Bar Guide 2014: Savoy Tavern

By Martin Cizmar

Stories worth knowing. Reporting worth supporting. Willamette Week's biggest fundraiser of the year is underway. Help fund independent reporting that is free for everyone.

Give today. Keep the stories coming.

Support WW.

Savoy Tavern

2500 SE Clinton St., 808-9999, savoypdx.com. 4 pm-midnight or later daily.

Savoy's catchphrase, "Midwest-inspired American food," is a little confusing. Isn't the Midwest still part of America? And yet it makes a little more sense once you've made your selections from the "bill of fare" (known as a "menu" in the Midwest). This cozy tavern next to Broder is very much a coastal man's idea about what people eat and drink in snowy flatlands between the Appalachians and Rockies. It's not wrong, exactly. Midwesterners do like sweet brandy old-fashioneds ($8) and hot toddies made with clover honey. And they do like fried things (cheese curds, chicken wings, cod) or cheesy things (cheese curds, beer cheese soup). They also like soft chairs, friendly servers, a little live music and the odd DJ set from R.E.M.'s Peter Buck under the watchful eye of a mounted buck's head. MARTIN CIZMAR.

Happy hour: 4-6 pm and 10 pm-close daily. $4 tap beers, $1 off cocktails, $8 burger and fries, other food specials.

WWeek 2015

Martin Cizmar

Martin Cizmar

Culture editor Martin Cizmar writes about food, beer, jam bands, country music, gangsta rap, bikes, cannabis and the outdoors. He’s originally from a smallish city in the part of Ohio that was once part of Connecticut and has worked as a reporter at dailies in Michigan, Virginia and Arizona and as music editor at the alt-weekly in Phoenix. He’s a passionate advocate for unfettered access to public lands, the repatriation of Oregon wolves, increased urban density and good machaca burritos. He is unwelcome in the cities of Salem and Lake Oswego.

Willamette Week reports the stories worth knowing, from City Hall to the people and places shaping Portland.

Help keep the stories coming by supporting WW on Give!Guide.

Support WW.