Cat’s Paw Saloon is a Chill Little Place Covered in Woodgrain and Remnants of Skateboarding’s Bad Old Days

Division still hangs on to some old Portland grit, even if here it comes scented with lavender.

(Emily Joan Greene)
By Matthew Korfhage

3565 SE Division St., 503-719-5189, catspawsaloon.com. 2 pm-2 am Monday-Friday, noon-2 am Saturday-Sunday. Happy hour 4-7 pm daily: $1 off wells, $5 and $6 tallboy-and-shot specials.

Owned by former pro skater Mickey Reyes, Cat's Paw Saloon is a chill little place covered in woodgrain and remnants of skateboarding's bad old days—a Dogtown poster signed by everyone who matters, skull art on the walls and some Spitfire skate-wheel coasters advertising joke beers named after pro-skater friends of Reyes', like "Justin Brock Bock" or "Cardi-ale Pale." And on chichi Division, it's a refuge of slightly punky sanity, already evolving into a service-industry hang for the type of kitchen staff who like their Jack Daniels with a mini-grenade of High Life. There's Pfriem Pilsner on tap and Stiegl Radler in the fridge, and refreshing $9 cocktails with hints of lavender in them. There's also a nice, half-covered patio out back decorated with twinned black-and-white skateboards: the deck of LOVE and the deck of HATE. Between Cat's Paw and punk-rock pizzeria Atlas across the street, plus the always-closed goth bookstore next door, Division still hangs on to some old Portland grit, even if here it comes scented with lavender.

(Emily Joan Greene)

Willamette Week’s reporting has concrete impacts that change laws, force action from civic leaders, and drive compromised politicians from public office. Support WW's journalism today.