Bar Guide 2015: Church

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2600 NE Sandy Blvd., 206-8962, churchbarpdx.com, 4 pm-2 am daily.

Somewhere out there is an easily-amused individual who has actually called his mother while at this wryly named pub and said, "Sorry, Ma, I'm at church." The same mother probably heard tell of flu-like symptoms caught at "The Library" sophomore year, and in many ways Church is the savvier, late-20s cousin of a college town's "Library" bar. The goofy catchphrase—"Eat, drink, repent"—a confessional-cum-photo booth, Southern-trending comfort food and the citrus and ginger-obsessed cocktails ($9-$12) are all here, though "The Mission" might be a more apt name. This strip of Northeast Sandy Boulevard is a wilderness meant to be driven through, by either Pepsi big rigs or patrons of dim community theatre about dinnerware. To open a bohemian joint here is ambitious, but Church has a prayer.

Happy hour: 4-8 pm daily. $4 wells, $5 house wine and punch, $5-$6 cocktails, $3-$4 shots.

Entertainment:Free local bands play on Monday, DJs of varying quality spin on weekends, and a screen descends for projected (but muted) Blazers games.


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