Rialto is not the horrible place it has been made out to be here, it just suffers from poor management=unhappy staff=bad service. They have the highest turnover of waitresses I've ever seen. But the drinks are stiff, the pool tables good, and it's a great place to go for happy hour or to watch games. The menu has gone down hill in the last year or two but still has some appetizing items and there is still plenty of shady stuff going if you keep your eyes open. Not a fun place to go on the weekends as it becomes overloaded with the people from the suburbs and a last stop for people leaving the Greek.

I know about the OLCC rules on advertising happy hour; that's not my complaint. It's just getting less and less happy during happy hour at the Rialto. To whit:

Met my gal there the other day. The waitress didn't know A) what time it was, or B) what time happy hour was (she had to have me read it off the menu to her).

After I'd nearly finished my beer and was asked by the waitress if I wanted another, I was on the verge of indeed ordering when she informed me, "Oh by the way that beer isn't on happy hour because it's produced by Budweiser." Well first of all, really? I'm surprised, because it's a decent stout. But also, really? You're telling me this now?

Long story short the Rialto has dropped way down the list of downtown happy hours. Between the two of us we ordered exactly two (2) beers and two (2) baked potatoes and the bill came to $14. This is happy hour? $7 for a beer and a measley baked potato?

Done with this place.

I got a job at the Rialto in 97 washing dishes just so I could play free pool, it was my home I loved it. They have a snooker table which is rare these days. I moved away, came back last year and was shocked. Its nice now! The bathroom is like a hilton hotel, there were doors on the stall. They had to take the door off cuz junkies would shoot up. The other dishwasher got pricked by a needle in the trash. One time a huge cockroach fell on my head while I was taking a piss. Its not the same, it doesn't have the "feel" anymore of a pool hall. The tables are brand new gold crowns which are awesom. They moved snooker upstairs which is nice if you don't like people asking you "what are the red balls". They also sealed off the OTB (which you get to through McFaddens now) which got rid of the riff raff. We used to call them "Chislers" in fact they would be banging on the door an hour before we even opened so they could their fix. We used to feed the chislers a complimentary happy hour meal of cut up hot dogs in scalloped potatoes. They would line up and immiadtly dig in when I put it down like they were starving. There's also a whole new kitchen too. The new bar is really nice and on the other side which is wierd. It is basically a different bar. Its a great place but I miss the old one.

This used to be my hangout when I worked downtown...Chophouse first then Rialto. Yes, very stiff drinks and if those upstairs walls could talk! Drunken AND naked pool...woohoo! :) But, that was then and this is now. Very sterile and yuppie, no longer a dive, but food is good and service is always good too. Wknds are super packed.

I know a number of bars which handle their HH in this manner

Rialto doesn't advertise happy hours as the OLCC seems to think that allowing bars to advertise HH will somehow create drunken mayhem. However, we do list them editorially based on the information we have. The hours of 4-7 IS based on their time, not yours. Set your watch 15 minutes fast if it bothers you.

Rialto has good drinks and a good happy hour but...whats with it ending 15 minutes earlier than advertised? It's supposed to end at 7 but it really ends at 6:45 which is disapointing when you want to order that last round before the prices go up. When I protested about this the snotty BT said "The computers on bar time. You can argue with me if you want to."I don't care what reason's behind it, if HH ends at 6:45, then say so instead of misleading people on the menus and advertising. I understand it's not the end of the world, but is this too much to ask?

Dollar per dollar, the Rialto has the best alcohol-to-dollar ratio of any bar or resturant in Portland. My favorite place to spend 5$ on a Jack Daniels on-the-rocks. I could care less about the pool or the other people there as long as the pours are deep, and the waitstaff is friendly, I will totally come back every-week.

Really good onion rings. And I like the bartenders, all of them. Plus there's a real pretty girl working in the open kitchen, eat in the cafe, drink at the bar!

The old Rialto used to have this guy out front saying, "Punch a bum for 5 bucks." He really wanted the money. Rumor was that the place got busted for some kind of coke posession or something. The old place did have a really nice and seedy vibe. And it hasn't totally disappeared either. You see some of the same staff, who won't give you great service (but you'll find that all over Portland anyways). This place has one thing going for it. It is an all-around downtown mingle, where you can meet really different types of people. There tends to be a lot of the sort of jockish, macho sportsman types there, but there are always the other weirdos that keep it balanced. All in all, you can play some pool there, tip well and get served, and meet some interesting weirdos.

...actually I should make that "NO service". On several occasions my husband and I have received no [zippo, zero, nadda, nil] service from the wait staff. It doesn't matter if it's busy or slow. Yes, they have good food and the tables are nice, but if you can't get food, or a drink; what's the point? I liked it when it was still considered a "dive" and it's a shame that they had to change. It looks prettier now, but that doesn't count for squat if you can't get a drink. Don't bother going.

The OTB has all the charm of a lit speculum. It's the red-headed stepchild of the Rialto, only more beaten and neglected. Unless you are an annoying problem gambler, there is no reason to be there except for the $2 beers (everything from PBR to Bud to Hefe to Heineken--no kidding, all $2). Regrettably, these prices attract all your best and brightest downtown gutter filth, and they constantly stiff the beertender. I thank God that I tip properly, and thus avoided the wrath of the BT.

Beware of the tenants from the Central City Concern hotel above the Rialto. They have progressed from "smelly nuisance" to "dangerous element." They are regularly 86'd for bad conduct, and at least two hotel tenants have assaulted staff members with weapons improvised or otherwise. The CCC will not account for their wards, and as such that area is somewhat dangerous.

No one mentions the off track betting here. I could care less about pool. Is this a good place to go to bet on out of town horse racing?

I could care less about pool, food and booze. No one ever mentions a thing about the off track betting. Is this a good place to go for betting on out of state horse racing?

i love this place!!.. i have been going here almost every weekend.. the guys and myself have always started off the night here with a couple rounds of pool.. then its off to the dance scene. i gotta tell yeah i have seen some slow service. i found it easier just to go str8 to the bar.. cool bar tenders

The bar definately lost some character in the remodel, but it smells a hellva lot better. Any of you old timers remember the stench on your clothes leaving the old Rialto? Hot damn, it stunk. Kinda like a deep fried cigarette. Food, good. Drinks, stiff. Waitresses, easy. I like it.

The pool tables are too close for comfort, rates high. I'd rather head to Classic Billiards, its worth the drive.

But they could use a new general manager. That guy is a real douche.

I have been a semi-regular at the Rialto both before and after the remodel. I have lived in Portland most of my adult life and I am considered by most who know me as an expert on the local bar scene. I am responding to all the negative posts out there, I disagree. The staff is made up of some really amazing people. If you treat them with the respect that they deserve then you will get outstanding service, and who can deni the fact that the drinks are some of the stiffest in town. The men in the kitchen really care about the food they are serving and it shows. My only complaint, I miss Breann.

The Rialto is a great place to unwind: the food is top notch and the booze is poured pretty freely. Its too bad that more regulars do not submit reviews as I was somewhat shocked by the overall negativity on this page.

The open space and high ceilings are great as it never feels very crowded. All the wait staff and bartenders are courteous and friendly to the people who treat them nicely - even the poker zombies. I have found if you go into a bar looking angry or you treat the wait staff like servants, you are not going to go to the top of their list. Also, it is a big bar, so being assertive helps if you want another drink.

Anyone who claims the food takes to long or is too expensive should realize that the cooks there are very serious about their food. They ran a BLT special for a month that was super tasty, when I asked why it wasn't on the permanent menu, I was told that the beefsteak tomatoes in the sandwich were only around during the summer. When a place is fussy about a tomato, they care. Sometimes real food takes time. I have never felt I was being overcharged after eating a meal there or that it took too long for it to be delivered.

The Rialto is a great place to go to when you want a break from the normal dives around town, but still require the same amount of drunkenness. Happy Hour is the best!

I remember back in the day when the Rialto was one of the coolest bars in town. It had everything; the coolest bartnders, good table, dark, smoky, and possibly the best jukebox ever. Now, I regret to say that only the pool tables remain. Everything else has been replaced with clean and extremely bright atmoshpere and bartenders that seem like they were modeling for GQ early that week. Boring. I guess all the good bars can't stay the same forever.

Great cocktails. Great place to order a whisky because they pour generously. Service has always been fine for me and the good booze brings me back!

My boyfriend and I think this is a chill place to play some pool have drinks and bullshit. we don't even care that the pool and drinks are pricey. but the service does suck mad balls. the bartender with the ponytail tried to give me potters when i asked for stoli and then go ahead charge me for stoli. and those cocktail bitches.... i will take a $3 atm charge just so they can't rip me off on my bill. good god!

So...I would absolutely LOVE this place if it weren't for the horrible service. The food takes forever and the drinks even longer sometimes. I thought it was a myth that a server would actually tack money onto my tab until it happened to me. COME ON GIRLS!!! We'd pay you that bigger tip if you deserved it!

the comment below - the service at the Rialto is laughable... and the music is horrid. I used to go there a couple times a week and now it's kind of cheesed out.

The rialto is a t regular hangout for my friends and I......The drinks are good, and the tables are probably the best in town, good bar food too. There are uaually good looking people around, and if you work in the industry (food service) its likly you will see someone you know. but be aware.....If you decide to tip like shit by chance, beause you've had shitty service which is likely. and your paying with a debit or credit...the waitress will take on say...another 5 bucks as her tip. and unless you have online banking its probable that you will never know...Its happened 5 times now!!!!!bulshit..... bring cash!

The new Rialto is nice and clean and the service was good. I just still miss the old Rialto. I miss the dank and dinge that it once had. It used to be a classic dive poolhall, but now it just feels to clean.

I must say there issome cute boys working there. I dont even play pool but I love going to the Rialto to check out those boys. I think their music is usually good, but too loud sometimes. Oh ya , our server was a bitch but the drinks were nice. I will be back.

I went to the Rialto for years and enjoyed the eclectic after-work crowd.

My friend and I went there twice in the afternoon and the bartender (female) was sooo slow AND rude. In fact, she ignored us and was on the phone for personal business for 10 min. When 2 young men came in I told my friend..watch and she'll wait on them immediately. Which she did...even before waiting on us.

I watched this bartender refuse to wait on a construction worker who just got off work by telling him that she couldn't serve him because he already had enough to drink. His jaw dropped in amazement. He hadn't anything to drink. I heard her tell one of the customers that they were trying to get rid of a lot of the former patrons....which I am sure she has.

I'll never go there again and I hope they go broke. The Rialto was always packed after work and the lawyers and the laborer types and eclectic types in between all seemed to get along pretty well. They used to have the best and the fastest bartenders in town.

Now they have a slow snob who'll wait on you as long as your hair isn't gray or you're wearing a baseball hat.

The food, however, is excellent and reasonably priced.

Went here with another couple for an evening of billiards, and had a good time. No problem getting a table, and after three hours the table charge was only 10 bucks. Can't beat that with a stick. The drinks were good, but I have to agree with those who fault the service as being on the slow side. Never had a single server ask me if I'd like another cocktail, yet when my glass was empty someone came around immediately to pick it up and schlep it back to the bar. How do you explain that? After about 9:00 PM you couldn't find a female in this joint with a geiger counter, other than the servers. My only real complaint, though, was that the jukebox was laden with the kind of troglodite rock n roll I'd hoped I'd never hear again some 25 years ago, but which the largely male crowd there couldn't get enough of all night long.

The bartenders (hotties ) @ The Rialto made me some of the best drinks ever. Next time I'm in Portland I'm so there.

I suck at pool, but thanks for the hospitality Miss Mckenzie (Bestest cocktail waitress EVER) You are a solid gal. If I ever spill another drink on a pool table just shoot me. k?

Please note : I miss the red head bartendress! However! When you can get online jukebox music (Virtual Cornicopia,Try Galactic, GOVT MULE ETC...) WHEN YOU CAN GET A DOZEN OYSTER SHOOTERS IN AN OLD HOLE IN THE WALL ,NOW SEMI-SWANK JOINT FOR UNER 10.00 YA' GOTTA DO IT. Also the central location allows for bringimg your out of town guests to all the fun allowed in that particular portion of P-Town.

GB

do they still have that fat bartender that acts like a dick?....havent been there since it has reopened....hopefully they hired a different ass to replace that bartender

God this place must have held tryouts for the slowest bartenders around. Rude ungrateful and oh yes...Extremely SLOW! I will not return.

I went to the Rialto last Saturday for a friends birthday day party. And I will have to say, it looks pretty dang nice in there now, since their new remodel inside. (It's a little on the "swanky looking" side now--considering this is a pool place!) Our drinks were great, quite stiff. I didn't really notice snobby clientele, the clientele when I was there was just your typically average clientele service when I was there--nothing spectaular, nothing great. Average clientele...

I just called the Rialto and the bar just re-opened today! I think we've been waiting for this for about 11 months! I've walked by at least 10 time in the last 2 weeks. Looking through the window they still have their pool tables (doesn't look like as many as before), their pinball machines are now on the main level (keep away - they're all mine ;), and it looks a little swanky. The main level set-up is now completely different than before. But I hope their new look won't mean higher prices or snobby clientele.

I just called the Rialto (6/27) and they're planning on re-opening on July 5th.

But they had really funny bartenders and slutty ass waitresses. Nice pool tables. Disgusting bathrooms and food. The manager is a total prick.

Thanks for the update.

They are just remodeling the whole building so it will be way nicer, the expected due date is march at the earliest.

Dude, I used to love going to that place. I've since moved on to Uptown Billiards. I can't believe that it's gutted! I bet they're just remodeling. If you guys find anything out post it..

I don't live in Portland anymore, but I used to love going there to play pool.