Visiting Portland (2023)

The most Portland-y establishment mentioned yet

 

What/who were they before? I seem to remember some folks getting verklempt over the old space closing, but I've forgotten the details.

 

It used to be Tin Bucket, the place that de Garde's Broken Truck was first made for

 

I am planning to cut over to Williams on Shaver after hitting Bridgetown Beerhouse. That was originally to hit AleFire. Saw their tap list and am a huge hot sauce fan so that was def going to be a stop. I will stop into GoW as well. Then down to Ex Novo and Upright.

As far as EEM goes I saw it on Eater and it looks awesome(XLB looks damn solid also) but I was most likely gonna hit the Prost! pod on the way by and grab a snack. Trying to save a little time and avoid a sit down spot. Figure I should be mostly good after breakfast at Pine State Biscuits.

Haha… Certainly is going to be the challenge! I’ll have water with me so(hopefully) I should be ok.

 

Pro-tip: Order takeout at Eem and while you're waiting for your order, drink a pint at GoW. Once the food's ready, walk it back to GoW for a second pint to go with your food. Honestly, if you've never been, you have to get food there.

 

There's no kitchen at the N.Williams location, so they haven't given me any grief about bringing outside food in.

 

Whew!? I some how made it home safely from my trip!?! Haha.. mostly kidding of course. I apologize for writing a novel but I want to list as much as I can remember to possibly help future travelers and show my appreciation for the recommendations that I got from all of your posts on here.

I will start by saying yes there are unhoused almost everywhere but I didn’t have any interaction besides some “hellos” and head nods. Not one person stopped me or asked me for $. The Trimet/MAX(train/trolley) is ULTRA easy to use and clean, and costs $5 for a day pass. At least the lines I was on Red, Orange and Yellow I can vouch for! I also walked around 8 miles each of the first two days and again didn’t have any problems. Are there tents on sidewalks all over the city? yes. Is it that big of a deal? I didn’t think so at all. Like has been stated on here in previous posts pay attention to your surroundings and I can’t imagine any reason to be worried about going to PDX. Also if it matters I am not a big guy. Sub 6’ and 175ish(probly have to add 10 to that after this trip tho…).

Monday- got in around 8. Took the train to the Hyatt and dropped off bags to start my quest. Hit Pine State. Reggie Deluxe and Chatfield were both damn solid. Took the trolley around the downtown circle to kill some time and get a “locals” view of the city. Then took the train up to Killingsworth and started at Mcmenamins Chapel since Saraveza wasn’t open yet. Chapel was a cool space. Beer was alright. Saraveza is a very cool place. Only 10 taps but they are all solid. Wolves & People, Ruse, and Reubens BBIS were the choices. Cheese curds were also very good. Their beer coolers are loaded with great stuff. Especially cool(for me at least) that they still had HotD bottles. Grabbed a couple things for the backpack and headed to Bridgetown Beerhouse. Another great spot. Again 10 tap lines but all great. Got a pFriem(finally!) and a Dark Star variant on tap. Their coolers might even be better than Saraveza. Backpack was pretty full after I left. Walked down to Grains of Wrath. Enjoyable spot as well and appreciate the rec or I would have missed it. Only had 1 beer(Shakalicious) since time was starting to become a factor. Headed to AleFire next and grabbed one(pFriem) quick there as well. I will add that I made note of the line at Eem(more on that later). Basically ran down N Williams at this point to get into Upright(had Fantasia) and still have time to hit the hotel and drop off my bag quick. Wish I would have had more time there but tough break. Saw a Bucks W and then hit the hotel for a pass out beer or two.

Tuesday- Started with a wet walk to the Burnside Fire on the Mountain wings location. I would say a must hit if you like wings. I did El Guapo and Spicy peanut. Both were great. Walked off my over indulgence with a trek to Imperial Bottle Shop and Taproom. Really liked this place. Of course they had a solid tap list but their shop was even better in my opinion. Foreland cask, Upright, and PFriem were the choices. Also snagged a deGarde The Blackberry I’ve been wanting to try forever as well. Stopped at Reel M Inn quick just cuz. Then made it to what has to be THE greatest beer block in the country…. Hit Apex and Chuckanut first. Both were good but for me there was a better highlight. The Beermongers was a total blast. They just happened to be having a cribbage tournament that evening(and apparently do every Tuesday if you’re a dork like me that enjoys such things). Also the regulars were very happy that their barrel of Big Chicken rolled in from Santa Rosa’s other brewery. I saw BC a handful of times but unfortunately was a day or so too early for PtY apparently. Ended the night with Ranch pizza at Baerlic that was very good. Also appreciated that they do 1/4 pies. #4 and Hawaiian were winners. Hopped on the trolley(which I think might have been the last one!) back to the hotel.

Wednesday- Took the train back to the airport and rented a car. Which I took to Eugene, so I won’t put a ton here to keep with the threads title. Hit Alesong, Oakshire, and ColdFire. All are great and certainly worth the short 2 hour drive down if you want a little change of scenery. Oakshire’s setup with a handful of food trucks made it hard for me to remember I wasn’t in Portland.

Thursday- Got on the road out of Eugene sorta early. Finally had a clear day which allowed for some mountain peak viewing(Mts Jefferson and Hood I believe). That was a much better drive than the day before. After having talked to people throughout the city(and on here of course!) it was decided that Eem was going to be my lunch stop. Got there around 11 and there was plenty of seating. Ordered the White Curry, fried rice, and Sweet and Sour chicken. All of them were very very good but that White Curry….. Fn ridiculous. I’d be in there a couple times a week if I lived in Portland. Jumped in the car and headed to Vancouver quick since I haven’t been to WA besides for SeaTac. Had to take the opportunity since it was a 15 minute drive. Hit up Tap Union Freehouse and Feral Public House. Tap Union is a cool little spot(Boundary Bay and Buoy). One of my buddies is married to a distant relatives of the Boundary Bay owners so that was for a story. Feral has ALOT of beer on tap so it would have been nice to try more than a quick one. Next time! Last stop before heading back to the airport was Belmont Station. Sort of on purpose because I needed to see how much room I had in my checked bag to know how much damage I could do in their crazy badass bottle shop. Unfortunately I had already bought too much and could only jam a Prairie Super Pistache Bros in. Just another great spot tho. That projected tap list threw off my eye at first. Luckily I saw the projector before I asked the bartender how often they have to clean the list and how they keep it so neat…..

Man, what a great city you have. Wish I could have spent a couple weeks instead of a couple days! Really appreciate the thread and all the recs that you guys made. I didn’t walk out of one place that I felt could have been skipped. So for that I say THANK YOU very much again! Hopefully all of you get to enjoy a PtY for your contributions! I’ll be enjoying the Living Haus, Block 15, HotD, deGarde, Ex Novo, Great Notion and pFriem that I brought back in a week or 8 after my liver turns back on. Cheers!

 

Great post, loved reading it. It gives us even more reason to keep this list maintained and to respond to questions from all of our visitors. Glad you had a great time, I think our city remains an underrated gem even though it isn't perfect- but no place is.

 

Live in WA, shop in OR. The perfect pairing!

 

Holy cow man.... you packed in more beer adventures in 5 days than I do in a year. you also hit some of the best (non fancy) food options we have to offer. well done!

 

So I take it that Twins was not on. Because, Sir, that movie is a damn classic.

 

I stopped reading at Reel M Inn..you had then fried chicken and PBR?