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IF THE BLITZ DONâT KILL YOU: The name of Lightning Will (305 NW 21st Ave., 327-8203, lightningwill.com) is the most layered joke in Portland bars. In a location once home to the 21st Avenue outpost of Blitzâwhich means lightning in German, and also something about Nazisâthe barâs name is also an old-man pun about a Grateful Dead lyric. âIf the thunder donât get you,â sings Heroin Santa in âThe Wheel,â âthe lightning will.â The bar itself is essentially Blitz with a coat of gray paint, but the bros have mostly departed, leaving in their wake a regular clientele that mostly consisted of calm engineers and tech types on my visits. Amid a voluminous beer selection, they ordered a whole hell of a lot of Cider Riot, in presumed Timbers solidarity.
But also? There's good food now, under longtime Portland gadabout and chef Ronnie Vance, who's been hosting beer and cider pairing dinners here—including one from Cider Riot on Aug. 29. On the daily menu, the Ph*ck ($14, pronounced just as you think) is pho-style soup made with duck, so packed with breast and bok choy that the stock serves almost as sauce. Duck schmaltz also adorns the garlic-aioli burger ($12), rich and fatty enough it feels French on its brioche bun. Both are available for $7 in smaller form at happy hour, and both are heartily recommended. Sure, the atmosphere is more Elks Club or union hall than true hangout—there's a nigh-unused game room in the back with foosball, skee and pool—and the bunkerlike architecture leads to a certain bunker mentality. But there is no better happy-hour meal on 21st Avenue.
WWeek 2015
