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There are many second acts in Portland bars. The
shuttered business repurposed as quirky pub is a local cliché: It's only
a matter of time until some developer halts condo construction midway
to open a roofless saloon called "The Olde Job Site." But few
transitions can rival this former check-writing machine store in
unfaithful grace. Paymaster began with an obscene Robert Crumb homage
named "Balls the Cat" scrawled on a chalkboard. It has expanded to
include a tin-roof patio shielding an outdoor pool table, a burger
worthy of canonization, a tap list belatedly discovering saisons, and a
vending machine that dispenses sleepover kits and home drug tests. It
is, in short, the westside's premier one-stop shop for adult
comforts—payday reincarnated as a cat with a hot tin roof.
Happy hour: 2-6 pm daily. $1.50 Hamm's, $4.50 cider, $4 micros, $3 wells.
Entertainment: Pool, pinball, patio, vending machine, paperback novels purchased from vending machine.
Our Favorite 178 Portland Bars | Bar of the Year: Stammtisch | Best Bars No. 2-5
Strip Club Hangouts | Sports Bars | Shot 'n' a Back | English Bars | Dessert Cocktails
Patio Bars | Bars That Look Like Houses | Skee-ball Bars | Cart Pod Bars
Where to Eat After Bar Close | The Most Important Little Bar 'Hood in Portland
WWeek 2015