Bar Guide 2014: Mummy's

By Jay Horton

Mummy's

622 SW Columbia St., 224-7465, mummysrestaurant.com. 11 am-10 pm Monday-Friday, 5-11 pm Saturday.

More than 30 years since a pair of brothers left Alexandria to open Portland's first and still only Egyptian lounge across the street from The Oregonian, Mummy's has survived the destruction of a surrounding hotel and somehow outlasted the daily newspaper HQ itself while not changing at all. It's the curse of an impish bloody-mindedness, the ever-present owner happily explains to all who stumble in. Much as a reluctance to adapt has hindered an overpriced menu and cocktail list redolent of Reagan-era sororities—look upon the Southern Comfort and peach schnapps-fueled Ramses and despair—the bar offers an opportunity for nightlife archeology like none other. Just be prepared for an eerie silence when venturing down the hieroglyphic-lined chamber, past glass-enclosed sarcophagi of what's become, for all intents and purposes, an immaculately preserved tomb. JAY HORTON.

Happy hour: 3-6 pm Monday-Friday. Food specials, $3 beer, $5 wine, $4.50 wells.

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