Skip to main content
All-ages venues are notoriously hard to keep open—underage people cannot buy alcohol, nor do they generally have much money. Black Water, which took up Habesha Lounge's mantle for "venue on Broadway," may have found another revenue stream: vegan food. That said, none of it is too expensive—only the nachos and the aptly named "bougie burger" crack the $10 mark—but it's good enough for a bloodmouth like me to put away without thinking too much about the origin of the "cheese." Blackwater's greatest accomplishment, however, is finding a graceful way to handle the OLCC's Offspring-influenced mandate that "you gotta keep 'em separated." The immediate area around the bar is the only "no minors" section, while the floor in front of the stage and the back table area—stocked with B-movie posters and Elvira pinball—are open to the youths. If sharing your zone with younger people with tighter skin and septum piercings bothers you, the micheladas are hearty enough to dull your insecurities.
Entertainment: Live music (generally aggro), pinball.
835 NE Broadway, 503-281-0439. 6 pm-1 am daily.
Willamette Week