Happy Hour and Other Alcoholic Adventures
by Eva Galanes-Rosenbaum

Like Brunch, too few Reedies take advantage of Happy Hour, which is essentially a chance to eat well for cheap (possibly while getting drunk). Many restaurants offer the same quality of food in smaller, but still surprisingly large, quantities on their bar menu; it is this bar menu that is usually discounted during Happy Hour, which generally goes from 4 or 4:30 until 6pm (some restaurants also offer late-night Happy Hour, from 10pm until closing). For example, although Springwater Grill can be hit-or-miss on their dinner entrées, the bar menu is almost all great; at $2.50 per item during Happy Hour (with drink purchase of $3), it’s difficult to top salmon tacos with coconut rice or a large plate of fresh chips with housemade salsa. This is a great way to fill your stomach pre- or post-film at the Moreland Theatre next door.

If you’re thinking about a splurge or want to find a good date place, see if the place does Happy Hour and give it a whirl. Lucy’s Table, for example, has a lovely little bar whose menu features mussels and inventive pasta dishes. Plenty of the nicer places in the Pearl also do Happy Hour: Oba! and Manzana both have very nice ones (though the secret’s out, and they can be crowded) – Oba’s includes discounted well drinks as well as cheap, occasionally over-flavoured, tapas. Similarly, Red Star Tavern and Roast House downtown offers each of its very tasty bar menu items for $3 during Happy Hour, including mussels, sweet onion rings, and a wood-fired pizza (changes daily).

If you’re a meat-eater, the burger at Happy Hour is often going to be the best deal anywhere: a full-sized burger served with a generous pile of hot fries for $2.50-4. Red Star, Springwater, Manzana, and Lucy’s Table all offer one.

Unfortunately for the rest of the world, Portland’s pub-theatre phenomenon, mainly spurred by the McMenamin brothers, hasn’t spread outside of the Northwest. Yet. As soon as you turn 21, head to McMenamins’ Bagdad Theatre, Kennedy School, Mission Theatre, or Power Station Theater (at Edgefield). For $3, you can enjoy a second-run film or the occasional classic, plus have money left over for pizza, McMenamins beer, and more traditional movie snacks.

My personal favourite is the theatre at the Kennedy School, located in the school’s auditorium and featuring huge antique couches and loveseats from which to view the film. However, if you don’t want to go that far, the Bagdad is great (and you can hang out in the pub or the new Backstage Bar before and after the show). The Laurelhurst Theater follows in the same vein but features more films (one of which is usually a classic) in much smaller theatres, still for only $3. Unfortunately, their featured Pizzicato pizza is soggy and greasy, with a bad aftertaste; however, the Laurelhurst does offer a wide range of good beer and hard cider on tap. Luckily, nearby Staccato Gelato (see “Cakes, Gelato, and Chocolates”) is open until 11pm for that pre- or post-film sweet fix; recently, their doughnuts have been spotted behind the concessions counter at the theatre.

It doesn’t fit into the Happy Hour or pub theatre category, but Hedge House deserves some mention for its excellent sandwiches and Lompoc beer selection. Hedge House is a particularly nice place to be in the summer, when their porch and patio are open, in addition to the cozy wooden booths inside; rather than pretend to a broader ranging menu, they stick to what they do best here: sandwiches. Leave dessert to next-door Pix Patisserie (see “Cakes, Gelato, and Chocolates”) and you’ll go home happy.

Hedge House: 3412 SE Division St $-$$
Laurelhurst Theater: 2735 E Burnside St (www.laurelhursttheater.com for showtimes) $
Lucy's Table: 706 NW 21st Ave $-$$$$
Manzana: 1203 NW Glisan St $-$$$
McMenamins: www.mcmenamins.com for a complete directory and showtimes
Bagdad Theater & Pub: 3702 SE Hawthorne Blvd $-$$
Kennedy School Hotel: 5736 NE 33rd Ave $
Mission Theater: 1624 NW Glisan St $
Power Station Theater at Edgefield Hotel: 2126 SW Halsey St, Troutdale $
Oba!: 555 NW 12th Ave $-$$$
Red Star Tavern and Roast House: 503 S.W. Alder Street $-$$$
Springwater Grill: 6716 SE Milwaukee Ave $-$$$
See also: Bluehour, Wildwood, and other restaurants in “Parents, Dates and Splurges.”