IMAGE: cameronbrowne.com
The Observatory, the
Montavilla restaurant that has been overrun by neighborhood families,
mildly geeky youth and urban-homesteader types since the day it opened,
has undergone parthenogenesis. The bouncing-baby bar, Over and Out (410 SE 81st Ave.),
retains the ridiculously cheap happy-hour menu, sugary cocktails and
good taste in beer of its parent, without all the babies and with the
addition of billiards, pinball and television. It is clean, and
pleasant, and neighboring tables are as likely to be discussing the
hotness of coworkers at Intel as the finer points of chicken-coop
construction. The bar hasn’t acquired much in the way of character yet,
but you can eat your chicken liver pâté while watching the Blazers
struggle through the playoffs, and that’ll do for now.
