#2292 - Wig Wam Tavern, Portland, Scappoose, OR - 9/15/2013

Wig Wam Tavern, Scappoose, OR

If you're driving from Seattle to Portland or vice versa, and you have a little extra time, one of the ways to make your route more pleasant is to take Highway 30 up along the eastern side of the Columbia, rather than soul-less I5 on the other side. What makes it more pleasant is not spectacular scenery, but rolling through small towns like Scappoose, and by small businesses like the Wig Wag Tavern.

In Scappoose you will also pass the World Peace Candle, which looks like an old silo with an electric flame on top -- which is exactly what it is -- but which was once listed by the Guinness book as the world's largest candle. The structure was once coated with actual wax, with a real wick, and lit by the governor of Oregon with a 60-foot long match.

The Wig Wam Tavern is a comfortable, old dive, with Coors and Budweiser on tap, free pool, bar food ("best gizzards in Columbia County"), and native American items that appear to be collected over many years. On some nights the Wig Wam has karaoke or live music, but on this rainy afternoon we just chatted with pleasant bartender Heather. The place appears to be fairly old, a business here during prohibition, was the Wig Wam back in day, later run as "Duffy's" and under a couple other names before becoming the Wig Wam again.

52499 Columbia River Hwy, Scappoose, OR 97056 - (503) 543-8362
Web site: facebook
Reviews: yelp - urbanspoon

#2291 - Interurban, Portland, OR - 9/14/2013

Interurban is a manly place, with bearded staff serving classic pre-prohibition cocktails from a woody, old western saloon sort of setting, with animal heads on the walls along with pictures of trains and steel bridges. Or at least, its about as manly as you could be while nibbling on polenta croquettes and whiskey chicken liver mousse. It is still Portland, after all.

The drinks are well-made, and the two story space is particularly pleasant in warm weather when the patio out back is appealing option.  But at any time it seems like a nigh ideal place to sit back and sip some old whiskey-based cocktail.

4057 N Mississippi Ave, Portland, OR 97227 - (503) 284-6669
Est. Nov 18, 2011
Web site: interurbanpdx.com - facebook
Reviews: seriouseats - oregonlive - eater - foodlandiapdx - yelp - urbanspoon - barfly - thedrinknation

#2290 - Crow Bar, Portland, OR - 9/14/2013

I like this place, and I get the sense that if I had been here with the crowd on a Friday or Saturday night, I would probably like it even more.

"Yes, there is a fine Jazz series at the Blue Monk on Sunday nights and it’s possible to go to both, but for your own musical pleasure and discovery do not miss the little funky rag-tag club basement with black couches and benches in the Crow Bar. In order to get a drink, you have to go upstairs where music (distinctly not Indie-Jazz or any other kind of Jazz) is blasting out over the speakers (and sometimes down the stairs to the club basement." (oregonmusicnews)

"The oldest bar on the street, The Crow is as divey as a bar can get on Mississippi Ave. " (facebook)

3954 N Mississippi Ave, Portland, OR 97227 - (503) 280-7099
Est. Dec 31, 2002
Web site: crowbarpdx.com - facebook
Reviews: oregonmusicnews - yelp - insiderpages - portlandmercury - barflymag

#2289 - UCHU Sushi and Fried Chicken, Portland, OR - 9/14/2013

The food looked good here although I did not eat. The cocktails are not long on subtlety or fine balance, but do contain may interesting and different ingredients. The vibe feels like an open air fish market.

3940 N Mississippi Ave, Portland, OR 97227 - (503) 281-8248
Est. 2011
Web site: uchusushi.com - facebook
Reviews: oregonlive - thrillist - wweek - yelp - tripadvisor - portlandmercury

#2288 - Sidecar 11, Portland, OR - 9/14/2013

Sidecar 11 is an intimate location for fine cocktails, emphasizing whiskey and prohibition era drinks. It is a particularly good place to have an excellent craft cocktail or two in an atmosphere as relaxing as an old bookstore coffee shop.

3955 N Mississippi Ave, Portland, OR 97227 - (503) 208-3798
Est. March 2011
Web site: facebook - blog
Articles ranked: portlandmonthlymag - 360drinks - thebeerchaser - talkeatdrinkportland - thrillist - wweek - yelp - pdxbliss - portlandfood

#2287 - Pizza Schmizza Pub and Grub, Portland, OR - 9/13/2013

415 SW Montgomery St, Portland, OR 97201 - (503) 473-8119
Web site: schmizza.com - facebook
Reviews: barflymag - yelp

#2286 - East End, Portland, OR - 9/13/2013

This was a pretty swell punk and alternative music venue with three rooms on two levels, most recently owned by local punk musician and bartender Tony Mengis (The Riffs, Soda Pop Kids, Defiance). The drinks and food were acceptable, the crowd was hipster, and the bands were much more interesting than average. However, East End closed on Aug 8, 2014 after fire hit the historic Osborn Hotel, and Mengis eventually gave up on re-opening and decided to move to Amsterdam.

203 SE Grand Ave, Portland, OR 97214 - (503) 232-0056
Web site: eastendportland.com - facebook
Reviews: portlandmercury - portlandmercury - barflymag - yelp

#2285 - The Lovecraft, Portland, OR - 9/13/2013

'The Lovecraft is a horror themed tea shop and bar located in sunny Portland Oregon. Paying tribute to the world of horror in all of its forms with Lovecraft inspired and local art and decor. We also have different theme nights ranging from industrial and goth, metal in all of it's forms, performance art, live music, electro, and karaoke. We also have a monthly "Love Craft Fair" promoting local DIY culture and crafts.'

'The Lovecraft is not a goth bar, or a metal bar, or a gay bar, or a pagan bar. It is a horror bar that caters to all of the above. Tuesday is metal night. Thursdays and Fridays are pretty gothy. Weds caters to psychobilly and experimental noise bands. Sunday is karaoke. And Saturdays are for dancing. The bar welcomes the crusty gutter punks to Anne Rice crowd to the gamers to the cute librarians. Just respect it. If you can’t respect the diversity, you will be asked to leave. Like any other establishment, we reserve the right the right to refuse service, and that is your fault, not ours."'

421 SE Grand Ave, Portland, OR 97214 - (971) 270-7760
Est. 2011
Web site: thelovecraftbar.com - facebook
Reviews: thelovecraftsman - lacarmina - barflymag - yelp - portlandmercury

#2284 - Miss Delta, Portland, OR - 9/13/2013

Very nice southern home-style, cajun creole, soul food goodness, with pretty good cocktails to boot.

3950 N Mississippi Ave, Portland, OR 97227 - (503) 287-7629
Est. Aug 2007
Web site: missdeltapdx.net - facebook
Reviews: wweek - portlandmercury - portlandfoodanddrink - oregonlive - yelp - barflymag

#2283 - The Modern Man, Portland, OR - 9/13/2013

It would be understandable if your first impression of The Modern Man was that it was just another prohibition-style barber shop serving complementary shots of Burnside bourbon, with a hidden entryway down a faux mineshaft to a speakeasy in a simulated, antique train. Then again, the key with anything that goes this far out on a limb is the execution, and from the decor to drinks to food to attitude to general vibe, the execution here is near flawless.

This is the third Modern Man opened in Portland by Chris and Emily Espinoza since 2011. The taxidermy, the antique books, the complementary craft whiskey and beer, and the hot towel razor shaves are all perfectly calculated to evoke a 1920s-era glorification of manhood, which could have easily slipped into cheesiness were it not for the deft handling of the owners. The barbershop on the main floor specializes in "traditional cuts, modern cuts, crew cuts, high & tights, medium regs, tapers, flat tops, pompadours, hot towel straight razor shaves, beard shaping and mustache trims."

In this particular location, you can also reserve a ticket to be escorted behind a curtain and down a simulated mine shaft into an antique train car setting, complete with private booths including televisions simulating the passing landscape. From there or at the bar in front, you can order a well-made Sazerac, Sidecar, or Manhattan,

I suppose that there must be a number of people out there for whom this would this would be entirely too ostentatious, particularly if hoisted atop an already existing aversion to Portland style, tattooed and bearded hipsters. But for anyone who interested more in enjoying life than criticizing the way others enjoy it, this place is the bees knees.

3956 N Mississippi Ave, Portland, OR 97227 - (503) 522-8470
Est. Sep 8, 2013
Web site: themodernmanpdx.com - facebook
Reviews: thrillist - eater - aboutfacemag - yelp

#2648 - Harv's Lounge, Harvest Restaurant, Tacoma, WA - 11/2/2014

Harv's Lounge, Harvester Restaurant, Tacoma, WA

This building in Tacoma's Stadium District was constructed in 1925 and first held the Hillcrest Garage and Tacoma Wicker Company. By 1927 it hosted KVI Radio and by the 50s "Scotty's." For the last few decades it has hosted The Harvester, known in the area for it's traditional breakfasts, and known to many fewer as the home of Harv's Lounge in back, a bit of 70s fern bar frozen in time.

Scotty's Tray Vittles
Early fast food from the current Harvester location

29 N Tacoma Ave, Tacoma, WA 98403 - (253) 272-1193               
Est. year - Building constructed: 1925
Previous bars in this location: None known
Web site: facebook