Bar Reviews Housed in a two-story Craftsman with a big, rocking-chair-dotted front porch, The Nook Cafe (1524 NW 23rd Ave., 224-5537) resembles nothing so much as a bed-and-breakfast that forgot about the beds. ( ...   More

Bar Reviews Let me get this out of the way early: Spirit of 77 (500 NE Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., spiritof77bar.com), the new Trail Blazers-themed watering hole, is not the best sports bar in town. But still, ...   More

Bar Reviews On Saturday, Biz Markie and Rev. Shines helped rechristen the expanded Branx (320 SE 2nd Ave., myspace.com/branxpdx), former home of Meow Meow and Loveland. While the show probably wasn’t the mo ...   More

Bar Reviews The neighborhood bar is an ever-evolving concept. Some new establishments stockpile flat-screen TVs and poker machines, while the established watering holes try to hook a following without quite so ma ...   More

Bar Reviews I have a piece of advice for anyone who dares try one of the old-fashioned cocktails at Circa 33 (3348 SE Belmont St., circa33bar.com), the latest gem to open on Belmont Street: Don’t be afraid ...   More

Bar Reviews When it comes to hops, Northwest brewers are all about one-upping each other. The guys at Cascade Brewing Barrel House (939 SE Belmont St., cascadebrewingbarrelhouse.com) didn’t care to join tha ...   More

Bar Reviews There’s something a bit different in Slabtown. New Asian fusion restaurant and bar Oasisba (1639 NW Glisan St., 473-8758) has Thai food, sure—but its servers are drag queens. With fabulous ...   More

Bar Reviews Drinking and shopping always sounds like a good idea—until you wake up the next morning with too many bedazzled sweater vests and a hangover. That’s not the case at North Portland vintage- ...   More

Bar Reviews From the neon-sign logo referencing ’70s seminal pop-rock band Big Star to the old pages of Creem magazine plastered all over the bathrooms, newcomer Star Bar (639 SE Morrison St., 232-5553, sta ...   More

Bar Reviews It’s every record-store nerd’s wet dream: a place where you can shop for vinyl and get drunk at the same time! And though the added alcohol might lead to some unwanted purchases, the new H ...   More