A Steady Flow of Cheap Rainier and Dusty Soul Music Are What to Expect From the Sandy Hut

Old Portland still mourns the loss of Club 21, and its wake is held nightly at Sandy Hut.

(Henry Cromett)

1430 NE Sandy Blvd., 503-235-7972. 2 pm-2:30 am Monday-Friday, 11 am-2:30 am Saturday-Sunday. Happy hour 2-7 pm daily: $1 off drafts, wells and wine; $6 food specials.

Established: 1923

Old Portland still mourns the loss of Club 21, and its wake is held nightly at Sandy Hut. The time frame in which owners Marcus Archambault and Warren Boothy purchased this Bukowskian den of vice, scraped off the grime and then dumped Club 21 does raise a few eyebrows, but rest assured, its cult of heshers, bikers and myriad other boho bad boys has transitioned painlessly since their hobbit hole shuttered last winter. The sprucing up has revealed the Hut to be a wood-paneled rumpus room of the highest degree, with stunning details like a rare Al Hirschfeld mural and a pool table adorned with gold lions for those who care about the finer things. Most do not, but a steady flow of cheap Rainier, dusty soul music and the Fat Man—a hulking monstrosity of Painted Hills beef, ham, bacon, fried egg and "million island sauce" ($10)—are above and beyond what one would expect from a bar once known colloquially as the "Handy Slut."

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