Top 5 Places to Drink in Portland This Week

Your weekly Buzz List.

Lovecraft Bar (Sam Gehrke)

1. The Lovecraft

421 SE Grand Ave., thelovecraftbar.com.

Every night is Halloween at the Lovecraft. Windowless and cavernous, it's a place where dark souls gather together and sulk alone while New Wave, post-punk and industrial music throbs and minimalist lighting penetrates the dense fog. A backlash against its namesake's unsavory values was inevitable, but the owners have done their part to assure patrons it's a place that respects inclusivity above all else.

Related: Six Portland Bars Where You Can Shake Your Booty.

Wedgehead. IMAGE: Aaron Lee.

2. Wedgehead

3728 NE Sandy Blvd., 503-477-7637, wedgeheadpdx.com.

Portland's newest pinball paradise replaced legendary punk hang the Know, but the warm nostalgia of the room carries its legacy well. The layout is roomy and easy to navigate, but the X factor is the kitchen, which serves a no-nonsense menu filled with shareables like wings, a killer plate of underpriced nachos, and big, sloppy burgers like the Dangerfield ($12).

Read the full review: We Reviewed Three of Portland's Newest Bars to Drink Beers and Play Games.

(Abby Gordon)

3. Psychic Bar

3560 N Mississippi Ave., 503-206-5343, psychicbarpdx.com.

Housed inside a converted Victorian home, the psychic-themed bar is the creation of three film and TV vets. The dark walls are adorned with a supernatural motif, and the restroom has surreal illusion mirrors. Crucially, though, the bar does not place theme before comfort—it doesn't take a clairvoyant to imagine it eventually becoming a popular neighborhood haunt.

Read the full review: Three Movie and TV Vets Have Opened a Psychic-Themed Bar on North Mississippi.

(Henry Cromett)

4. Creepy's

627 SE Morrison St., 503-889-0185, creepys.business.site.

Despite a gallery of sad-clown paintings and an animatronic eyeball in a vise, Creepy's isn't actually creepy. It's less horror house than self-consciously quirky sideshow—a design-happy display case of dolls, deer heads and big-eyed kitsch, presided over by a giant painting of John Quincy Adams with moving eyes. Still, if you're looking to shift into spooky-ooky Halloween mode, it'll certainly do.

Read the full review: Despite a Gallery of Sad-Clown Paintings and an Animatronic Eyeball in a Vise, Creepy's Isn't Actually Creepy.

(Rick Vodicka)

5. High Score

617 SE Morrison St., 503-206-6586, high-score-arcade.business.site.

Occupying a shoebox-sized space two doors down from the owners' other venture, gringo taqueria Robo Taco, High Score feels less like an arcade bar than a pinball-geek man-cave that's open to the public. It's the sort of place you dip into to kill an hour and end up perched at the Flash Gordon cabinet a little longer than anticipated.

Read the full review: We Reviewed Three of Portland's Newest Bars to Drink Beers and Play Games.

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