Portland Dive Bars
715 Inn
You probably would not have set foot in it, had you known it was there in the first place. Your loss.
Acapulco's Gold
Relatively inexpensive Mexican restaurant and bar in the upper NW warehouse district.
Ace Tavern
Run down cash only tavern.
Acropolis Steakhouse
Legendary strip club known for cheap steaks and alt dancers.
Agenda
Former Steinhaus made over into an 82nd Ave rock bar.
Anchor Bar
Sports bar off the beaten path with tons of ridiculously cheap specials running daily.
Angelo's
Cheap, friendly unassuming dive with a rock steady juke and a diverse hodgepodge of patrons.
Ash Street Saloon
Downtown dive venue with incredible sound.
B-Side Tavern
Nice dive on lower Burnside with a fantastic jukebox, patio, and colorful service.
Basement Pub
Popular neighborhood bar that isn't exactly a basement.
Bear Paw Inn
Portland's home for the hopeless, this little SE dive is a bizarre ride to bottom.
Bill's Steakhouse
Bar that serves steak on the way to the airport.
Billy Ray's
Friendly neighborhood bar on MLK with two-levels a plethora of pinball machines and a patio.
Black Cat Tavern
One of the few remaining beer only taverns in Portland.
Blackwell's Grubsteak Grill
Cash only dive in the Hollywood district.
Blue Diamond
Small dive on Sandy with live Blues a few times a week.
Bob & Alice's
Fried food Foster Haven
Brooklyn Park Pub
Neighborhood dive with a whiskey club.
Candlelight Restaurant & Lounge
Specifically: Cheap Drinks
Montavilla dive with cheap, stiff pours and a reputation for being just that (Not to be confused with the Candlelight downtown)
Cheers Northwest
Formerly known as an "Old man's bar," Cheers is now apparently marketing itself as a gastro pub.
Claudia's Sports Pub & Grill
Whether you want to play a game of pool or watch a game on the TV, Claudia's is a good bet.
Clinton Street Pub
Friendly little dive with a great juke.
Club 21
Classic Portland dive/rocker green room. The gnome hut exterior boasts of currently unavailable "Steaks for Your Enjoyment."
Coasters
Awesome Mix of Hipsters and Locals
Commodore
Fortified island citadel of slovenly drunkenness, faithfully resisting the surrounding gentrification.
Copper Rooster
East Burnside dive not really near anywhere else.
Cosmo Lounge
Sellwood dive freshly scrubbed from it's previous incarnation (Pogo's).
Country Bill's Restaurant & Lounge
Perpetually family owned vintage surf & turf lounge.
Crackerjack's Pub
Relatively large but cozy bar on the outskirts of Nob Hill.
Devil's Point
South East Strip Bar for Everyone
Dilly's Bar & Grill
SE Clinton neighborhood dive.
Dockside Saloon & Restaurant
More of a blue collar lunch diner than a saloon, it opens in the wee hours, and closes even earlier.
Domenic's Bar & Grill
Enormous sports bar in Milwaukie with pretty much everything sports related you could ask for, plus Karaoke and Live Music!
Don's Dugout
Huge sports bar out by the airport.
Dots Cafe
An Original Portland Hipster Hangout
Dreams & Memories
Cinder block dive with a great name and a gritty environment.
Driftwood Tavern (D's Bar)
Sports bar brought to you by folks from the Mid-West.
Ducketts
Small little student/rock/dive bar near PCC with decent patio.
Dusty's Bar & Grill
Country/Cowboy bar
Fixin' To
You'll feel at home even if you're not a southerner.
Fremont Ridge Inn
Unassuming neighborhood dive.
Galaxy
Beloved karaoke dive, rumor has it that it may soon be demolished to make way for something terrible.
Gator's
Friendly Neighborhood Dive
George's Corner Sports Bar
Friendly little Interstate dive with much raved about burgers.
Gil's Speakeasy
Small, hard to find bar with a huge personality.
Gladstone Street Pub
One of the best places to play Cornhole in town!
Goose Hollow Inn
Nice neighborhood joint known for its Reuben and that Bud Clark's family still owns and operates it.
Greek Village Tavern
More of a bar than a Greek restaurant.
Greeley Avenue Bar & Grill
Neighborhood bar with it all. Sports, VJs, Live bands and Poker Nights,
Havana West
The new name for Hal's Tavern.
Neighborhood bar known for it's awesome shuffleboard table, Cuban food, and cheaper drinks.
Hawthorne Hideaway
Spacious venue with friendly service.
Hawthorne Strip
Strip Club You Could Take Your Mom To
Hi Hat Lounge
Chinese restaurant and lounge now under new ownership.
Holman's
Old fashioned bar & grill with a sweet outdoor patio.
Hour Glass Pub
Apparently where old drunks take their kids to teach them how to grow up just like them.
Interstate Bar & Grill
N. Interstate dive easily mistaken for an automotive battery store.
Irish Town
Irish bar in a strip mall in Vancouver that also serves Asian food?
Jake's Place
Divey charms abound (an increasingly more difficult find in Sellwood).
Joe's Cellar
Great dive bar you'd find if you walked all the way to the end of NW 21st.
Jolly Roger
Sports bar and dive in uber-hipster zone. Expect a very mixed crowd.
Katie O'Brien's
Nice little dive with cheap, greasy breakfasts, best enjoyed after a long night of excessive drinking.
Kay's Bar
Classic bar on the right, diner to the left, just as our grandparents liked 'em.
Kenton Station
Unassuming run of the mill pub & grill in Kenton. Closes early.
Knuckleheads
Biker bar on Foster.
Langano Lounge
Tiny under-patronized dive "lounge" with occasional live music and DJs.
Laurelthirst Pub
Divey little box renowned for its frequent folksy, bluegrassy acts.
Lion's Eye Tavern
Stands-tall-with-fists, it should be called. Cleaned up dive, charming and friendly, withstands the bottom of the barrel pressures surrounding it on SE 82nd.
Lotsa Luck
Little Powell Blvd. dive complete battered captains chairs.
Lucky Inn
Neighborhood dive leaning towards old punks, rockers, and skaters with a nicely did patio, cheap drinks and strangely, Italian food.
Lutz Tavern
Iconic, freshly re-opened Woodstock dive.
LV's Sports Bar and Grill
Formerly known as Twelve 22, this bar has apparently cleaned itself up and now serves soul food and burgers while showing all the games on the big screen.
Magic Garden
This Portland institution is a bar first, strip club second, and a much sought notch on every off-key travel writer's belt. Friendly, up close and personal dancers on a tiny stage.
Marathon Taverna
Sports bar in the loosest sense: games play on numerous TVs, Budweiser banners adorn, the day shift old-timers could care less; at night, TapouT bedecked youngsters from god knows hoot & holler.
Marie's
Offensively well lit, and mauve painted, neighborhood bar in St. Johns. You can almost smell the perm chemicals.
Mary's Club
Landmark downtown strip club (the first in Portland), leans toward a bygone burlesque as 3 generations of family work the bar & stage.
Matador
Frequented by homeless alcoholics, punks, D list celebrities, and slumming suburbanites, the Matador sets the bar by which all other Portland dives are measured.
Maui's on Williams
Cheap & friendly aquamarine cinder block box adorned with Hawaiian imagery restores warmth on cold a day.
McPeet's
A pleasant change from the stuffy fuddy-duddy mode of Wilshire Beaumont, McPeets remains a perfectly capable and charming bar-bar.
Mock Crest Tavern
Bright, intimate blues bar in North Portland.
Montavilla Station
Perhaps too divey even for the skater/rocker crowd at Roscoe's, Montavilla Station's respiteful down-market confines serve its purpose with unintentional perfection.
Mousetrap Tavern
Cash only North Portland dive. You have been warned.
Mt. Scott Pub
Mt. Scott neighborhood dive through and through, heavy on the regulars, with occasional adventuring kids.
My Father's Place
SE greasy spoon dive/diner serves two purposes: Liquoring up the morning crowd as quickly as possible, and warding off the hangovers/cocaine induced morning insomnia amongst PDX's scenesters.
Nicolai St. Clubhouse
Small friendly strip club, typically filled industrial area workers swilling their post shift drinks.
Nite Hawk Cafe & Lounge
Large North Portland dive delivers as it did in it's glorious smoke filled past, albeit with a shiny new surfaces that do little to mask it's true nature.
Nob Hill Bar & Grill
"But the burgers...". What about'em? Completely ordinary. Still, as sustainable eateries and posh boutiques completely zone out the fun, it is good to know that this shithole stubbornly survives.
Northside Lounge
Dumpy little ramshackle joint with stiff'n'affordable drinks, naturally attached to a Chinese restaurant. Regular rummies 'round the bar, naturally.
O'Brien's
A completely regular old sorta sports bar, loosely golf themed, rarely busy.
O'Malley's
Large sized neighborhood bar that is typically never too busy with good humored service, and a unique "custom art" jukebox.
Pal's Shanty
Historic Sandy Blvd shack, is a veritable sea-feed: pub grub style oysters/crab/prawns/chowder, you can almost feel the salty barnacles. Inexplicably closes early.
Papa-Son's Bar
The slow muttering daytime geriatrics transitions into the mile-a-minute prattling of the night time tweakers, and somewhere your brain explodes, gray matter found in the Airstream smoking trailer.
Pappy's Bar & Grill
Evidently, having private locking bathrooms on 82nd creates a bit of a problem that rhymes with Seth. Still, the colorful regulars, surly staff, and lunch counter bar will make you smile.
Perch Tavern
Surreal, woodsy, owl themed joint, with off-kilter regulars, and staff to boot, ergo, a must on any St. Johns crawl.
Pink Feather Restaurant & Lounge
If kitsch had volume, this one is turned up to 11. Family restaurant style dive serves up some of the stiffer drinks east of 82nd.
Pitiful Princess Gentleman's Club
A strip club with quite possibly the best name of the bunch.
Pub 181
Under new ownership. We'll have to check it out.
Queen of Hearts
Said to be the quintessential biker bar (for Portland), we've heard it's changed. Update soon.
Railside Pub
Out of the Way Rock Bar
Red Flag
Small hipster bar with a kick-ass jukebox and good food.
Reel 'm Inn
Long standing neighborhood dive known for its chicken and Jo-Jos and cheap prices.
Renner's Grill
SW dive open since 1939.
Republic
Go for the Food
River Roadhouse
Pool hall and music venue with pinball, golden tee and daily shot specials located in Milwaukie.
Roadside Attraction
Funky, rambling, ramshackle bar with a kick-ass patio.
Rooster's
Strip club and biker bar on N Columbia.
Roscoe's
Local dive turned beer-centric bar complete with "Meet the Brewer" nights
Rovon Inn
Neighborhood dive with cheap drinks. CASH ONLY - ATM on site.
Rumpus Room
Older regular crowd and loads of video crack.
Sandy Hut
Portland institution patronized by all walks of life. Cheap!
Saratoga
Rock and roll club with DJ nights, Karaoke, and special events including "Bearaccuda Night." Photo booth included.
Scooter McQuade's
Popular pre-Crystal Ballroom shows and post-Timbers matches bar known for its potent Jello shots.
Scoreboard Tavern
Divey sports bar on SE Division.
Sewickly's Addition
One of the anchors of Hawthorne's famed Barmuda Triangle, this bar pours them heavy and cheap.
Sextant Bar & Galley
Divey little nautically themed bar, located (with sweet patio) right on the Columbia River.
Ship
Neighborhood bar with a Chicago sports theme and free peanuts on Thursdays.
Ship Ahoy Tavern
Though you can see the glory of the c-bar across the street, this bar is for those that prefer something a little more low key.
Silver Dollar Pizza
Neighborhood Pizza and sports bar on NW 21st.
Silverado
Portland's only all male strip club (after 10pm), catering to men. Women are welcome, but not exactly encouraged.
Skinn
Formerly "JD's"
Skyline Tavern
Old-school bar on Skyline Drive with a huge outdoor space for horseshoes, BBQs and watching the sunset.
Slabtown
To quote Slabtown's Twitter profile: "Portland's only pinball dive and rock club, forgotten in the shadow of I-405."
Sloan's Tavern
Family owned bar with decor from the 70's. Closes early.
Smokey's Tavern
Creepy looking bar on Foster.
Space Room
Legendary upper Hawthorne bar known for its stiff drinks and awesome Portland murals.
Spirits
Super friendly neighborhood dive, and quite possibly the cheapest drinks in town.
Suki's Bar & Grill
Fantastic dive below a Travelodge, just across the 405 from PSU.
Sundown Pub
Cozy vegetarian pub in St John's.
Tartan and Thistle
Scottish themed bar in Milwaukie with a Queer night on Wednesdays.
Ten Till One Tavern
The bar portion of Stanich's.
Tennessee Red's
SE neighborhood BBQ joint that shows movies on Sundays and Mondays and plenty of sports for the fans.
The Decoy
Divey neighborhood bar just outside of Portland that serves chinese food, but isn't an Asian lounge.
The Farmhouse
Large bar and restaurant on 82nd open 24 hours with Karaoke at 9pm daily.
The Lamp
Pre and Post-Aladdin shows bar. Or during an Aladdin show, if the opener sucks.
The Lovecraft
As evidenced by it's name, the Lovecraft is a horror themed bar. It's also a tea shop by day?
The Nest
Dive bar with pretty much the most diverse crowd in Portland.
The Overlook
Lounge attached to breakfast/Greek diner-type joint.
The Slammer
Laid back, no-frills SE local that's as popular with the warehouse workers as it is with the inner SE cool kids.
The Vern
Quintessential SE Portland dive.
Tired Feat Tavern
Dive that may or may not still be structurally sound.
Tom's 39th St. Sports Pub
Low rent sports bar attached to an old man's diner.
Tony's Old Time Tavern
One of the diviest bars in NW, which is a lot to say, considering it's next door to the Matador.
Trap
Lower Foster Karaoke and Darts Paradise
Triple Nickel
Popular Belmont bar known for stiff drinks and dart tournaments.
Twelve 22
Now LV's Sports Bar and Grill.
Twilight Cafe & Bar
SE diner with "attached" music venue hosting a wide variety of music.
Twilight Room
Neighborhood bar that's popular with the U of Portland crowd.
Utopia Lounge
Dive bar within a Vietnamese restaurant.
Virginia Cafe
A Portland Institution
Wilshire Tavern
Friendly cash only beer and wine bar.
Wimpy's
Yes it's still open. It's just a few doors down.
Wishing Well
Cheap Drinks and Eats
World Famous Kenton Club
Excellent NoPo dive with gruff but lovable service, colorful regulars, and frequent alt-country/rock acts.
Yamhill Pub
Graffiti Loved Downtown Dive
Yen Ha
Super Vietnamese dive, scattered array of regulars from scenesters to con artists to weathered boozers.
Yes & No
Downtown Hardwood Haven
Your Inn
For Reals NoPo Neighborhood Bar
Yukon Tavern
Funky Milwaukie Bar
Yur's
Down and dirty dive, unofficially Radio Cab driver's "lounge".
