From the preponderance of coffeehouses around town, it may be safe to assume that espresso flows through the veins of Portlanders. Indeed, the city has been at the forefront of the nation’s artisanal coffee-roasting movement. It’s the home of the now nationally renowned Stumptown Coffee as well as a few hundred indie cafés around the city, many serving their own house-roasted beans and others serving Stumptown or other locally favored beans, such as Coava and Water Avenue Coffee. Many Portland coffeehouses close by 6 or 7 at night, but you will find a few late-evening options. Regardless of when you stop in, the social vibe and eclectic crowd is typically similar to those of local bars (a fair share of Portland coffeehouses also serve beer, wine, and even cocktails).
Although Portland has a sizable and highly visible gay community, there’s no LGBT nightlife district per se. For years there were several gay bars in the West End, but all but one of these (Scandal’s) has closed or moved. Old Town and the downtown blocks near it have about a half-dozen gay bars of varying popularity, but this is very much a city where gay and mainstream culture blend together, and many—perhaps most—LGBT Portlanders hang out at the same bars and lounges as everybody else. Especially in hip East Side neighborhoods like Alberta, Mississippi, Hawthorne, and the Central East Side, you’ll typically encounter a mixed gay–straight crowd at most establishments.
This laid-back brewpub and pioneer of the Northwest sour-beer movement is a good place for friends and sour-beer lovers to share tart flights of several varieties, including Blackcap Raspberry, Kriek, and potent (10.1% ABV) Sang Noir. You'll find 24 rotating taps, small plates, and sandwiches to complement the sour beers, and ample outdoor seating.
Located next door to the roastery, the light and open, bamboo wood–filled Coava Coffee Roasters offers some of the highest-quality single-origin, pour-over coffees in the city. There's a second branch in the Hawthorne District.
Part of the Central East Side's burgeoning wine scene, this urban winery and taproom is set inside a dramatic and spacious Quonset-hut structure, which was once home to an auto-repair shop. Order any of the outstanding wines produced on-site, or delve into the happily esoteric menu of unusual wines from all over the West Coast, with a few French varieties in the mix. The kitchen turns out seriously good food, too. The only drawback here is that Coopers Hall is closed to the public on weekends, when it's booked with events.
A favorite LGBTQ+ hangout in the Central East Side, Crush serves up tasty pub grub, strong cocktails, and DJ-fueled dance parties. The front section is mellow and good for conversation, while the back area contains a small but lively dance floor, and there's a large sidewalk patio as well.
Fans of boldly flavored brews flock to this spacious, airy brewery and pub at the south end of the Mississippi strip, which also has a big pup-friendly patio that's abuzz with revelers on summer afternoons. Founder John Harris is as obsessed with astronomy as he is with beer, hence the cosmic names of beers, which include Quasar Pale Ale and Phobos Single Hop Red Ale. Brewery tours are offered at noon three times a week.
Based in a large garage-like space in Southeast Portland's trendy Buckman neighborhood, ENSO produces superb wines, including Malbec, Dry Riesling, and the especially popular L'American blend of Zinfandel and Petite Sirah. The high-ceilinged, industrial-chic tasting lounge—with exposed air ducts, a timber-beam ceiling, and a wall of windows (open on warm days)—serves local cheese and charcuterie plates and other tasty snacks.
Operated by Kyle Webster and his wife, celeb-chef partner Naomi Pomeroy, this intimate, candlelit spot has a devoted following for its balanced, boozy cocktails and addictively delicious Asian bar snacks, like Burmese coconut noodles and Laotian-inspired ahi tacos. Each of the eight nightly cocktails are meticulously crafted.
Revisit your teen years at this massive, old-school Old Town arcade filled with more than 100 classic arcade games and about 50 pinball machines, including vintage Atari, Super Nintendo, and Killer Queen. There are two full bars and a kitchen serving reliably good nachos, tacos, and ice-cream sundaes—and now that you are no longer a teen, you can have as much as you like. Over 21 after 5 pm.
An intimate and inclusive neighborhood music venue, with balcony seating and old Oriental rugs covering the standing-room-only floor, community-oriented Mississippi Studios offers high-quality live music performances every night of the week in a wide range of genres. Between sets, you can jump back and forth from the adjacent BarBar, a hip, comfortable bar serving delicious burgers and vegan fare and a covered back patio.
Southeast Portland's stately early-1900s former Washington High School building has been converted into a state-of-the-art concert hall, featuring noted pop and world-beat music acts and comedians, from Steve Earle to Tig Notaro, plus film festivals and other intriguing events. There are two bars on-site, including a roof deck (April–October) with great views of the Downtown skyline.
Java aficionados serious about single-origin coffee favor this Central East Side roastery, which sources its beans from top growers in Colombia, Ethiopia, and Indonesia, roasts on custom-built machines, and provides its house-roasted coffees to many restaurants and cafés around town. There's also a Downtown location.
Artsy, hip East Siders hang and drink martinis and wine at this minimalist, bubble-lamped bar along a buzzy stretch of Belmont Street.
Housed in a vintage former movie theater, this music venue specializes in indie and alternative acts, many with national followings. The adjacent Lamp pub offers microbrews, pizza, and pub fare, too.
The first McMenamins brewpub, the Barley Mill Pub, is filled with Grateful Dead memorabilia and concert posters. It's a fun place for families.
This neighborhood spot on Northeast Alberta, which offers cozy seats around a fireplace in cold weather and an open garage door in warm, has a pool table, a jukebox, great happy hour deals, and a friendly vibe.
The flagship bar operation of celebrated chefs Nick Wood, Matt Brown, and Tommy Habetz occupies a hip, industrial-chic space in the Central East Side, with exposed pipes, high timber ceilings, tall windows, and murals on the walls. Play pinball, grab a seat at the bar or a table, and enjoy a glass of craft beer, wine, or booze alongside one of the imaginative sandwiches for which Bunk has developed a cult following, like the pork belly Cubano and meatball parmigiana hero. Bunk has another bar location at the Wonder Ballroom in Northeast, as well as sandwich shops in Southeast, downtown, and Alberta.
Located in a cozy turn-of-the-century wooden building at the foot of Mount Tabor, the candlelit Caldera Public House serves beer, wine, and cocktails over a 100-year-old oak bar, as well as a menu of soups, salads, and sandwiches (and Cajun tater tots!). Its expansive patio out back, strung with glass lights and shaded by a full canopy of trees, is one of the best in the city.
The Portland branch of the Bend-based Deschutes Brewery typically has more than 25 beers on tap, including nationally acclaimed mainstays Mirror Pond Pale Ale, Inversion IPA, and Black Butte Porter, plus seasonal and experimental brews. There's an extensive menu of well-prepared pub fare, too.
Part retro diner and part log cabin, the Doug Fir serves food and booze and hosts DJs and live rock shows from both up-and-coming and established bands most nights of the week. It adjoins the trendy Hotel Jupiter.
Once your eyes adjust to the romantically dim lighting, you'll find a curved bar, leather banquette seating, and polished-wood ceilings and walls in this Old Hollywood–themed bar in the Hotel deLuxe. The trendy cocktails are garnished with herbs culled from the hotel's garden.
With two homey, hipster-endorsed cafés in Northeast, Extracto holds its own against some of Portland's top roasters, thanks to its knowledgeable staff, careful bean selection, and small-batch roasting. There are two outposts on different ends of the Alberta Arts District the other is at 1465 N.E. Prescott Street.
On warm evenings, break from the chatter-filled midcentury-modern interior bar—with its teakwood ceiling and deep-booth seating—and snag a sidewalk table, where you can take in the activity of funky Hawthorne Boulevard. This place packs 'em in early, thanks to a generous happy hour that begins daily at 2 and continues until 8 pm—more than enough time to get happy. Wash down a few discounted craft cocktails with an order of steamed clams in lemongrass-coconut broth or marionberry-habanero chicken wings.
Hosting DJ dance nights that range from indie-pop dance parties to LGBTQ+ hip-hop nights and poetry slams, the 5,000-square-foot former auto-parts warehouse pulls in diverse crowds. It's sometimes closed early in the week; check the online calendar before you visit.
The city's oldest restaurant (est. 1879) is notable for its old-fashioned feel and iconic Spanish coffee cocktail, which is set aflame at your table. The old bar in the back has great character. Huber's is on the ground floor of the historic Oregon Pioneer Building, which is now the snazzy Hi-Lo Hotel.
Occupying a sleek, contemporary corner space on Division Street, Imperial carries a regularly changing rotation of about a dozen connoisseur-worthy microbrews and has shelves filled with hundreds of additional bottles of craft beers. While you ponder your beer options, you can order in takeout from any of the several restaurants on the same block.
The darkly inviting but rather tiny sister bar to adjacent Grüner restaurant specializes in handcrafted cocktails, a well-curated selection of microbrew ales, and interesting wines. The kitchen turns out tasty nibbles, with an emphasis on cheese and charcuterie boards.
There's terrific music here nightly, including traditional Celtic tunes on Sundays, at this old-school pub, plus decent Irish food and imported ales.
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