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PICK UP
cobalt lounge
The Cobalt opened last August in the high-ceilinged and spacious spot formerly known as the Old Town Cafe. The new owners installed dramatic lighting and sparkling booths, and they recently doubled the amount of taps behind the bar. Conventional choices such as Redhook, Sierra Nevada and Henry's are augmented by slightly more exotic options such as Guinness, Mirror Pond and ales from the British isles. Few lounges in Portland match the cinematic ambience of the Cobalt, a bar that could serve as the set for a film noir with its smoky atmospherics and bohemian music performers (mostly acid-jazz and lounge acts). Patrons dress accordingly--heavy on the kohl, cleavage and pomade. The eclectic kitchen cooks up a hit-and-miss pan-continental selection of Southeast Asian, Mexican, Italian and American food, and there's a full bar. Located in the heart of Old Town, the Cobalt's a suitably gritty place, and a welcome change from the more prevalent earnest brewpubs around the city. (RM) 32 NW 3rd Ave., 225-1003. Open daily. 18 taps. ringlers pub/ ringlers annex
Located on the ground floor of the Crystal Ballroom, Ringlers Pub maintains a balance between spaciousness and coziness. Lots of dark wood and manic Mardi Gras mosaics wrap around the room, distracting patrons from deciding whether they should order food, sample the wide selection of whiskey or settle on a familiar McMenamins ale. Stay away from the watery Dry Irish Stout and choose either a heavy Terminator or hoppy Hammerhead; rendezvous with one of the plethora of single twenty- and thirtysomethings draped around the bar and pool tables; then head across the street to the wedge-shaped, romantic Annex. Enter one of the coolest spaces in Portland through a comfy mezzanine upstairs, then descend into the basement, a subterranean haunt with candle-drip-coated bottles and age-stained walls. Here one can sip a sweet Ruby Ale while reading Rimbaud by torchlight...truly a place for deep thinking, deep drinking and deep gazing (through a mist of pungent cigar smoke). (JG) Ringlers Pub, 1332 W Burnside St., 225-0627. Open daily.
17 taps. Ringlers Annex, 1223 SW Stark St., 525-0520. Open daily.
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