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Matt Wastradowski
Matt Wastradowski is an Oregon-based travel writer who loves writing about the great outdoors, craft beer, and regional history.
Celebrating the Dive Bars of Portland
Crack open a tallboy and sample some local flavor with our guide to dive bars in Portland.
Matt Wastradowski
Matt Wastradowski is an Oregon-based travel writer who loves writing about the great outdoors, craft beer, and regional history.
A good dive bar is more than the sum of its parts. It’s not just a hardscrabble hole in the wall where bathrooms are covered in graffiti, strands of Christmas lights hang well into July and cheap cocktails flow like water. Rather, a good dive is decades of late-night jukebox singalongs, regrettable shots of Rumple Minze with your best friends and deep conversations under vintage beer signs. A good dive is a community — at 2 p.m. and 2 a.m.
Ramshackle bars like this predate Portland’s sleek craft brewpubs by decades but are no less essential to the fabric of the city’s nightlife. Best of all, these neighborhood watering holes are found all over Portland, and many have earned acclaim for frying the perfect pub grub, pouring strong cocktails and welcoming barflies from all walks of life. Here’s a guide to a few of the essential dive bars of Portland.
A good dive is a community — at 2 p.m. and 2 a.m.
Top-Shelf Portland Dive Bars
Fried Chicken and Jojos at Reel M Inn
There’s a lot of competition for the title of “Portland’s favorite dive bar,” but the woman-owned Reel M Inn earns a nod on every local’s ballot by frying the city’s best-loved chicken and jojos.
The signature dish at Reel M Inn, which sits on Southeast Division Street in Southeast Portland, is cooked to order and served piping hot alongside regional craft beers, cans of Rainier and colorful Jell-O shots. Wait times for chicken start at about 30 minutes and can reach a couple of hours when the bar gets busy on Friday and Saturday nights. Pass the time by playing pool, perusing the digital jukebox or admiring the fishing gear, neon signs, strands of Christmas lights and other trinkets that cover seemingly every inch of the bar’s festive walls.
Credit: Matt Wastradowski
Pabst Blue Ribbon at Lutz Tavern
Lutz Tavern, a down-home dive a few blocks from Reed College in Southeast Portland’s Woodstock neighborhood, has a unique claim to fame: It’s credited with helping save Pabst Blue Ribbon.
The domestic beer brand was an afterthought for most drinkers in the early 2000s — except at Lutz, where college students and penny-pinching transplants gravitated toward cheap cans and draft pours of PBR. Before long, the 150-year-old beer was synonymous with a new class of Portlanders.
Bar ownership has changed since Lutz nurtured the explosive growth of PBR, but the tallboy remains a staple on a menu that covers a few craft brews, stiff drinks and basic pub grub — including a hearty burger and a locally sourced corn dog. Old-school beer signs provide much of the lighting, and it’s just bright enough to enjoy Lutz’s pool table and pinball machines — with a cold PBR in hand, of course.
Hearty Reuben Sandwiches at Goose Hollow Inn
The Goose Hollow Inn is among the city’s most celebrated dives — both for who opened it and what it offers.
Portland publican Bud Clark founded the tavern in 1967 in Southwest Portland’s Goose Hollow neighborhood, establishing the inn as a cozy gathering space. Clark would go on to serve as the city’s mayor from 1985–1993, earning a reputation as a colorful presence in City Hall and at the bar.
The bar remains in the family after Clark’s passing in 2022, beloved for its community-minded vibe — one that eschews video lottery machines and all but one television — as well as a food menu led by what it calls the “best Reuben on the planet.”
Beer, Wine & Other Libations
Whether you favor spirits, suds or something else, Portland’s hard to beat for imbibing.
Local History at Kelly’s Olympian
Kelly’s Olympian, housed in the heart of downtown Portland, claims to be the third-oldest bar and restaurant in the city — but it may be our actual oldest bar, depending on how you define “oldest” and “bar.” (A couple of other old-school restaurants around town — including Huber’s — are certainly older than Kelly’s Olympian, but those straddle the line between “bar” and “restaurant.” There is no doubt that Kelly’s Olympian is Portland’s oldest dive.)
However you look at it, Kelly’s Olympian dates back to 1902. It remains relevant with today’s revelers by hosting a steady stream of events — such as ugly Christmas sweater parties in December, the occasional comedy open-mic night and live shows from local musicians. Full-size motorcycles and vintage neon signs hang from the ceiling, imbuing one of Portland’s oldest hangs with more than a little retro charm.
Group Hangs at the Low Brow Lounge
Even if it wasn’t one of the city’s most popular dives, the Low Brow Lounge earns inclusion on this list for its location alone. The bar survived the growth of Northwest Portland’s toney Pearl District around it — and hides in plain sight today, surrounded by converted condos and high-end shops, and still as divey as ever.
Credit: Matt Wastradowski
Most of the bar’s light comes via windows that look out on Northwest Hoyt Street. Once your eyes adjust, it’s easy to see why the Low Brow is a go-to spot for groups of all sizes. Several vinyl booths comfortably seat up to eight across two wood-paneled rooms; one circular booth, sitting under a strand of lights, seems large enough to host an entire bachelorette party. A handful of non-alcoholic beers are available for your crew’s designated driver.
Karaoke at the Alibi Tiki Lounge
Ask any local about Portland’s best karaoke bars, and most will mention the Alibi Tiki Lounge before recalling the time they brought the house down with a fiery rendition of “I Want It That Way” by the Backstreet Boys.
A North Portland stalwart since 1947, the Alibi pairs nightly karaoke sessions with circular booths, faux palm trees lining the walls and a drink menu that leans heavily on fruity cocktails — all mixed by friendly bartenders and served in Instagrammable mugs. This is one of few dive bars where ordering a tallboy misses the point.
Late-Night Bites
Need to refuel between bar-hopping stops? Portland has a wide variety of options.
Fried Chicken in Portland
From crispy Thai-style wings to succulent Southern drumsticks, Portland has some of the best finger-licking fried chicken spots.
Popular Food Carts
Portland has hundreds of food carts serving countless cuisines — eat your way through breakfast, lunch, dinner and dessert at some of Portland’s award-winning, popular food carts.
Portland Pizza Guide
Find the best pizza in Portland, Oregon, with our guide to Portland pizza — explore the classics, vegan and gluten-free pies, experimental slices and more.
Old-School Charm at Sandy Hut
The Sandy Hut opened in 1923 in Portland’s Kerns neighborhood — and doesn’t appear to have aged a day since.
The triangle-shaped dive exudes old-school charm with mid-century light fixtures, wood-paneled walls, vinyl booths that snake through the dining area, a padded bar top and prime rib dinners every Wednesday. A restored mural by caricature artist Al Hirschfeld, lampooning celebrities of the 1950s, hangs on the wall.
New owners took over in 2018 and brought the bar into the 21st century, so not everything feels retro. Rainier remains on tap — but sits alongside pours from cutting-edge craft breweries. Big Buck Hunter and Video Lottery machines await at the entrance. And a pair of boozy slushie machines sit at the end of the bar.
Christmas Cheer at the Slammer Tavern
It doesn’t have to be December to enjoy holiday cheer at the Slammer Tavern — where rows of Christmas lights cover the entire ceiling all year long and ensure an atmosphere that’s always merry and bright. The holiday spirit cranks up every fall when stockings are hung with care, and dozens of nutcrackers take up residence above the Slammer’s U-shaped bar.
Savor the festivities with a cocktail, tallboy or craft beer from one of the Slammer’s handful of taps — and catch the Portland Trail Blazers on a big-screen television in the bar’s back room, play Skee-Ball, or get yourself a gift from the locally owned Magic Box Vending Machine. Sitting at the edge of the Buckman neighborhood in Southeast Portland, the Slammer’s patio is typically as packed as its interior; naturally, it’s adorned with twinkling lights.
More Bars, Laughs and Live Music
Don’t let the fun stop now — from clubs to karaoke, find a spot to keep the night going.
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