Matchbox Lounge
3203 SE Division Portland, OR 97202Phone: (503) 234.7844
Located in: Southeast Portland - Visit Website
BarFly's Review of Matchbox Lounge
Matchbox’s late-night food happy hour, in particular its $5 single-source-farmed hamburger, has deservedly become a staple among the SE Portland service industry—in particular among the crew of Rontoms and the recently nationally belaureled Castagna. The rest of Matchbox’s menu, especially the pizzas and Moroccan Tagine pot, is deeply pleasant.
The bar’s actual appeal, however, hinges on old notions and old visions of pub: red light, red walls, paintings from esteemed local artists that create mood just by hanging. As with all service-industry haunts, the service is precise and maybe a bit casual, but also personal to the point of fostering sincere family feeling.
After a few months or so of playing lightweight plastic Matchbox to Pok Pok’s (across the street) cast-iron Hot Wheels appeal, Matchbox has come into its own as a Portland destination for anybody who wanted just one more chance at the server who previously only fueled their glass.
Mondays: Sneakin' Out 9:30pm.
Tuesdays: $1 doms after 9pm.
Wednesdays: Blues w/ Ben Morse 10pm.
Open 4pm-2:30am daily, minors welcome til 9pm.
| Matchbox Lounge's Happy Hours | |
|---|---|
| Monday | $3-7 menu, $3 well, $1.50-$3.50 drafts 4pm-6pm |
| Tuesday | $3-7 menu, $3 well, $1.50-$3.50 drafts 4pm-6pm |
| Wednesday | $3-7 menu, $3 well, $1.50-$3.50 drafts 4pm-6pm |
| Thursday | $3-7 menu, $3 well, $1.50-$3.50 drafts 4pm-6pm |
| Friday | $3-7 menu, $3 well, $1.50-$3.50 drafts 4pm-6pm |
| Saturday | $3-7 menu, $3 well, $1.50-$3.50 drafts 4pm-6pm |
| Sunday | $3-7 menu, $3 well, $1.50-$3.50 drafts 4pm-6pm |
Waitress yelling at 3 different tables last night. Seems like they need to hire more people and quality ones at that. Strange.
SE Division is blessed with quite a few new, amazing, fun places to eat and drink. Places where you come from all over town to just hang out, munch on food prepared by some of the city's top chefs, or have some excellent micro brew. Unfortunatly, Matchbox isn't one of them. It's really more of a place to wait for a table at the neighboring Pok Pok. Although the staff is friendly, the promising sounding menu is overpriced, and leaves a little to be desired once it comes to the table. Use Bar Fly to find a myriad of other spots located close by, or stand in the long line at Pok Pok with a flask from home.
This is a modern, open, clean place. The art on the walls changes frequently, and is always interesting. Their food is very very tasty, but the portions are miniscule. The prices don't seem bad, but once you get the tiny little plate, you feel ripped off. It would be great if they had some inexpensive nibbles, like bread or crackers - but if you order a cheese plate, it comes with one small portion of cheese and maybe 4 slices of baguette.
The servers are friendly, and mostly nice to look at, if a little slow and distracted.
The drinks are good, with a nice selection of fancy special drinks. Their beer selection on tap is lame, with only 3 or 4 available, and favoriing bitter belgian varieties.
Monday nights are really fun with the band Sneakin' Out.
