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The best bar in Portland changes pretty much every night, depending on who shows up, what beers get tapped and who controls the speakers.
Our pick for the top brewpub, dive bar or wine lounge might change by the time you've finished reading this. But here are the spots, new and old, that we're most excited about right now. For a comprehensive list of favorites, check out our Bar Guide.
Where to drink this week:
1. Urban Farmer
For a steep $20 at this steakhouse high in the Nines, you can get the finest Vieux Carré we've ever had in Portland: barrel-aged as long as two years and poured from tiny barrels in a cascading mixed-age solera system kept in a little locked case in the back room.
2. Creepy's
627 SE Morrison St., 503-889-0185.
Creepy's isn't creepy, unless you think the circus is creepy: It's clown paintings, big-eyed kids and John Quincy Adams, plus goofball coffee cocktails and a great spicy chicken sandwich.
3. Jack London Revue
529 SW 4th Ave., jacklondonrevue.com.
Jazz is back on the westside, in the no-nonsense velvet-curtained basement of classic pool hall Rialto, lit up with candles and Christmas lights and outfitted with deep vinyl booths.
4. Lafitte's
2327 NW Kearney St., thewaitingroompdx.com.
The upstairs at already hidden bar the Waiting Room is a double-hidden ode to old New Orleans, with absinthe paraphernalia and classic crystal glassware holding some seriously evolved cocktails from barman Chazz Madrigal.
5. Elvis Room
203 SE Grand Ave., 503-235-5690.
Consider the gilded-mirror, white-walled upstairs of the Elvis Room a belt-buckled pelvic thrust of budget extravagance.