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1. Dóttir at Kex
100 NE Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., 971-346-2996, kexhotels.com/eat-drink/dottir.
The food at Dóttir, the ground-floor restaurant inside the new Icelandic boutique hotel Kex, is a disappointment, but the drink program alone makes it worth visiting. You'll find house cocktails, aquavits, a wine list, and a wide-ranging selection of craft beers, including several from the hotel's own brand. If it's on, the Coffee + Cream Porter has a fine roast coffee character and a malty, creamy touch.
Read the full review: At Kex, You Can Drink Specially-Made Beers and a Flight of Scandinavian Aquavits.
2. R&R
716 NW 21st Ave., randrpdx.com.
Overhauled from a Belgian bar into a faux-beachside resort, R&R borrows elements from your Hawaiian vacation Pinterest board—palm fronds, piña coladas, poke—and brings them to life. And if that's not enough to curb your seasonal affective disorder, an LED sunset repeats every few minutes. It's summer somewhere, right?
Read the full review: Do You like Pina Coladas? Then R&R Might Be Your New Favorite Bar.
3. Lift Off Lounge
5216 NE Sandy Blvd.
The décor at this new bar from the owner of downtown's dearly departed Matador tickles the nostalgia receptors with a '50s vision of the Space Age. It's applied with a subtle touch, but much of the kitsch is concentrated on the cocktail menu, which includes old-timey dessert drinks and playfully retrograde items like the Thyme Gibson.
Read the full review: Lift Off Lounge Sets Course for a 1950s Version of the 21st Century.
4. Birdie Time Pub
925 SE Main St., 503-966-1212, birdietimepub.com.
Birdie Time is basically a boutique take on family fun centers like Dave and Buster's or Big Al's—only with much better beer, and the focus is on golf. The nine-hole putt-putt course is the centerpiece, but there are also 15 TV screens tuned to everything from pro football to college soccer, making it an ideal, if unusually colorful, makeshift sports bar.
Read the full review: At Birdie Time Pub, You Can Putt Over a Miniature Model of the Fremont Bridge While Drinking One of 35 Craft Beverages On Tap.
5. Botanist
1300 NW Lovejoy St., 971-533-8064, botanisthouse.com.
At this sleek subterranean gin bar—it prefers "gastro cocktail bar"—veteran mixologist Robbie Wilson spreads the joys of juniper berries to bargoers west of the Willamette. For those who know little of the details that distinguish one type of gin from another, the list of about a dozen $13 cocktails serves as a safe point of entry. As basic as it is, the Botanist G&T should be the go-to for anyone who's familiar with the timeless pleasure of a simple gin drink.
Read the full review: Botanist Introduces the Joys of Gin to the Non-Secret-Agent Crowd.
