The word “dive” gets thrown around a lot in the Portland drinking scene — often when debating whether a bar is or isn’t one. It’s a term more art than science: to some it’s not a dive if there aren’t strips of crime scene tape fluttering in the parking lot, to others it’s anywhere the crudite isn’t farm to table. Portland, dirtbag timber town that it once was, boasts some of the most storied dives on the West Coast, from graffiti plastered hole-in-the-walls to dilapidated old beer halls still bathed in the warm glow of light-up Schlitz ads.
Cheap drinks, exposed wiring, a bathroom door that either traps you inside or won’t lock at all: These are signs you might be in a dive, but they’re not what make the great dives great. The strength of a dive bar is the regulars that fill its sticky halls year after year, the neighborhood pilgrims who gather at the rail to exchange barroom truisms, neighborhood gossip, and observations about the wider world that may or may not have any basis in reality. Fixtures get broken and might get fixed, but hardly anything gets replaced. The food might be good or it might be legally mandated frozen pizza rolls, but it’s there to soak up the stiff pours from the well and lite beer from the taps that flow most hours of the day and night. A good dive is an oasis of simple pleasures — beer, pool, conversation — in the encroaching desert of gentrification and app-based loyalty programs. Below, find a tour of the city’s quintessential dives.
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.
Read More