The Slammer

By Parker Hall

A rowdy corner bar which hosts hordes of inner-Southeast locals and their ongoing Rainier habits, the Slammer earns the barbed wire on its façade every time the sun emerges (and the battles for spots at its numerous outside picnic tables become particularly heated). The ex-police bar feels as Old Portland as it actually is—a spot you don't expect to make friends right away. That said, order a few stiff drinks a few times a week and soon you'll be family. To start the application process, grab a tallboy ($2 during happy hour) at the U-shaped bar and play a cramped game of skee ball or Baby Pac-Man while dancing to jukebox-selected hip-hop classics beneath the myriad Christmas lights. After you spend enough quarters below these low ceilings, everyone will know who you are.

Happy Hour: Monday-Friday, 4-6 pm. $2 Rainier, $3.50 wells, $4 craft beers

Entertainment: Skee ball, TV, jukebox, many pinball machines.

500 SE 8th Ave., 503-232-6504. 3 pm-2:30 am Monday-Friday, 5 pm-2:30 am Saturday, 5 pm-1 am Sunday.

Willamette Week

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Parker Hall

Parker Hall

Parker Hall is a writer, musician, and home brewer from Portland. He is a graduate of the Oberlin Conservatory of Music in Ohio, where he studied jazz percussion with drum legend Billy Hart (Miles Davis, Herbie Hancock). Now a freelance writer and professional member of the city's jazz and indie rock scenes, he spends most of his days writing, playing music or drinking brews in his spacious North Portland basement.

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