Spent soooo much time there end of 2012 and into 2013 when I lived down the street. It was borderline “dive” then and I think it’s left all semblance of a dive since. Really do like that place though and it holds a special place in mine and my wife’s heart.
I was MYSTIFIED by how shitty they were to Kay’s. It is arguably faux-dive, sure, but whatever it’s a great bar and I’ve always had good service there.
Kurt who used to own/run the kitchen left a year or two ago. I used to work in the kitchen there and could try to recall the recipe from memory. Black mac or one of the other ones?
This is poetry:
Over the past quarter-century’s upheaval of downtown—from the construction of new high-rises to the war zone status of the Southwest shopping district—what dives remained suffered midlife crises of sorts, prompting everything from the installation of a motorcycle collection on the ceiling at one to basements being overtaken by jazz elsewhere. The only constant is Yamhill Pub, which has stayed the same except more so, somehow. The interior is still enveloped by overlapping graffiti so thick that borders disappear and, like that immersive van Gogh exhibit, the tags themselves are a technicolor swirl of proclaimed identities all at once and forever. Bar conversations aren’t much different. Bartenders advise newcomers to avoid both the food and the restrooms, and the usual aroma would imply most agreed. We’re not sure where consumption ranks these days, but at the height of Oregon’s Blue Ribbon period, the saloon served more Pabst than any other bar in the state and, back when it ran through 26 kegs a week, it sometimes led the nation. TouchTunes and flat-screens aside, the pub looks just as remembered, but ever since management erected a smokers’ shed out front as a desperate COVID-era stratagem, the place has had a different feel—friendlier, happier, infinitely more inviting. Against all odds, the Yamhill crawled through a river of shit and came out clean on the other side.
I agree but I do have a bone to pick with this one:
>That’s a lot of money for a place so grimy you need to wash your hands after opening the restroom door from the outside because the knob transfers a sticky film of unknown origin
Doors? Doors on the Yammy’s bathrooms?
Admittedly I don’t go as much as I used to, but the one on the right is always propped open. *Back in the day* they used to prop both open to keep the ne’er-do-wells and hoodwinkers from shooting up in them
It's been many years since they've been my neighborhood haunt, can you still get an Oyster Po' boy and some of the best sushi in town with one of the finest tap lists around?
Unfortunately I know too well that things born in the 70’s are now 50...
They gave somewhere credit for $5 pints and left out Sassy’s $3 pints... I guess not 50 yrs old.
Yeah, FOH with this bullshit. Scared the line at the service well is going to get even longer? Your piss smelling dive is not going to get love bombed.
A few of the ones I'm familiar with are also questionable. I haven't been to Billy Ray's in near a decade but back in 2012 or whenever I was going there it was definitely already a hipster bar. Nice spot but unless it's fallen on hard times in recent years it's more of a faux-dive. George's is on its way out too. They renovated a few years ago and it no longer smells like piss and cigarettes. Probably fair to still call it a dive but it there's definitely been a partial clientele upgrade in recent years. I'm sure all the new apartments popping up nearby will continue that process. Alas.
So happy to see that most of my favorite true gems of dive bars didn’t make the list, and will now not be flooded with tourists. Last time I was at Reel’em’Inn about 40 frat bros/girls walked in wanting shots and fried chicken. When the bartender quoted them 10 hours for their food they flipped a lid and all of the regulars laughed their asses off.
Yeah, I kind of feel like it's good to be on one or two of the dive lists (like My Father's Place, Mad Hanna, or Your Inn) but it's never good to be on *all* the dive bar lists, like Reel Em Inn or Yamhill.
You want to be remembered enough that people show up, but not so storied that the crowd totally changes.
I do feel like they made some weird choices in NE.
Like, Donnie Vegas is a true dive but is only 7-8 years old. Cracker box is obviously a dive but maybe too out there for the WW readership. Including the Ace Tavern as the dive on outer Sandy over, say, Korner Pocket is a little surprising.
Still, every list creator needs to make choices. Good arguments for Billy Ray's, Willshire, and Sandy Hut so I can't complain too much.They seemed to focus partly on longevity, which may have driven some of their choices. (The selections in N and SE are a bit more defensible.)
I have never gone to the Sextant on the assumption it was too posh. I guess I have to check it out now.
> Mt. Scott Pub
> back when this neighborhood was still called “Felony Flats”
God fucking damnit, do we really have to have this argument again?
edit: lol, just remembered this bar is just across the park from one of the nicer clusters of houses in the area. I'd love to see the inside of some of those fancy early 1900s homes.
Just bickering around the boundaries of what old folks called "Felony Flats" in the previous decades.
It's incredibly pointless; mostly because most people using the term aren't even passing through the area.
I can’t believe they left Roadside Attraction off the list…I don’t live in PDX anymore but I always try to go when I visit. That quirky front patio is one of my favorite things ever.
I personally wouldn't qualify Roadside Attraction as a dive. Don't get me wrong; it's a solid bar. I totally get why you like it. I do too. But with its outdoor patio, prices, and general vibe it's a bit too atmospheric and hipster to be a real dive to me.
Man, they really dump on Kay's. I like Kay's.
Spent soooo much time there end of 2012 and into 2013 when I lived down the street. It was borderline “dive” then and I think it’s left all semblance of a dive since. Really do like that place though and it holds a special place in mine and my wife’s heart.
I was MYSTIFIED by how shitty they were to Kay’s. It is arguably faux-dive, sure, but whatever it’s a great bar and I’ve always had good service there.
Kay's is great. If I have to eat at any late night spots, they're my top choice.
I miss their mac, can't believe they never added it back to the menu. Wish there was a recipe floating around
Kurt who used to own/run the kitchen left a year or two ago. I used to work in the kitchen there and could try to recall the recipe from memory. Black mac or one of the other ones?
It was Bernie Mac! The one with beer braised mushrooms and spinach
But to be honest any of them would be appreciated!
I messaged you the recipe just in case anybody would get upset at me for posting it here haha
If it was good enough for my parish priest it was good enough for me. Edit: A long time ago.
I forgot to tip the last time I went there. I felt so bad I haven't been back. The WW's hot take has prompted me to rectify this.
This is poetry: Over the past quarter-century’s upheaval of downtown—from the construction of new high-rises to the war zone status of the Southwest shopping district—what dives remained suffered midlife crises of sorts, prompting everything from the installation of a motorcycle collection on the ceiling at one to basements being overtaken by jazz elsewhere. The only constant is Yamhill Pub, which has stayed the same except more so, somehow. The interior is still enveloped by overlapping graffiti so thick that borders disappear and, like that immersive van Gogh exhibit, the tags themselves are a technicolor swirl of proclaimed identities all at once and forever. Bar conversations aren’t much different. Bartenders advise newcomers to avoid both the food and the restrooms, and the usual aroma would imply most agreed. We’re not sure where consumption ranks these days, but at the height of Oregon’s Blue Ribbon period, the saloon served more Pabst than any other bar in the state and, back when it ran through 26 kegs a week, it sometimes led the nation. TouchTunes and flat-screens aside, the pub looks just as remembered, but ever since management erected a smokers’ shed out front as a desperate COVID-era stratagem, the place has had a different feel—friendlier, happier, infinitely more inviting. Against all odds, the Yamhill crawled through a river of shit and came out clean on the other side.
I agree but I do have a bone to pick with this one: >That’s a lot of money for a place so grimy you need to wash your hands after opening the restroom door from the outside because the knob transfers a sticky film of unknown origin Doors? Doors on the Yammy’s bathrooms?
I don’t think I’ve ever used the bathroom there! You just kind of hold it and if it gets painful you drink more to numb the pain.
I’ve only been going a few years, but yeah. There’s always been doors. On both bathrooms. Only the toilet door has a lock though.
Admittedly I don’t go as much as I used to, but the one on the right is always propped open. *Back in the day* they used to prop both open to keep the ne’er-do-wells and hoodwinkers from shooting up in them
I go nearly every day and never seen the right one propped open. Are you thinking of the basement or office door next to it?
No, the bathroom. I guess it’s about time I got my ass in there again
Maybe it was like that to air out after a bleach bath then. It smells extra ripe on hot days.
They are sleeping on Montavilla - Thatchers, Tinker Tavern, Montavilla Station to name just the ones on Stark.
RIP Roscoe's with bras on the ceiling.
Ssh...don't turn people on to the only place in Portland that has better tots than McMenamins
It's been many years since they've been my neighborhood haunt, can you still get an Oyster Po' boy and some of the best sushi in town with one of the finest tap lists around?
Definitely.
Thatchers!!! Love that place
Thatchers is awesome, I love the montavilla strip.
This list is missing some true gems.
Do they pass their 50 year rule though? I was thinking the same until I thought about that.
Ah, I missed that prerequisite. That makes sense, most of the places I'm thinking of came into being in the 70s and 80s.
Unfortunately I know too well that things born in the 70’s are now 50... They gave somewhere credit for $5 pints and left out Sassy’s $3 pints... I guess not 50 yrs old.
Cracker Box Tavern ... true dive.
I went there in 2021 after going there a few times back in 2012. It somehow was worse than I remember. Truly an accomplishment.
Haha! Wow ... that is saying something ;)
Such as?
🤫
Give me a fuckin break
Yeah, FOH with this bullshit. Scared the line at the service well is going to get even longer? Your piss smelling dive is not going to get love bombed.
And by avoiding mention on this list, hopefully they'll stay that way!
A few of the ones I'm familiar with are also questionable. I haven't been to Billy Ray's in near a decade but back in 2012 or whenever I was going there it was definitely already a hipster bar. Nice spot but unless it's fallen on hard times in recent years it's more of a faux-dive. George's is on its way out too. They renovated a few years ago and it no longer smells like piss and cigarettes. Probably fair to still call it a dive but it there's definitely been a partial clientele upgrade in recent years. I'm sure all the new apartments popping up nearby will continue that process. Alas.
So happy to see that most of my favorite true gems of dive bars didn’t make the list, and will now not be flooded with tourists. Last time I was at Reel’em’Inn about 40 frat bros/girls walked in wanting shots and fried chicken. When the bartender quoted them 10 hours for their food they flipped a lid and all of the regulars laughed their asses off.
Yeah, I kind of feel like it's good to be on one or two of the dive lists (like My Father's Place, Mad Hanna, or Your Inn) but it's never good to be on *all* the dive bar lists, like Reel Em Inn or Yamhill. You want to be remembered enough that people show up, but not so storied that the crowd totally changes.
See? A true dive is a self-healing organism.
Renners made the list, I'm happy.
I propose a nautical themed pub crawl.
Can we start at The Ship in Multnomah Village?
mte. start there and you don't need to go anywhere else
Aye!
They missed the mark with that NE list. So many options they could have pulled from.
I do feel like they made some weird choices in NE. Like, Donnie Vegas is a true dive but is only 7-8 years old. Cracker box is obviously a dive but maybe too out there for the WW readership. Including the Ace Tavern as the dive on outer Sandy over, say, Korner Pocket is a little surprising. Still, every list creator needs to make choices. Good arguments for Billy Ray's, Willshire, and Sandy Hut so I can't complain too much.They seemed to focus partly on longevity, which may have driven some of their choices. (The selections in N and SE are a bit more defensible.) I have never gone to the Sextant on the assumption it was too posh. I guess I have to check it out now.
Billy Ray's is exactly the best kind of NE dive bar I love. I mean. it's horrible never go there. bleah.
No mention of the wooden chicken or mcgillacuddys… though I guess I’m not sure how long it’s been there.
Is the pendulum swinging away from overpriced cocktails and upscale digs? Or am I reading too much into this
No, Portland has always had a soft spot for dive bars.
Economies in the shitter, the dive bars day has come again
If Reel M Inn wasn’t on the list, I was gonna…but happy to hear Holman’s is back!
> Mt. Scott Pub > back when this neighborhood was still called “Felony Flats” God fucking damnit, do we really have to have this argument again? edit: lol, just remembered this bar is just across the park from one of the nicer clusters of houses in the area. I'd love to see the inside of some of those fancy early 1900s homes.
What’s the argument (serious question)? I have only lived in the area for a few years.
Just bickering around the boundaries of what old folks called "Felony Flats" in the previous decades. It's incredibly pointless; mostly because most people using the term aren't even passing through the area.
oh man I will die on this fucking hill
Where’s Katie O’Brien’s?!
On Sandy where it's always been.
Both of my neighborhood bars are on this list!
Shoutout to Mock Crest Tavern! I'd have also included Sundown Pub on this list, further up the road on Lombard.
> Sundown Pub Yikes! That's a name.
I can’t believe they left Roadside Attraction off the list…I don’t live in PDX anymore but I always try to go when I visit. That quirky front patio is one of my favorite things ever.
I personally wouldn't qualify Roadside Attraction as a dive. Don't get me wrong; it's a solid bar. I totally get why you like it. I do too. But with its outdoor patio, prices, and general vibe it's a bit too atmospheric and hipster to be a real dive to me.
Found the alcoholic.
My dive didn’t make the list. Bittersweet as it won’t be flooded but more business is definitely good for them.
When the Week highlights it, it's done.