Portland Happy Hour: Emanon

As my loyal happy hour companion flew off to the east coast, NYC and Boston, to look at grad schools, Adam and I headed to happy hour at Emanon (NW Lovejoy and 17th). Adam is taking pictures of bars, happy hours, foods, drinks, people having a good time for a photo essay for a class, and well, I just like a good drink and some good company.

When we got to Emanon there was no one there at first. I'll admit I was slightly concerned. But no worries, it filled up rather quickly with a wide range of people, some seemed to be regulars, others just looking for a good random din. We ordered the artichoke dip off the happy hour food menu, all for $4. It was good, if you like chunky pieces of artichoke, and I happen to like all kinds of artichoke dip so I was content. Adam ordered a really large beer, on happy hour price, $4, and I ordered a Blueberry Lemonade. It on the rocks, involved Stoli Blueberry vodka and was pretty good, but not discounted for happy hour, still $7.50. 

Their happy hour menu is mostly geared towards appetizer type food, and Adam felt pretty hungry so we ordered the philly cheese "style" steak sandwich ($9.50) with fries and shared it. It was really good, the steak was tender and the I mean you can't really mess up a steak sandwich, right? 

With full bellies, and a slightly tipsy feeling from our drinks, we walked away with a $25 bill. Not bad. Definitely other things worth trying and a really nice waitress. Neat, low key, relaxing place. I say go for it.

Portland Happy Hour: Davis Street Tavern

As part of my, what feels endless, job search I have been meeting a variety of people to gain insight into what I might like to do, get feedback on what I could be doing differently, and receive suggestions as to positions that may be of interest. Generally I meet people for coffee, lunch, or just in their office, but with my Uncle's friend Laura, we do happy hour.

I have met Laura on many occasions when my Uncle ventures into town and I love to keep in touch with her since she is great fun, as well as someone with years of invaluable experience and insight. Friday night we met at the Davis Street Tavern, on the corner of NW Davis and 5th, with a woman Laura works with and a woman in the process of job hunting like myself. Occasionally the co-owner and long time friend of Laura's stopped by. Not only are their food and drinks a great choice, I like their management!

Davis Street Tavern, which opened in December, offers a diverse drink menu and tasty happy hour food selections. In their successful attempt to be as eclectic as possible I am sure you could try a drink here that you may not find other places. For $8 each I had a Acai-pirinha which has leblon cachaca (a sugarcane based alcohol popular in Brazil), acai puree, and lime. Definitely a new drink for me since I tend to stick to the vodka, and surprisingly I liked it. Their Best Drink, is actually the best drink I had that night, containing cricket club gin, mint, lime, and ginger beer. I don't even like gin, but I liked this. Finally their Champagne Cocktail was tempting with aperol, lemon, agostura bitters, and Cava. Though I didn't have it, it looked and sounded wonderful!

Their happy hour food menu offers selections at $5 each. We shared the Cheese Crostini Trio, Roasted Cippolini & Boursin, White Bean & Rogue River Blue, and Roasted Beet & Fromage Blanc, each offered unique flavor and were equally delicious. The Strip Loin Burger looked awesome. The Velvety Mac 'N' Cheese with Girella Pasta and Three Cheese Béchamel was smooth and rich, but in a perfect size portion so you don't feel guilty eating it all! Also, the Seared Tombo Tuna (Baby Arugula, Fennel, Red Onion, Shaved Reggianito, and Roasted Pear Vinaigrette) looked delicate and refreshing.

I plan on returning soon with the girls to try more and support the new restuarant!

Portland Happy Hour: Pause

Friday night Dena, Katie and I wanted to go to a happy hour in our North Portland neighborhood. We have recently discovered a restaurant called Pause on N. Interstate-actually we found it on the hamburger blog we check regularly and it was featured because of its 1/2 lb cheeseburgers with fries for $8, and adorable sliders, 3 for $5. To change it up we decided to try its happy hour from 5 to 7pm.

Arriving just after 5 to an already crowded restaurant, we were eager to see what they had to offer. Well, it turns out their "happy hour" consists only of a $1 discount on well drinks, but we didn't let that get us down. There were lots of delicious options on the menu.


Regardless of non-happy hour prices we each ordered a Margarita for $6.50, not a bad price! We all ordered from their Sandwiches selections, Dena chose their Cuban Pork Sandwich, while Katie and I both ordered their Black Bean Burger with guacamole and pico de gallo for $7.50. We all got fries on the side (with the option of fries or salad). Their fries are "meatier," like real thick slices of potatoes and they result in a very satisfying side. Next time I go I am trying the Mac'n Cheese, we have to see how it compares to Sagittarius, another local favorite.


So even though their happy hour doesn't include food or delicious drink discounts, Pause's prices are still very reasonable and well worth it!