Star Bar

By James Helmsworth

An urban sanctuary composed of hair metal and cheap happy-hour sliders, Star Bar seems explicitly designed to piss off people who don't like to mix their whiskey with Whitesnake—right down to the deadpan homage to Big Star's #1 Record with which it shamelessly brands its windows. In the deep-red heart of the place, leather booths and velvet paintings of panthers, clowns and Barbie-proportioned nude women coalesce near the Who's Tommy pinball machine, a game which everyone except yours truly feels too hard rock to play. PBR and well whiskey might be the most-ordered things on the menu apart from the greasy blue cheese-stuffed house burger, but those inclined to drink something fancier are pointed to the seasonal cocktail menu, which at the time of our visit paid homage to late-'70s punk icons Dead Boys, and contained a tasty ginger-laced tonic called the Sonic Reducer.

Happy hour: 4-8 pm daily. $2 draft PBR, $3.50 craft pints and wells, $4 cider, $5 house wine. Multiple food specials, including a $6 burger and $4 tot'chos.

Entertainment: Live music, karaoke, photo booth, pinball.

639 SE Morrison St., 503-232-5553, star-bar-rocks.com. 4 pm-2:30 am daily.

Willamette Week

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James Helmsworth

James Helmsworth

James Helmsworth is the books editor at Willamette Week. His work has appeared in Cleveland Scene, on Countable.us, and in the alumni magazines of various back-patting liberal arts institutions nationwide. He grew up reading Willamette Week, which easily explains up to half a dozen of his personality flaws, like reminding Portlanders that everything they enjoy was championed by Raleigh Hills dads before 1985.

Willamette Week’s reporting has concrete impacts that change laws, force action from civic leaders, and drive compromised politicians from public office.

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