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Casual Midwest beer bar Saraveza has given birth to a more elegant cocktail bar with date-night vibes.
The small, brick-laden and oak-accented Bad Habit Room is tucked behind the entrance to a second-floor apartment building just around the corner from Saraveza. Behind partially pulled curtains is a candlelit nook with a Prohibition backroom bar atmosphere and the hushed whimsy of one of those secret rooms inside every McMenamins hotel.
Bad Habit Room has technically been around for about a decade, but was previously only open for weekend brunch and special events. After staying completely shuttered for two years due to the pandemic, it’s back and catering to a different crowd in the evenings.
The space was always meant to be a counterpoint to Saraveza’s down-home, Packers-and-pasty beer bar scene, but never really had a chance to shine pre-COVID. Now, it feels like a hidden gem—perhaps a little too hidden based on a recent Saturday night visit when the bar was nearly empty.
To fill those seats and keep things interesting, Bad Habit Room has been inviting brewers to step behind the bar and create beer cocktails with local mixologists. Concocting those drinks can sometimes be as easy as subbing in the appropriate beer as a mixer; other times, it involves a little more magic, but ultimately reveals how wonderfully hops and yeast interact with herbal liqueurs. At a recent Fort George Brewery night, for instance, a ginger- and vanilla-spiced barrel-aged stout was used as a roasty substitution for soda in a dark ‘n’ stormy, while one of the Astoria brewery’s hazy IPAs was reduced to a floral, bittersweet syrup that was then mixed with tequila and fresh juices for a riff on a margarita.
While Bad Habit Room always has a few handles pouring craft beer and a small selection of bottles, as well as a pretty great wine list, the focus here is cocktails that seem to take their inspiration as much from the modern craft beer revolution as they do from the 1920s. Drinks like Moon Shoes ($10) are not as strange as they sound: Its marshmallow-infused vodka is a light, puffy cloud for lemon and orgeat to bounce off of, while a splash of Son of Man harvest vermouth acts as a grounding agent.
Another balanced, easy drinker, the Groggy Froggy ($13), is a rum-based drink made with the freshest available tropical fruit, Galliano and Harlequin liqueurs. I expected it to be tiki sweet, but the coconut water lightens up the concoction, leaving you feeling refreshed. And the creative incorporation of spirulina—a nutrient-packed blue-green algae—is really more decorative but gives you the impression that you’re drinking something semi-healthy.
Saraveza has always relied on a menu of buttery, rich comfort food—described as Portland takes on Midwest favorites—but Bad Habit Room primarily offers small bites and salads. It’s not exactly a spot where you’d go to have dinner, but it’s a perfect destination for pre- or post-dining drinks and snacks. Though you could easily fill yourself up by tackling the entire appetizer portion of the menu. On a recent trip, our group of four did just that by making a meal out of the pimento cheese ball ($8), Crystal Hot Sauce-doused deviled eggs with pickled jalapeños ($4) and Pigs in Scarves ($8)—a plate of smoky sausages wrapped in a flaky pastry with a side of beer cheese dipping sauce. We didn’t even need the more filling bierocks, or German stuffed rolls ($14).
Bad Habit Room is a bar, first and foremost, and there may be no better dish to pair with a craft beverage than a well-made charcuterie board. The one served here is stacked with crusty bread, house-smoked meats and housemade pickles ($16), the perfect accompaniment to the spicy Hotter Than Mojave (Olmeca Altos Añejo tequila, grapefruit, mezcal, Velvet Falernum Liqueur and Firewater Tincture; $12).
Bad Habit Room bills itself as a speakeasy-style cocktail bar, which feels fairly accurate despite the sign out front advertising its existence. Hopefully, it doesn’t stay too hidden. It would be unfortunate if this wonderful respite from the raucous North Killingsworth Street bar scene never found an audience. The area could use more sophisticated watering holes like this one.
DRINK: Bad Habit Room, 5433 N Michigan Ave., 503-303-8550, saraveza.com/the-bad-habit-room. 4-10 pm Wednesday-Friday, 9 am-2 pm and 4-10 pm Saturday-Sunday.
