This is a really excellent place to hang out, see some music, drink some rrreeeaaalllyyy strong drinks, and have VERY GOOD Ethiopian food. Seeing bands play here is like going to a very comfy house show; the decor is very simple and clean enough to inspire confidence in eating the food from Jarra's restaurant upstairs. My wife and I went to see a night of bands, all of 'em friends/co-workers of ours. Being hard-core fans of Ethiopian food, we were quite pleased with the quality, despite a 30 min. wait. But hell, that's a good sign, no? The main restaurant upstairs was PACKED, which is always a good sign. 4 stars for the grub and the drinks!

Now, about the show: Note that this is a fairly low-volume venue, which is pretty dang cool. Still the bands were pllllenty loud for the space.

The bands were BloodBikers, Justin Ready and the Pigeons, and PaperUpperCuts. BloodBikers are joyfully out-of-control guit/drums/vocal garage punk-- they were freakin' great, but due to the volume restrictions(and the drummer's kick pedal falling apart)they only played a 10 minute set. I'm looking forward to seeing them do their full thing- though they tell me that their full set is usually only about 20 minutes total. Beautiful noise.

Justin Ready and the Pigeons played a spooky and lovely set of sort-of-americana-via-belle-and-sebastian. Guit/bass/drums/piano/violin made for a really enjoyable set, and guit/vocalist Justin Ready writes some flat-out good tunes.

And then... right after 2 nights opening for the Breeders came PaperUpperCuts-- David Fimbres is the 'band', playing flute, casio, and looping pedal to build up fascinating beds of sound, over which he sings and displays his skillz as one of Portland's absolutely finest drummers. Jaws dropped, heads shook in amazement, and smiles were abundant. Stunning.

Yeah, these bands all have personal friends as members but I'd not heard any of these particular bands before last night. And with no cover charge, I liked 'em even more, though I'd gladly pay to see any of them again, friends or not.

So, this is a fun, low key joint. Take your friends, hear some music, play a board game, put a vid on the tv. But don't spread the knowledge around too much-- it's great to feel like this is a secret little jewel hiding in plain sight.

I read the review that states that this is a club better left avoided and I'm just inclined to disagree. Okay, sure, caveat: this isn't your get-drunk-make the scene-get chicks-hip sort of place, but for a quieter more laid-bak place to just hang out and chill with occasionally great music from the private DJ's and local bands...I think this place is PDX's best kept secret. Not a lot of craziness, just chill. Oh, did I mention that the Ethiopian food here is great, too. Check it out....

I dropped in to hear Juvewhiteboy and Liv play some pretty music on guitar and viola. Pleasant garden level room with candles on the tables.

Pilsener was $4.50. I had just been paid in cheesesteak for doing some comedy elsewhere so I didn't try the Ethiopian fare from Jarra's but I will in the future.

This isn't the place for a drunken pub crawl but for a quieter night out it would be nice.