Drink 2011: The Fixin' To

By KAT MERCK

In this age of Yelp, it's hard not to sympathize with the Fixin' To, whose vintage-trailer logo and menu full of Ritz crackers and Ro-Tel seem to have confused neighborhood residents. "What exactly is this place trying to be, anyway?" reads a representative missive. Ironically, the Fixin' To's very success lies in its propensity to defy categorization. It's the kind of bar where a combination of shuffleboard, middle-aged men watching hockey, a sandwich called "Hail Seitan" and a framed photo of Bill Clinton wearing a Razorback "hog hat" somehow makes perfect sense. On a recent night, as if to drive home the point, an older man sitting at the bar unexpectedly produced a container of bubbles and began blowing them in the direction of a customer closing out her tab. "I had a vibe you were OK with bubbles," he said. He was right. KAT MERCK.
What to drink: Wild Turkey, neat.
Entertainment: Video DJ Thursdays, shuffleboard.

WWeek 2015

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.