Bars that Feature Live Music in Portland
Agenda
Specifically: Rock / Punk
Former Steinhaus made over into an 82nd Ave rock bar.
Al's Den
Specifically: Blues / Folk / Jazz
Aladdin Theater
Active since the 1920s, this east side venue is known for attracting a wide variety of well known acts.
Alberta Rose Theater
Historic theater features eclectic mix of live music, performance art, and film.
Alberta Street Pub
Specifically: Acoustic / Folk
Dark, fun Irish pub with frequent acoustic acts.
Alleyway Cafe & Bar
Specifically: Acoustic / Folk / Punk
Bright and clean dive bar made with smokers and pinball aficionados in mind.
Andina
Specifically: Jazz
Peruvian food served up with tasty Pisco Sours, live jazz nightly.
Ash Street Saloon
Specifically: Rock / Punk / Metal / Alt / Prog / Alt-country / Funk / Hip-hop
Downtown dive venue with incredible sound.
Aztec Willie
Specifically: Salsa / Latin / Reggaeton / Funk / Timba
Kid friendly Taqueria/bar with Pan-Latin dancing/lessons.
Bamboo Grove
Specifically: Friday / Saturday / Hawaiian
Hawaiian joint, more of a restaurant than a bar, far and away in St. Johns.
Bar Bar
Specifically: Rock / Alt / Folk / Electronica
Mississippi Studios attached bar.
Barrel Room Rockin' Show Bar
Specifically: Dueling Piano / Covers
Dueling piano bar in the heart of the amateur nightclub zone.
Biddy McGraw's
Specifically: Celtic / Folk / Rock / Jam / Funk
As authentically Irish as one can get in the US.
Blue Diamond
Specifically: Blues
Small dive on Sandy with live Blues a few times a week.
Blue Monk
Two level bar and music venue with an enormous beer list.
Brasserie Montmartre
Specifically: mainly jazz
Upscale french restaurant and bistro with live music
Brix Tavern
Pearl District lounge/sports bar with a VIP loft area.
Buffalo Gap
Specifically: Upstairs / Jazz / Blues / Folk
Multi-roomed saloon with free live music most nights.
Bunk Bar
Specifically: Tuesday / Saturday
Subway's Jared Fogle Bar it is not. Sandwich shop of considerable repute opens up a neo-modern hipster mecca.
Bushwackers Dancehall & Saloon
Specifically: Fridays
Huge country dance club with free lessons on Saturdays and poker night on Tuesdays.
Candlelight Room
Specifically: Blues / Jazz / Funk / Every Night
Downtown blues bar known as a hook up spot for the over 40 crowd. Slated to close Febuary 26, 2012, due to the future Milwaukee light rail.
Chapel Pub
Specifically: Blues / Folk
Exactly what you would expect from a funeral home converted to a Mc-Bar.
Cider Mill Lounge
Specifically: Friday / Saturday / Blues
Sports bar with live music and trivia, featuring the area's last Fryer Tuck's chicken.
Clyde's Prime Rib
Specifically: Jazz / Blues / R&B / Funk / Soul / Every Night
The big "PRIME RIB" sign on this retro Sandy Blvd steakhouse is all the info you need to know.
County Cork Public House
Specifically: Celtic
Tame, family friendly version of an Irish pub.
Crystal Ballroom
Even if you hate'em, the McBros have a great downtown music venue.
Dancin' Bare
Specifically: DJs Thur-Sat
Naked ladies, can I say more.
Dante's
Classic Portland Bar.
Dilly's Bar & Grill
Specifically: Open Mic / Thursday / 8pm
SE Clinton neighborhood dive.
Dixie Tavern
Specifically: Varies / See Website For Details
Rock/urban cowboy themed bar is neither a tavern nor a rock bar, teeming with suburban 20 somethings eager to swap DNA and exotic diseases.
Domenic's Bar & Grill
Specifically: Friday / Saturday / Free
Enormous sports bar in Milwaukie with pretty much everything sports related you could ask for, plus Karaoke and Live Music!
Doug Fir Lounge
Specifically: Rock / Indie / Hip-hop / Alt / Funk / Metal / Punk
Swanky, Hipster Hotel with Kick Ass Venue
Dublin Down Pub
Specifically: Tuesdays
"100% Irish" pub in the 'Couv.
Dublin Pub
Irish pub with live music 6 nights a week and 59! taps.
Ducketts
Specifically: Rock / Metal / Punk
Small little student/rock/dive bar near PCC with decent patio.
Duff's Garage
Specifically: Rockabilly / Alt Country / Country / Blues / Swing / Surf
Inner SE retro Americana - checkers, bygone automotive culture, and naturally, the music of the era. Not the drinks, not the food, but escape to the past is, of course, why people come here.
Duke's Country Bar & Grill
Country bar complete with a mechanical bull brought to you by CEG.
East End
Specifically: Punk / Rock / Alt / Indie
Rock n roll haven with two bars stocked with cheap beer and drinks served stiff. A music lovers paradise (DJs, live music, and a even record store!)
Eat: An Oyster Bar
Specifically: Jazz / Sundays / 11am-2pm
A little slice of New Orleans in Portland. Bourbon flights and live music on Thursdays.
Edgefield
Popular McMenamins destination for live music and weddings. Two golf courses, several pubs, movie theater, a soaking pool, two restaurants and a hotel. Sheesh!
Ella Street Social Club
Specifically: Rock / Punk / Alt
Decent bar near Timbers Stadium
Fez Ballroom
Specifically: Thursdays
Big dance club with big personality.
Fifteenth Avenue Hophouse
Specifically: every now and then
Gator's
Specifically: Blues / Wednesdays
Friendly Neighborhood Dive
Gemini Pub
Specifically: Wednesday / Thursday / Friday
Great Lake O Dive.
Goodfoot Lounge
Specifically: Funk / Soul / Jazz / Bluegrass / Jam Bands / Open Mic / Open Mic Mondays
Split into 2 separate areas: upstairs pool hall & an downstairs funk-tified dancing kind of place.
Greek Village Tavern
More of a bar than a Greek restaurant.
Greeley Avenue Bar & Grill
Specifically: Free
Neighborhood bar with it all. Sports, VJs, Live bands and Poker Nights,
Greg's Backyard Sports Bar
Specifically: Free
Family friendly barbeque joint way out there on Sandy.
Gypsy
Another Concept Entertainment Group creation, this time on NW 21st, featuring fish bowl cocktails.
Hawthorne Hophouse
Specifically: Varies - See Website / Tuesday / Saturday
Casual Brewpub with Good Food
Hawthorne Theatre Lounge
The drinking side of Hawthorne Theatre, where all ages shows will not affect your sobriety.
Holocene
Specifically: Alt / Indie / Electronic / Hip-hop
Pretty much only open during events. Runs the gamut of live music, DJs, cartoon breakfasts and gay dance parties. Oh, and hipsters galore clog the sidewalk while waiting for admission or smoking.
Hungry Tiger Too
Hipsters and old men unite at this two room bar with both meat and vegan friendly menus.
Irish Town
Irish bar in a strip mall in Vancouver that also serves Asian food?
Jack London Bar
Specifically: Jazz / Swing / Wednesday
The Rialto's dark swanky basement lounge.
Jimmy Mak's
Specifically: Jazz / Nightly
Long standing Pearl District jazz club.
Jolly Roger
Sports bar and dive in uber-hipster zone. Expect a very mixed crowd.
Kells Irish
Specifically: Celtic / Nightly / 9pm
Perfect for when you and 300 other amateur hour weekend warriors simply must have an authentically Americanized Irish bar experience...
Kelly's Olympian
Specifically: Rock / Punk / Alt-Country / Rockabilly / Nightly In The Knife Shop
Stopping in for a drink in this downtown watering hole is a minor date with history...at 100+ years it is one of the oldest continually operating bars in PDX.
Laurelthirst Pub
Specifically: Folk / Bluegrass / Accoustic
Divey little box renowned for its frequent folksy, bluegrassy acts.
Leisure Public House
Specifically: Monday / Accoustic
A neighborhood bar for sure, though slightly higher end. Patio mecca with concrete ping-pong table, bocce court, etc.
Maher's Pub
Irish pub in Lake Oswego featuring organic produce and monthly "Meet the Brewer" nights.
Mississippi Studios
Specifically: Rock / Folk / Hip Hop / Funk / Reggae
Incredibly well designed venue with wide variety of acts.
Mock Crest Tavern
Specifically: Nightly / Blues / Jam / Open Mic
Bright, intimate blues bar in North Portland.
Moon and Sixpence
Specifically: Frequent / Accoustic / Folk
English Pub in Hollywood, with few to none of the Americanized proto-British pub trappings.
Mount Tabor Theater
Specifically: Rock / Punk / Metal / Hip-Hop / Funk / Soul / Folk / Jam Band / Reggae / Rockabilly
Fantastic, spacious Barmuda venue with nice dark sidebar with a reputation for dooming each successive owner to financial ruin. Still, it is a Portland institution.
Mudai Lounge
Specifically: Friday / Saturday / Sunday / Metal / Rock / Punk
The marriage of Ethiopian restaurants and hipster/rocker hangouts is becoming a common theme in Portland, Mudai is no exception.
Paddy's
"Irish" bar with good food and the largest wall of liquor in Portland.
Pink Feather Restaurant & Lounge
Specifically: Friday / Saturday
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.
Plan B
Specifically: Punk / Thrash / Metal / Rockabilly / Techno / Goth
Large, vinyl and babydoll adorned punk joint (loosely, that is, the music varies slightly) with a HUGE patio.
Ponderosa Lounge
Specifically: Country / Western / Alt-Country / Rockabilly / Swing
Huge truckstop honky-tonk, offers free dance lessons, all things C&W.
Press Club
Coffee shop meets magazine store meets lounge with good live music on the weekends.
Produce Row Cafe
The working man's bar with 24 taps, a huge patio and occasional live music.
Pub 181
Specifically: Friday / Saturday / Free Free 9pm
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.
Raccoon Lodge
Specifically: Acoustic / Sundays
Family friendly restaurant and brewpub brought to you by the creator of the Oregon Brewers Festival. Also home to Cascade Brewing.
Railside Pub
Out of the Way Rock Bar
Red Room
Live music venue with a rock and roll memorabilia decor and $1 mystery shots. A good reason to go to 82nd Ave.
Refectory
Specifically: Blues Jam / Sundays
Huge restaurant and bar with attached ballroom on the edge of Gresham where you never know what type of entertainment you'll encounter.
River Roadhouse
Pool hall and music venue with pinball, golden tee and daily shot specials located in Milwaukie.
Roadside Attraction
Specifically: Wednesdays / 9pm Free
Funky, rambling, ramshackle bar with a kick-ass patio.
Rock Bottom Brewery
Run of the mill national microbrewery chain with average food and less than desirable beer. You won't find many true locals here (read - popular with the suburbanites and tourists).
Rock Creek Tavern
Yet another McMenamins, this time in Hillsboro.
Rontoms
Specifically: Alt / Indie / Sunday / Free
Large hip, fashionable and modern bar/lounge with a huge patio and great happy hour food.
Roseland Theatre
1300 person capacity live music venue in the heart of downtown.
Rotture
Live music venue, lounge and bar in industrial SE.
Sapphire Hotel
Specifically: Jazz / Sunday / 8pm
Great date bar located inside a former hotel that was frequented by the ladies of the night.
Saratoga
Specifically: mainly Saturdays
Rock and roll club with DJ nights, Karaoke, and special events including "Bearaccuda Night." Photo booth included.
Slabtown
Specifically: Rock / Metal / Garage
To quote Slabtown's Twitter profile: "Portland's only pinball dive and rock club, forgotten in the shadow of I-405."
Slim's Restaurant & Lounge
Specifically: Thursdays / Fridays / Saturdays / Sundays / Open Mic Open Mic Tuesdays
Dive bar in St Johns with a huge menu and live music usually of the acoustic vein.
Sloan's Tavern
Family owned bar with decor from the 70's. Closes early.
Someday Lounge
Two level lounge by day/evening, music venue or dance club by night.
Spare Room
Specifically: Fridays / Saturdays
Huge bar with many cheap specials throughout the day and a wide variety of entertainment at night including bingo, karaoke, movies and live music.
St. John's Pub
Yet another McMenamins outlet with a movie theater.
Sundown Pub
Specifically: Tuesdays
Cozy vegetarian pub in St John's.
Sway Bar
Inner SE bar known for its $1 PBR, if they're not out of it.
Tapalaya
Specifically: TuesdaysTuesdays 6pm-9pm / Thursdays Thursdays 6pm-9pm
Cajun/Creole restaurant that serves up their dishes tapas style.
The Know
Specifically: loud
Cheap small bar on Alberta that's full of hipsters and loud music.
The Old Shucking Room (Dan & Louis's)
Specifically: Thursdays / songwriter Night / Fridays / Saturdays
Small all wooden lounge attached to Dan and Louis Oyster Bar, open since 1907!
The Paragon
Specifically: SundaySunday 4pm / Flamenco Guitar
Nice Old-school Pearl District restaurant with a large bar area and porch/street seating. Perfect for scenesters on First Thursday.
The Parlour
Odd little cafe/bar/venue that's only open on weekends.
The Waypost
More of a cafe than a bar, but they have live music, film nights and readings.
The Woods
Rambling funeral home turned hipsterized, folksy performance venue.
Thirsty Lion Pub
"British" themed nightclub by CEG.
Tiger Bar
Self proclaimed rock and roll bar on the fringe of the Pearl
Tillicum Club
Specifically: Blues / Rock / Covers
What's in a name anyway? Certainly, a worthwhile spot if you have a DD to take you to Portland's fringes.
Tonic Lounge
Specifically: Rock / Punk / Metal
Venue split into cozy little wrap around bar, venue side with ample floor space, back bar, and game room.
Torta-Landia
Specifically: Open Mic / Wednesdays
Tacos and Tortas! 2-for-1 tacos at Happy hour.
Twelve 22
Now LV's Sports Bar and Grill.
Twilight Cafe & Bar
Specifically: Open Mic Open Mic Tuesdays 6pm
SE diner with "attached" music venue hosting a wide variety of music.
Twilight Room
Specifically: Friday
Neighborhood bar that's popular with the U of Portland crowd.
Upright Brewing Company
Specifically: Sundays
Tasting room only for a fab Brewery by the Rose Quarter.
Valentine's
Specifically: Rock / Indie / Accoustic / DJ
Cozy and comfortable downtown joint that feels like a living room, with two floors to throw back a cheap PBR can or a nice cocktail.
Vino Vixens
Hidden Wine Bar
Wilf's
Specifically: Jazz
Classy jazz supper club with red booths adjacent to the train station.
World Famous Kenton Club
Specifically: Alt-country / Rock / Punk
Excellent NoPo dive with gruff but lovable service, colorful regulars, and frequent alt-country/rock acts.
