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Say you're a 28-year-old internal medicine resident at Oregon Health & Science University Hospital, $450,000 in debt, and you've just come off your third 20-hour overnight shift of the week. Where do you go to blow off steam? Welcome to Feathered Nesst Public House (3460 SW US Veterans Hospital Road, 503-719-7517, featherednesst.com), named in part after the owner's last name, Ness. It is the first bar, as far as we know, ever to top isolated Marquam Hill.
Nestled in a thicket behind the palatial ivory tower of OHSU Hospital, Feathered Nesst is a jack-of-all-trades hangout. Its 48 taps lean toward recognizable Oregon and California craft beer (pints start at $5.50, growlers are available to go), with a weird fetish for Victory Brewing of Pennsylvania and Proletariat wine out of Washington, plus a few scattered ciders and kombucha.
The clientele is a pre-built mix of beleaguered hospital staff and families in need of a breath of fresh air, with nondescript modern decor that looks like the lobby of an upscale apartment complex.
My companion described the menu of bar staples (fried stuff, burgers, ostensibly healthy salads and bowls) as "hospital food." Our spicy fried-chicken sliders (three for $9) were of an acceptable quality and size for $3 apiece, while the garlic fries ($7) were a soggy, abrasive wreck that resulted in hours of dragon breath. But the place fulfills its duty.
Besides a solo blonde in a low-cost, very tight dress who appeared to be angling to meet doctors, the Tuesday night crowd was mostly people who were very clearly in need of a drink: a large group of gawky yo-pros, tables of middle-aged hospital staff, and people absorbing a few precious minutes in sunlight on the patio.
Willamette Week
