Heading into Salem this weekend for a softball tourney and am looking for a little advice. I've read most of the Portland blogs so I'm not gunna venture in there... I'm looking for good bars with solid taplists and nice bottle shops in the area. Staying near Wallace Marine Park (at the Red Lion). I've noticed Kraftworks, Liquot Outlet and Capital Market all to be decent options. Coming from San Diego I get pretty spoiled, so if anyone has any input on what to drink, I look forward to hearing. Thanks, Cody
Hi Cody, You are visiting Salem at an exciting time!. For many years Salem was notorious in Oregon as being the one place you would NEVER find good beer. Its a strange government/blue collar type place so it was wine of Coors etc. But in the last couple of years things have grown well
OK here goes again. Were you are just of Lancaster is quite a ways from Wallace. Unfortunatly that area is quite dead for beer. Near Wallace is a great tap house. https://www.facebook.com/WestsideTaphouse..30 plus taps. Growlers or pint. Other taphouses. https://www.facebook.com/2sparkystaphouse http://www.growlmovement.com/ http://www.b2taphouse.com/
bottle places..capital Market is excellent but shady after dark. Lifesource grocer is good http://www.lifesourcenaturalfoods.com/ Most of the local Roths super markets have good selections ( except the one on Lancaster Drive..were you will be near :-(
Breweries. Vagabond.( great night life) http://www.vagabondbrewing.com/ Salem Ale Works.https://www.facebook.com/SalemAleWorks Santiam https://www.facebook.com/SantiamBrewingCo/info Gilgamesh https://www.facebook.com/gilgameshbrewing Two McMenamins. Thompsons Brewpub in S.Salem ( on my door step) Boons Treasury slightly nearer to you. And The Ram which is a good chain brewery and good food
Other places of Interest. Ventis 2 location great beer and good food. http://ventiscafe.com/ f/stop Fitzgerald's pub https://www.facebook.com/pages/ƒstop-Fitzgeralds-Public-House/144764496498 Plus most nice bars and restaurants in Salem ( outside the area you are sadly) will have good beers '
Awesome! That's so much more than I could ask for in detail. I fly in Friday afternoon. I'm planning on hitting Cascade and HotD before I have to make my way down south. Sat-Sun is all dedicated to softball. Then Monday I have a free day before leaving PDX at night. So I may have time to venture
I'd recommend b2 taphouse and venti's as good beer bars with alot of good local stuff on tap. You can check their taplists online.
Yeah that's what I was planning on doing. Since I've read enough posts about Portland I figured I knew what I would hit up. I was just more looking for info while I'm stationary in Salem. Thank you tho
In my not so humble opinion, b2 generally has the best taplist in Salem. They're the only place in town that gets Block 15 regularly, the prices are decent, and the owner is super nice. The place has a good vibe, too. My second recommendation would be Venti's Taphouse, especially if you can get there at happy hour(s), which are 4-6pm and after 9pm. Usually a pretty solid taplist there too. They keep their taplister page pretty up-to-date. Growl Movement is ok. The name is awful & it's more of a strictly growler fill place. You can drink there, but the atmosphere sucks and pint prices are on the high side. Westside Taphouse will probably be easy for you to get to post-softball, and it's probably the only acceptable beer spot on the west side of the river. Their prices tend to be a little higher though, especially for taster trays. 2 Sparky's is good, but their taplist doesn't quite measure up to any of the aforementioned places. For my money, Vagabond is the best brewery in town right now. Santiam & Salem Ale Works are more than acceptable. Go to Gilgamesh at your own risk. Personally, I don't give them my money anymore. Don't waste any of your precious little time in Oregon at the Salem McMenamins locations. Enjoy your stay. As Reidrover said, Salem is so much better than it was just a few years ago.
Also, Kraftworks is still in their soft opening, so their hours are wonky. Plus, I was there a couple weeks ago, and they were pouring Armored Fist from a partial keg that was probably at least 6 months old (leftover from their previous incarnation - Franklin's). Anyway, the beer was sour and gross and not at all what it should have been like. Hopefully they've thought better of their decision to pour from old kegs, but I'd avoid the place in favor of the other recommended places in town.
If you go to "b2" ( b-squared) keep checking their Facebook page they go through a lot of kegs in the weekend. I see Armored Fist is almost done
Oh Yvan The Great ( Sierra Nevada/Russian River Beer camp) is at Growl Movement in S.Salem! Great stuff
Hey Cody, Welcome to Salem, hopefully you enjoy the fields at WMP. I play there on Monday nights myself! While you can't sit and have a pint at our place.. Our selection of package and taps isn't too shabby... so if you need something to go for the hotel room, come check us out! http://liquoroutletstores.com/Tap_List_Battlecreek.html -Adam
Apologies for not adding your place. Its probably the one Salem beer place I haven't been to yet. Maybe today!
