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Folks sit at the bar at the Wooden Chicken Pub in Portland.
The Wooden Chicken Pub.
Nathan Williams/Eater Portland

Catch the Big Game at These Portland Sports Bars

Cheer on the Thorns, Blazers, or another favorite team over a craft beer or habanero bloody mary

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The Wooden Chicken Pub.
| Nathan Williams/Eater Portland

Despite something of a national reputation for its artists as opposed to its jocks, Portlanders love their sports. The city is home to countless diehards rooting for the hometown Thorns, Timbers, and Trail Blazers, not to mention nationally competitive college teams from University of Oregon and Oregon State. And in a town full of transplants, fans of teams from all over the country can find communities here. To that end, there are a number of fun, busy bars and restaurants where fans can mingle and cheer on their respective teams over buckets of wings and pitchers of beer.

While plenty of bars and restaurants have the occasional television or projector screen that might play a game on any given night, this list focuses on the bars that are seriously focused on sports, with dedicated screens and entertainment to kill time during commercial breaks. Bonus points go to those with raffles, brunch buffets during morning games, and more

Note: Health experts consider dining out to be a high-risk activity for the unvaccinated; it may pose a risk for the vaccinated, especially in areas with substantial COVID transmission.

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Penalties Sports Pub

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Some bars on this list are effectively neighborhood pubs with a few TVs and a pool table. Not so at Penalties, which has sports in its DNA. A block off Main Street in downtown Vancouver, the spacious Penalties boasts two large 177-inch projector screens and eight other large screens, along with a pool table and a Buck Hunter machine for those nights when the game turns into a blowout. The pizza is better than average for a sports bar, and the friendly bartenders juggle drink orders on busy evenings as efficiently as they do game requests for the different screens.

Satellite Tavern

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Sporting the historic sign from Gresham’s iconic Satellite Restaurant, Satellite Tavern is one of Overlook’s favorite bars to grab a mid-game drink. The industrial dining room features a number of TVs over its hardwood walls and concrete floors, and even the back patio has a few TVs so as not to miss a touchdown or run. The menu leans into the sports theme, with stadium staples like wings, nachos, burgers, and Little Smokies simmered in barbecue sauce.

Wooden Chicken Pub

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Just east of 205 and a stone’s throw from the Columbia River, the Wooden Chicken Pub is a destination sports bar for fans of Bay Area teams. It also offers one of the best fish-and-chip dinners in town, three pool tables, and a friendly environment for other fans. The nearly 40-year-old pub has a timeless, low-key vibe, and is beloved by its many regulars. The parking is usually ample, except when the pub hosts its popular classic car cruise-in events.

Wilshire Tavern

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On a sleepier stretch of Northeast 42nd, the Wilshire Tavern is an enduring artifact of a bygone Portland: Beer and wine only, no credit cards accepted, and the most minimal of food offerings, any concessions made to modern Portland are almost invisible. If none of the games on the bar’s multiple screens are especially thrilling any particular night, the Wilshire has plenty of options for more active fun: two pool tables, foosball, ping pong, shuffleboard, and video poker. The patio is spacious but anticipate it being smoky on busy evenings.

A billiard ball sits on a pool table.
The pool table at the Wilshire Tavern.
Nathan Williams/Eater Portland

The Sports Bra

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A groundbreaking women’s sports bar, the Sports Bra is a bar that celebrates women’s athletics, where fans watch the Thorns, WNBA, tennis, college basketball, and dozens of other college and pro sports played by women. The drinks prominently feature women-owned distilleries and breweries, and the food menu is a substantial leap above a typical sports watering hole — think: Vietnamese clay pot ribs, fish sauce wings, and tempeh Reubens. The Sports Bra is typically closed Mondays and Tuesdays.

A sign at the Sports Bra.
The Sports Bra.
Nathan Williams/Eater Portland

McGillacuddy's Sports Bar & Grill

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With nearly 50 TVs, including 11 massive ones and a single screen in every bar booth, someone would have to go out of their way to miss a gaming moment at this decades-old pool house and dive. Despite being something of an Irish bar, the food and drink here are more of the standard sports bar staples, like wings, tacos, burgers; however, Wednesdays are all-you-can-eat fish and chips, and weekends feature an endless breakfast buffet.

The Fields Bar & Grill

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A more upscale take on a classic sports bar, the Fields does away with the neon bar signs and team posters for large, window-lined walls and industrial chic vibes. The menu follows suit, offering elevated takes on sports bar staples, both in quality and price, like wagyu beef sliders and mahi mahi tacos. It also offers an appreciable cocktail list, something not every sports bar in town can claim. Though the bar screens all the major and local games, it is Beaver territory, so Ducks beware.

Katie O'Brien's

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Sports bars in the region tend to come in two varieties: big and modern, or tiny and old-school. Katie O’Brien’s defies that dichotomy with oodles of vintage Portland character and tons of space to carve out a niche with fellow fans. The full bar is lined with decadent boardroom-style leather rolling chairs, complete with armrests. Add a deep tap list, an open pool table, all-day breakfast, and frequent live music, and it’s no secret why Katie O’Brien’s remains a neighborhood favorite.

A box fan in front of a well-stocked liquor bar.
Bar at Katie’ Obrien’s.
Nathan Williams/Eater Portland

Spirit of 77

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Whether it’s March Madness or the Super Bowl, Spirit of 77 — named for the first (and so far, only) year the Trail Blazers won an NBA championship — is one of the liveliest spots in town. With an expansive beer-hall setup filled with tongue-in-cheek retro touches, it comes with large, flat-screen TVs, a projection screen, and pop-a-shot basketball. The food is a cut above, too, touting responsibly sourced chicken for its wings and beef for its burgers.

A large Spirit of 77 sign behind an amply stocked bar.
Bar at Spirit of 77.
Nathan Williams/Eater Portland

Silver Dollar Pizza Co

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A bar that’s just as much about the games on the floor as the games on the TV, Silver Dollar offers ping pong, pool, darts, hoops, and video poker to its visitors. The many screens around the brewpub-style space show all sorts of games regularly, but the main focus is on Portland Winterhawks games, which are always screened live for hockey fans. The pizza itself isn’t mind-blowing, but slices are reliable, cheap, and good for soaking up some draft beers and cheap well drinks.

The Independent

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One of downtown Portland’s sports bar mainstays, the Independent has around 20 beers on tap at all times, mostly local, plus fun bar food like hot dogs, sandwiches, hot wings, salads, and a kid’s menu. The family-friendly bar itself is decked out in vintage sports photography, as well numerous screens for different games.

The dining room of the Independent.
The Independent.
The Independent

Jackie's

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Inner Southeast’s Century Bar was a one-of-a-kind place to watch a game, with polished wood raised rows of seats that felt somewhere between a stadium and a small Midwestern liberal arts classroom. Century sadly closed for good in 2021, but the space was only dormant for a few months as the team behind Jackie’s prepared to open a “sports bar for people who don’t love the vibe of traditional sports bars,” so to speak. The food is a cut above, with the late-night menu being one of the best weeknight options around, and the cocktail menu could hold its own against celebrated non-sports bars nearby. The covered and heated patio is a prime fall destination for weekend football.

Thatchers

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A popular Montavilla pub that is more than just a sports bar, Thatchers boasts seven big-screen TVs for ample coverage on stacked sports days, but is just as renowned for an above-average food menu and wealth of bar game options, including pinball, shuffleboard, and three pool tables. Thatchers is typically thick with regulars, and newcomers ordering complicated drinks on busy nights can expect some saltiness from bartenders. Thatchers opens early on Sundays during pro football season.

Grand Central Bowl & Arcade

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Known primarily as a bowling alley, Grand Central’s large bar and dining space is an under-the-radar gem for watching the big game. The rare Portland sports bar with a kids menu, ample garage parking, and an arcade offering more than video poker, Grand Central is an ideal choice for families with young ones. The food menu is stylistically sprawling, meat-heavy, and generously portioned. The tap list is expansive, and the bartenders are adept at mixing up classic cocktails and house specials. The bowling space is separated enough from the dining room that anxious fans can watch their game without fear of noisy distraction.

Claudia's Original Sports Pub & Grill

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Hawthorne is loaded with sports bars, but thanks to its old-school ways, this pub stands out as a destination. Low ceilings and hardwood furniture give it a cozy vibe, and the many televisions stream all kinds of sports. There are video poker machines aplenty for those wanting to throw some money away, and a basic-but-reliable menu of burgers, chicken sandwiches, pizzas, and gyros. 

A bar patron in front of three TVs showing sports.
Barside at Claudia’s.
Nathan Williams/Eater Portland

Scoreboard Sports Bar

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This no-fuss sports bar is, unsurprisingly, all about games, whether it’s the skeeball, pool tables, and the plethora of pinball machines that fill the space, or the sports played live on the many TVs. The bar offers daily specials from tacos to discounted whiskeys, and every Thursday the sounds of matches are drowned out by karaoke. It’s a neighborhood mainstay for a reason. 

Rocky's Sports & Spirits

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At the far southern edge of Portland city limits, in Brentwood-Darlington, Rocky’s is an intimate, eclectic sports bar whose loyal clientele mostly live within walking distance. The vibe is unabashedly divey, but the food is a cut above, with solid burgers and a Coney dog that goes toe-to-toe with Portland’s best. Those driving will find limited parking onsite, but easy-to-nab residential street parking nearby.

Sports Box Vegan Bar & Grill

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Sports bars are traditionally synonymous with menus full of wings, burgers, and other meaty treats, but in America’s top vegan city, it should come as no surprise Sellwood’s Sports Box offers all the fun of watching the big game with a crowd alongside a menu of tasty vegan entrees and appetizers. An evolution of what was once Casa Diablo II — a little sister to Portland’s famed vegan strip club — owner Johnny Diablo Zukles swapped the stripper pole (and strippers entirely) for 26 big-screen TVs and bar games. The family-friendly, 100 percent vegan sports bar serves things like all-day chickn’ and waffles and vegan sausage hoagies, both standouts.

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Penalties Sports Pub

Some bars on this list are effectively neighborhood pubs with a few TVs and a pool table. Not so at Penalties, which has sports in its DNA. A block off Main Street in downtown Vancouver, the spacious Penalties boasts two large 177-inch projector screens and eight other large screens, along with a pool table and a Buck Hunter machine for those nights when the game turns into a blowout. The pizza is better than average for a sports bar, and the friendly bartenders juggle drink orders on busy evenings as efficiently as they do game requests for the different screens.

Satellite Tavern

Sporting the historic sign from Gresham’s iconic Satellite Restaurant, Satellite Tavern is one of Overlook’s favorite bars to grab a mid-game drink. The industrial dining room features a number of TVs over its hardwood walls and concrete floors, and even the back patio has a few TVs so as not to miss a touchdown or run. The menu leans into the sports theme, with stadium staples like wings, nachos, burgers, and Little Smokies simmered in barbecue sauce.

Wooden Chicken Pub

Just east of 205 and a stone’s throw from the Columbia River, the Wooden Chicken Pub is a destination sports bar for fans of Bay Area teams. It also offers one of the best fish-and-chip dinners in town, three pool tables, and a friendly environment for other fans. The nearly 40-year-old pub has a timeless, low-key vibe, and is beloved by its many regulars. The parking is usually ample, except when the pub hosts its popular classic car cruise-in events.

Wilshire Tavern

On a sleepier stretch of Northeast 42nd, the Wilshire Tavern is an enduring artifact of a bygone Portland: Beer and wine only, no credit cards accepted, and the most minimal of food offerings, any concessions made to modern Portland are almost invisible. If none of the games on the bar’s multiple screens are especially thrilling any particular night, the Wilshire has plenty of options for more active fun: two pool tables, foosball, ping pong, shuffleboard, and video poker. The patio is spacious but anticipate it being smoky on busy evenings.

A billiard ball sits on a pool table.
The pool table at the Wilshire Tavern.
Nathan Williams/Eater Portland

The Sports Bra

A groundbreaking women’s sports bar, the Sports Bra is a bar that celebrates women’s athletics, where fans watch the Thorns, WNBA, tennis, college basketball, and dozens of other college and pro sports played by women. The drinks prominently feature women-owned distilleries and breweries, and the food menu is a substantial leap above a typical sports watering hole — think: Vietnamese clay pot ribs, fish sauce wings, and tempeh Reubens. The Sports Bra is typically closed Mondays and Tuesdays.

A sign at the Sports Bra.
The Sports Bra.
Nathan Williams/Eater Portland

McGillacuddy's Sports Bar & Grill

With nearly 50 TVs, including 11 massive ones and a single screen in every bar booth, someone would have to go out of their way to miss a gaming moment at this decades-old pool house and dive. Despite being something of an Irish bar, the food and drink here are more of the standard sports bar staples, like wings, tacos, burgers; however, Wednesdays are all-you-can-eat fish and chips, and weekends feature an endless breakfast buffet.

The Fields Bar & Grill

A more upscale take on a classic sports bar, the Fields does away with the neon bar signs and team posters for large, window-lined walls and industrial chic vibes. The menu follows suit, offering elevated takes on sports bar staples, both in quality and price, like wagyu beef sliders and mahi mahi tacos. It also offers an appreciable cocktail list, something not every sports bar in town can claim. Though the bar screens all the major and local games, it is Beaver territory, so Ducks beware.

Katie O'Brien's

Sports bars in the region tend to come in two varieties: big and modern, or tiny and old-school. Katie O’Brien’s defies that dichotomy with oodles of vintage Portland character and tons of space to carve out a niche with fellow fans. The full bar is lined with decadent boardroom-style leather rolling chairs, complete with armrests. Add a deep tap list, an open pool table, all-day breakfast, and frequent live music, and it’s no secret why Katie O’Brien’s remains a neighborhood favorite.

A box fan in front of a well-stocked liquor bar.
Bar at Katie’ Obrien’s.
Nathan Williams/Eater Portland

Spirit of 77

Whether it’s March Madness or the Super Bowl, Spirit of 77 — named for the first (and so far, only) year the Trail Blazers won an NBA championship — is one of the liveliest spots in town. With an expansive beer-hall setup filled with tongue-in-cheek retro touches, it comes with large, flat-screen TVs, a projection screen, and pop-a-shot basketball. The food is a cut above, too, touting responsibly sourced chicken for its wings and beef for its burgers.

A large Spirit of 77 sign behind an amply stocked bar.
Bar at Spirit of 77.
Nathan Williams/Eater Portland

Silver Dollar Pizza Co

A bar that’s just as much about the games on the floor as the games on the TV, Silver Dollar offers ping pong, pool, darts, hoops, and video poker to its visitors. The many screens around the brewpub-style space show all sorts of games regularly, but the main focus is on Portland Winterhawks games, which are always screened live for hockey fans. The pizza itself isn’t mind-blowing, but slices are reliable, cheap, and good for soaking up some draft beers and cheap well drinks.

The Independent

One of downtown Portland’s sports bar mainstays, the Independent has around 20 beers on tap at all times, mostly local, plus fun bar food like hot dogs, sandwiches, hot wings, salads, and a kid’s menu. The family-friendly bar itself is decked out in vintage sports photography, as well numerous screens for different games.

The dining room of the Independent.
The Independent.
The Independent

Jackie's

Inner Southeast’s Century Bar was a one-of-a-kind place to watch a game, with polished wood raised rows of seats that felt somewhere between a stadium and a small Midwestern liberal arts classroom. Century sadly closed for good in 2021, but the space was only dormant for a few months as the team behind Jackie’s prepared to open a “sports bar for people who don’t love the vibe of traditional sports bars,” so to speak. The food is a cut above, with the late-night menu being one of the best weeknight options around, and the cocktail menu could hold its own against celebrated non-sports bars nearby. The covered and heated patio is a prime fall destination for weekend football.

Thatchers

A popular Montavilla pub that is more than just a sports bar, Thatchers boasts seven big-screen TVs for ample coverage on stacked sports days, but is just as renowned for an above-average food menu and wealth of bar game options, including pinball, shuffleboard, and three pool tables. Thatchers is typically thick with regulars, and newcomers ordering complicated drinks on busy nights can expect some saltiness from bartenders. Thatchers opens early on Sundays during pro football season.

Grand Central Bowl & Arcade

Known primarily as a bowling alley, Grand Central’s large bar and dining space is an under-the-radar gem for watching the big game. The rare Portland sports bar with a kids menu, ample garage parking, and an arcade offering more than video poker, Grand Central is an ideal choice for families with young ones. The food menu is stylistically sprawling, meat-heavy, and generously portioned. The tap list is expansive, and the bartenders are adept at mixing up classic cocktails and house specials. The bowling space is separated enough from the dining room that anxious fans can watch their game without fear of noisy distraction.

Claudia's Original Sports Pub & Grill

Hawthorne is loaded with sports bars, but thanks to its old-school ways, this pub stands out as a destination. Low ceilings and hardwood furniture give it a cozy vibe, and the many televisions stream all kinds of sports. There are video poker machines aplenty for those wanting to throw some money away, and a basic-but-reliable menu of burgers, chicken sandwiches, pizzas, and gyros. 

A bar patron in front of three TVs showing sports.
Barside at Claudia’s.
Nathan Williams/Eater Portland

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Scoreboard Sports Bar

This no-fuss sports bar is, unsurprisingly, all about games, whether it’s the skeeball, pool tables, and the plethora of pinball machines that fill the space, or the sports played live on the many TVs. The bar offers daily specials from tacos to discounted whiskeys, and every Thursday the sounds of matches are drowned out by karaoke. It’s a neighborhood mainstay for a reason. 

Rocky's Sports & Spirits

At the far southern edge of Portland city limits, in Brentwood-Darlington, Rocky’s is an intimate, eclectic sports bar whose loyal clientele mostly live within walking distance. The vibe is unabashedly divey, but the food is a cut above, with solid burgers and a Coney dog that goes toe-to-toe with Portland’s best. Those driving will find limited parking onsite, but easy-to-nab residential street parking nearby.

Sports Box Vegan Bar & Grill

Sports bars are traditionally synonymous with menus full of wings, burgers, and other meaty treats, but in America’s top vegan city, it should come as no surprise Sellwood’s Sports Box offers all the fun of watching the big game with a crowd alongside a menu of tasty vegan entrees and appetizers. An evolution of what was once Casa Diablo II — a little sister to Portland’s famed vegan strip club — owner Johnny Diablo Zukles swapped the stripper pole (and strippers entirely) for 26 big-screen TVs and bar games. The family-friendly, 100 percent vegan sports bar serves things like all-day chickn’ and waffles and vegan sausage hoagies, both standouts.

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