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1. PINK RABBIT
232 NW 12th Ave., 971-255-0386, pinkrabbitpdx.com. 4 pm-midnight Monday-Thursday, 4 pm-2 am Friday-Saturday, 6 pm-midnight Sunday.
Even before Pink Rabbit transformed its curbside patio into an outdoor discotheque, the Pearl District bar’s collection of picnic tables were consistently full. But now, with a weather-fortified patio full of mirror balls, string lights, additional speakers and living plant installations, you can safely anticipate a wait for the top-shelf toddy, which sips like counterprogramming—restrained, mellow and deeply comforting.
2. THE GARRISON
8773 N Lombard St., thegarrisonpdx.com. 5-10 pm Monday-Saturday.
The Garrison is an unpretentious little neighborhood bar, like any other in St. Johns, except for the fact that while you might feel like a moron trying to order a drink made with mezcal and yellow chartreuse anywhere else on Lombard, here it is expected. Because its part of a micro-business complex, the Garrison’s patio is actually a courtyard shared with salons and restaurants. Its picnic tables and counters fill up with patrons ordering not only drinks, but also food from Gracie’s Apizza, Mikasa Sushi & Ramen and Bolognese pasta pop-up Pastificio d’Oro.
3. PUSH X PULL
821 SE Stark St., pushxpullcoffee.com. 8 am-2 pm Monday-Friday, 8 am-3 pm Saturday-Sunday.
Coffee may be ubiquitous in our city, but Christopher Hall, the 37-year-old co-founder of coffee roaster and cafe Push x Pull, possesses a singular focus on natural process beans. “Natural process” refers to fermentation of the entire coffee cherry after harvesting. In Push x Pull’s capable hands, the results are flavorful espresso shots and captivating cortados.
4. COOPERATIVA
1250 NW 9th Ave., Suite 100, 503-342-7416, cooperativapdx.com. 7:30 am-9 pm Wednesday-Saturday.
New to the menu at the Pearl’s Italian market, the World Vermut Tour flight comes with three 3-ounce pours to remind drinkers that—to quote bar manager Joel Schmeck—”really killer vermouths” are made internationally and domestically. Alongside Spanish Lustau vermut rosé and Cnia Mata red vermouth, Cooperativa features Son of Man’s “Someday” vermouth. Made with the Basque-style Sagardo cider, brewed in Cascade Locks, this dry white warps the vermouth category—a category known to have few requisites other than being made with wine. The cloudy yellow bottle carries tart sips of kumquat and rhubarb.
5. NIGHTINGALE
18 NE 28th Ave., 971-254-9017, nightingalepdx.net. 5 pm-midnight Thursday-Saturday, 5-11 pm Sunday, Monday and Wednesday.
There’s something subdued about Nightingale, even with a decent weekend turnout of groups dining both inside and out—on the bar’s festive but understated streetside patio. The elusive quiet bar on a Saturday night, its cocktail menu consists of well-conceived concoctions, most with a “peaty” cast to them owing to the liberal deployment of mezcals, scotches and smoked bitters.