A craftbeer on tap is $3.50, and the taps include:

• Newcastle Brown
• Deschutes Obsidian Stout
• Shiner Bock
• Sierra Nevada pale
• Caldera Dry Hop Red
• Lagunitas Pils
• Lagunitas IPA
• PBR

• Hamms
• Rainer
• Guinness

• Bud
• Bud Lite
• Negra Modelo
• Hornsby's
• Pacifico
• Czechvar

They open at 4pm.

Other Press:
• Trendy East Burnside has a flip side, too: Bar of the Week: The B-Side Tavern
  Joseph Gallivan, The Portland Tribune, Apr 28, 2006

photo by Andrew Morton

I used to fetishize their grilled cheeses. They were made with whatever Grand Central bread they had in the kitchen, so every now and again you'd get a phenomenal one made with yeasted corn. But even the unphenomenal ones were really tasty.

The sad thing is, they do have food, and lots of veggie options, but outside of breakfast, I haven't had anything there that was noteworthy in a month of sundays. Which isn't to say it's bad—it just is. That said, hot and cold sandwiches range from $2.75-$8 and come with chips. They also have burgers ($6-$8), and plates that come with a green salad ($7-$7.75).

But let's talk about the interesting stuff. They have special drinks that are $4.50-$5. Beer on tap is $3.75 a pint. When I was there, they had:
-a rotator (when I was there, it was New Belgium Skinny Dip)
-Rogue Dead Guy
-Mt Hood Cascadian Pale Ale
-Anchor Porter
-Skagit Valley Scullers IPA
-Elysian the Wise ESB
-Anderson Valley Boont Amber
Bottled beers range from Session to imports, from ($2.50-$6)

And of course, there is a happy hour.

Other Press
• BarFly
• Gulch Guide

Beulahland is one of my favorite hangouts--good beer on tap, yummy sandwiches and soup, a mess of veggie options, a friendly funky place with a pool table, a jukebox, some pinball, a giant dictionary, and a computer with internet access. Well, they also do a yummy breakfast. True to the Beulahland way, they are unpretentious, inexpensive, filling and yummy. We had Stumptown coffee, a brekkie burrito and the two-berry and ricotta pancakes. The burrito comes with cumin flavored potatoes, yummy and well cooked. Oh, and the burrito is just plain great. The berry pancakes are a delight, so large that they dwarf the plate. I think we paid less than $10 for breakfast for two, not including tip. Damn!

Other Press

• Bar Fly


• Gulch Guide

Ah, Biddy's. In spite of owner changes and venue changes, they've never forgot what makes them tick. It's a modest place, wood and smoke, covered with political posters and beer geegaws, but mostly political posters, some in Gaelic, most in English.

But probably what you're interested in is the beer, irish whiskey, and a smidge of food. We ate, it was nothing really to write home about, everything between $3-$8. They do offer cheese fries, served with steak fries with not quite enough cheese. But the fries were good.

They offer music every night of the week, a quite a bit of it free. Given that this is a reasonably small place, you'll probably actually want to like the music, but they keep the events calendar on the web site up to date.

Now beer, that's something. They serve imperial pints of
-Stella Artois
-Pyramid Hefeweizen
-Harp
-Pilsner Urquell
-Macs
-Deschutes Mirror Pond Pale Ale
-Deschutes Black Butte Porter
-PBR
-New Belgium Fat Tire
-Bass
-Smithwicks
-Full Sail Amber
-Bridgeport IPA

with

-Beamish
-Guinness
-Boddingtons

on a beer engine.

The beer we had was good, and as we were there early, it wasn't too smoky. With a Irish jam session happening in the middle of the room, it was tremendously pleasant.

• BarFly

more photos, including the beer garden

So, of course there's beer (Terminal Gravity IPA, Sierra Nevada Pale, Widmer Hefeweizen, Fat Tire, and Guinness, among other things). Pints are $3.50 (Guinness, natch, is more). They offer free WiFi, video games, video crack, pool, and shuffleboard(!), as well as a spacious and excellent beergarden, open noon to dusk. I mean, I wish my backyard looked this good. And, you can reserve it for your party, and/or bring your own grillables, which is great since the food there is limited to snacks.

Oh, and need to take away some beer? They're licensed to sell beer to go.

• BarFly

The Blue Monk is a jazz club. Run by a beer fanatic. Okay? There is food, and it's okay, arguably even better during happy hour (5-7 everyday) where a bakers dozen options are all $5. The menu leans heavily on pasta. But really, if you're not a jazz fan, or even if you are, the reason to go there is the beer. 11 taps feature Stella Artois, and 10 not-so-usual American craft brews and European standards (the web site doesn't keep current with what's on now, but it's bound to have several Belgians). They stock an interesting selection of bottled beers, too. They serve food until 1am, and they're open all week long.

My favorite mega-tapped tavern is the Concordia Ale House. However you've got to get there, it's worth it. They have 22 taps, and they have a really interesting selection of regional and international beers that you're not likely to have had on tap before. They also have the best pub grub in the city. It's nonsmoking, the wait staff know their beer and are free with the tasters.

Concordia is great, absolutely great, for us beer dorks. And, they have a weekend breakfast that's very good.

They have 20some taps—and they have nothing commonplace on those taps. You know, the stuff that's on tap consistently around town - Widmer, Full Sail, Deschutes - you won't find it at Concordia. But there is this constantly turning over selection of really interesting things. They almost always have a double IPA, a cream ale, a weizen, a couple strong beers - really interesting stuff! There have been times when there hasn't been anything on the menu that I've tried before!

Another great thing is that they give you a draft list, which gives you the name, the style, the brewery, the country. The wait staff seem really into the beer, so they can give you a good description but it's nice not to have to guess from the name. They are also very free with the tasters.

In the cooler, they have over 100 bottled beers, also described in some detail in the bottled beer menu.

Their prices are really pretty reasonable for what you're getting, and you can choose a glass, pint, imperial pint... I love that you can specifically order an imperial pint.

They also have pool tables! It's kinda noisy at times, but gosh, it's awfully good.

We went by County Cork the other night, and happened upon their happy hour (4-6pm). The menu is all about food, ranging from $2-$4.50. The HH menu includes a burger, BLT, scotch egg, banger and mash, fish-n-chips, plain ole chips, wraps, and a fish sandwich. Be forewarned, the tables are sticky—it used to be that the tables were covered by plexiglass, but now the tables and their sticky paint is exposed, and well, sticky. The food was by and large good, not exceptional, with the exception of the scotch egg which had the life cooked out of it (I guess that'll learn me about ordering a scotch egg at an Irish tavern). And a hamburger, banger & mash, scotch egg, and two pints were $17.50—pretty exceptional, really.

And if you're going for beer, particularly Irish beer, the County Cork can be pretty good. Compare Beamish, Guinness & Murphy's for example. Of their 20 taps and several cask engines, there's most always a cider, a couple lagers (Harp & Miller), and generally a broad selection of beers, some familiar, some less so.

When I heard about Henry's the first time, I thought, right, 100 beers on tap—how likely is that? I had all sorts of expectations that it would be suburban and sportsy and not serious. And you know, I was totally & completely wrong.

The bar has several different levels, including a lovely outdoor patio. You can watch sports on the huge flatscreen tvs, or, you can sit so you don't even know that there are giant flatscreen tvs. The volume is on mute, anways. It's a classy place, and hooligans are asked to leave immediately. Really. I saw some guys come in who were obviously already inebriated, they treated a waitress badly, and several managers went over and helped them out.

You can sit well away from the bar, but if you're serious about beer, you want to sit at the bar. They have a cool ice ring to set your beer on, and their bartenders know the beers well and serve them in appropriate glassware. (The wait staff haven't a clue).

Be sure to ask if the beer is old, and if you can have a taste. Somethings don't move so fast at Henry's.

For your friends who don't get beer: there's mixed drinks. Though I wouldn't know anything about that.

I wouldn't expect a lot from the food (this is a Pacific Coast restaurant, so solid but unexceptional chain fare), but if you order during happy hour, at least it's cheap.

If you look at the microbrew movement in Portland, Horse Brass is right there at the beginning. According to their website:

Established in 1976, many of Oregon's own craft brewers have been regulars here, enjoying the likes of Guinness and Fullers ESB well before the craft beer movement.

The food menu is stocked with sausage plates, scotch eggs, ploughman's lunches, fish & chips, and pasties, all of them good.

Terran writes,

I think the Horse Brass deserves a listing in food as well under beer - their Bangers & Chips is one of my favorite low-budget lunches in town. Two tasty sausages dipped in sweet hot mustard with greasy potato chips, and a pint of hard cider on the side...mmm.

The breakfasts, particularly the english breakfasts, are a groaning board of food. They do offer American breakfast as well as everything ala carte, but if your cardiologist will allow, do try the full traditional english breakfast with its fried eggs, Irish back bacon, baked ham, English banger sausage, Heinz beans straight from the can, tomatoes, fried potatoes and fried bread.

They pull out the big screen to show English Premier League Soccer live.

If you're a craft beer lover, you've got to go to Horse Brass. Unless, of course, you can't stand smoke.

Mash Tun is just a little brewpub, just a little off Alberta, behind Office. It has a nice little bar, a small room, and a nice covered patio which easily doubles the space. In addition to brewing a few house beers, they have a nice, concise selection of craft beers and imports, and they offer food: not the best food, but the sort of stuff that can prolong your drinking.

Now, brewpubs or taverns that offer undistinguished, inconsistent food isn't that unusual, of course—it sadly seems to be the law (with exceptions like Widmer). But how many of them offer vegan options next to their more meaty third-cousins? I can think of only a handful of places, but Mash Tun is one.

On tap, they have 2 house beers, 3 imports, and 7 craft beers. They also have a handful of things in bottles and cans (brother, clap your hands). None of this is terribly cheap: for imperial pints, the house ales are $4, craft beers are $4.25, and imports are $4.50, with non-tap options ranging from $2.25-$4.50.

I haven't been so crazy about their house beers, but they are very drinkable. The tap selections rotate, so there is always something good on. Last night, for example, there were 4 or 5 different craft beers that I would be very happy to drink. Nice!

In recent times, the place has changed up a little bit. You can still smoke at the bar, or outside, but you have to vacate outside by 10. The jukebox is still there. But the pool table has been replaced by table-tables. I don't know about the wi-fi, but I hope it's still there. We got there shortly before 6, and the place was pretty full.

The new food menu is about a month old, and made up of appetizers, a small collections of soups and salads, and pub grub (which means sandwiches). No more of their wildly erratic fish and chips. Appetizers range from $2.75-$7, with all of the usual deep fried subjects. Tots and fries can come cheesy if you like. There's also vegan red lentil puree & tempeh things, and nachos.

They offer house, caesar, spinach, and a roasted beet salad, a soup de jour, and a chili con carne, $2.95-$7. And for sandwiches ($7.50-$10), they have a burger, and a variety of other things that are served on rolls. Vegan options include a vegan burger & a BLATO (fakin-lettuce-avocado-tomato-onion with veganaise), and there's falafel and roasted eggplant for veggies.

We tried to order cheesy tots, but alas, no tots this evening. So we ordered a cheesesteak and a meatball sandwich, both with their hand-cut skinny fries. And both sandwiches were very edible. The cheesesteak had a nice balance of cheese to meat to cooked yellow onion, and came with a side of good, but not great marinara. The meatball sandwich was dosed in both marinara and melted cheese, but the meatballs were plentiful, tender and tasty. Unfortunately, neither of the rolls the sandwiches came on had been toasted, and the fries are soggy and greasy. Why do some taverns insist on hand-cut fries?

So. Nice patio, nice ever-changing selection of beers, and deep-fried appetizers rock... unless they're fries.

Watching England vs. Paraguay at 7 AM, by Audrey Eschright

Like a real British Isles public house, the M&S is really visually interesting. Or overwhelming. I prefer to think the former. Beer signs elbow photos elbowing bookcases and chalkboards and beer towels.

They have wine, and obviously the full bar (specialty drinks are $4.75-$6), but this place is about the beer on tap. Though the last time I was there, there was a large group of guys drinking Kokanee ($2) from bottles.

There are 20 taps, served generally in imperial pints. These are listed on a chalkboard behind the bar with name and alcohol by volume. Here's what they had when we were there.

• two Belgians (Lindeman's Framboise and a rotator, $5.50 a glass)
• 2 casks (North Coast's Red Seal and a rotator, $4.50)
• imports ($4.50)
  • Smithwicks
  • Bass
  • Newcastle Brown
  • Stella Artois
  • Strongbow Cider
  • Boddingtons
  • Guinness
• and of course micros ($4)
• Terminal Gravity IPA
• Deschutes Inversion IPA
• Boont Amber
• Mirror Pond Pale Ale
• Anchor Steam
• Elysian ESB
• Amnesia Porter
• Pelican Cream Ale

They also have bottled beer, sorted by style, ranging from $2-$12.50, including 22 classic belgian and farmhouse ales, and 6 trappist ales.

They do have food here, but it's british pub food, and not gastropub food by any means. Things like the fish and chips (these being not-quite steak fries) and sausage rolls are reliable and tasty. Snacks are under $5, cold sandwiches under $7, entrees under $9.

Small and smokey, but with a devoted following. The outdoor patio in back is friendly to dogs.

Produce Row Cafe has 15 taps, over 200 bottled beers, and a full menu, including an abbreviated happy hour menu M-F 4-6PM. It's also a bit chilly when it's relatively empty. They offer wifi, pool, a huge deck, and that beer selection is pretty exciting. I just wish I was a bit more excited about the food. We tend to get burgers and fries, and the fries are great. The burger is just okay. They offer live music almost every night.

But the beer! 24 taps, and the menu arranges itself by Oregon Micros (Deschutes, Terminal Gravity, Rogue, Racoon Lodge, Off the Rail, Golden Valley), and others (Bear Republic, Sierra Nevada, Boulder Beer, Laguanitas, Leavenworth, Mac&Jacks). Though, man, it would be more enjoyable if you could actually taste the beer rather than the smoke.

I was drawn to Rose & Thistle by the patio. They have a lovely patio out back, just round patio tables with umbrellas and plastic chairs. There's lots of greenery around though—it's quite pleasant.

As Portland's only Scots pub, Rose & Thistle is quite a bit like you might except, and you would be right. There's draft beer, single malt scotch, darts, and scottish food, most frighteningly the Authentic Scots Egg (hard boiled egg wrapped in pork sausage, then deep-fried). You can hear your arteries slamming shut when you bite into one of those babies, but they are yummy.

Know this: when the Scottish gentlemen come into RaT, they don't order food.

They serve their draft beer in 20 oz imperial pints. Last night they had:
-Guinness
-Boddingtons
-Stella Artois
-Blackthorn Cider
-Mirror Pond IPA
-Amnesia Porter
-Widmer Hefeweizen
-Drop top Amber
-Lagunitas IPA
-PBR
-Miller Lite
and they have two rotators, which last night were
-New Belgium Skinny Dip
-Widmer Broken Halo IPA

Service is quite friendly but can be glacial. In addition to the scotch egg, they also have sausage rolls and haggis on the starter menu. The sausage rolls aren't the best in town, but they are a decent snack. Most mealy things are in the $8-$13 range, but I've had nothing worth writing home about.

People speak fondly of the burger here, and it is beautiful. However, if you like it cooked to order, don't bother ordering it here.

The HVAC system keeps the smoke away from the non smokers fairly well. There is also a video crack closet.