I have been living in portland for around 4 years now and sad to say have been to a majority of the bars downtown. That being said i have to say that the Thirsty Lion is my new favorite place. Everytime I go in the service is excellent and the staff is great (especailly the cute short blonde guy on the weekends ;). The bartenders make fantastic cocktails and the food is always good. I love the live band followed by party music, it's a great mix. I would recomend this bar to anyone out there and can't wait to get back there this weekend. Thumbs up.

i usually hate all CEG bars but this place actually is a pretty nice place to have a few pints (look at the board for the special) of good beer (instead of my usual PBR). The food is pretty good and reasonable priced. The BTs are pretty cool too. This place really is the exception to the rule that all CEG bars suck. I avoid it at night on the weekends though.

And SOMETIMES the door guys here can be jerks but not a fuckin' excuse not to tip the staff!

I'm the bar manager of Thirsty Lion.

I don't know what the doorman said or what your friend said, Ja. What I can comment on, was that we reserved a table for your friend for 11pm on a Saturday night, right in front of the band. Then we took 12 of his friends in the side door so they wouldn't have to wait in line. I informed the birthday boy that everyone would still need to pay cover and I'd prefer to get it as they came in, not when everyone was ready to leave. He said he would pay for everyone and put it on his card, just wanted to wait till they all got there. Sure enough there was confusion at the end when your party wanted to leave and the cover still needed to be paid.

I went to the birthday boy and w/o a word he handed me his credit card, I ran it for the covers and brought it back, thanked him and left him to sign. You say someone saw him sign his bill? I say that did not happen. When I came back to pick up the slip, his card and my pen were gone but the slip was there, unsigned. Nothing was filled out on it. Nobody saw him sign anything, because he didn't sign anything.

Now for you. If you had a problem with the doorman, why would you decide to stiff the waitress you claim did no wrong?

I'm sorry it didn't turn out to be a fantastic evening for all involved. There really never should have been a problem.

Disappointed at the end--

There are many many ways to talk to customer if we owe you. I'm in a restaurant management team for 5 years and the way i see it at this bar is just suck.

Started out great. The bar looked nice. Music was fine. Our waitress was busy but we got most of the things we asked for.

Then we was gonna leave. The doorman stopped me and said our birthday guy didn't pay for the cover charges he promised to pay for all his friends. The door man accused that our birthday boy SAID that he was not going to pay for the cover charges while our friend had alread paid $60. And he offered the card, not that he was being forced to pay.

Did the doorman expected double charges???

cuz i was already asking the rest of us for the covers. Good thing one of us saw the birthday boy signed the bill!

Too bad for our waitress. I know most of our friends are international student and they don't know how to tip. I was gonna add $30 for her, but screwed it. I won't be back anyway.

In case you're wondering, yes, there was a wee bit o' sarcasm to the subject title. However, it's not to say this place threw up a footy match on the TV, installed a Guinness tap and called it good. There was clearly some forethought in putting this whole thing together. There's plenty of selection for international brews. The live music on weekends is pretty nice. The barkeeps and wait staff were all very attentive and relatively easy on the eyes, so no drawbacks there.

Of course you can obviously tell this place was trying for something that can't really be re-created around here. (That's not really true though. See "Horse Brass Pub.") I bet they don't pay these prices for their luke warm beers in London.....come to think of it, as bad as the dollar is, this is probably what you'd pay there. The mortal sin, however, was not the exorbinant fees, but rather the watered-down well drinks. I only got one and others in my group only got one each as well (both watered-down as well) so I won't judge their rep completely on that, but when I go back I'll be looking for improvement.

So, the drinks weren't the greatest price or quality, and I sure didn't feel like I was across the pond. Then again does anyone really go into this place expecting some old guy with a beard, poor teeth and a cockney accent to ask if you'd like some crisps with your lager? I'll be back if I need to watch Blackburn Rovers handle the Yankees of England, Manchester United, in the future. But I'll be heading to one of the other many places down in the spiral like Shanghai or Ash St. for a night of booze sweet booze.

They have some talented musicians on Tuesday nites, and Eric John Kaiser, French Troubadour is a gracious host.

The sound isn't great, but it's a comfortable environment to enjoy brews, music and friends.

I wouldn't consider coming here when it's packed because of the 1-toilet bathroom; I'd be surprised if that's even legal.

Thirsty Lion has came a long way, the food, the service, everything is much better than when it started out. I wasn't so sure at first, but now I am a regular, and I have seen the place come along nicely. The food is excellent, the servers rock, cute bartenders...give it a chance guys, it has definitely improved!!

I just spent a year in London and only the crowds have anything in common with good old mother england. Pubs are nice drinking establishments you go to to have a few pints, sit in some nice chairs and watch the football game with friends. As your establishment's population reaches that of a small country however, and begins eschewing tablespace for standing/dancing room and it starts taking five minutes to walk the thirty feet to the restroom, your fine possibly once-English pub has become a bar. Bars that have to handle crowds like inevitably lose some ambiance, but the fact that it's crowded doesn't make it a bad place. it just means that it's not what I would call British anymore, nor a pub.

The music was great and it was a fun atmosphere. But oh my god if I'm going to get a buzz, you need to have a mens restroom that looks like it came out of a stadium. Trough included. I spend 1/3 of my night in line for the restroom, losing my buzz in the process...

thirsty lion has one major drawback not enough restrooms, otherwise last time i was there the tequila was very very good, nearly missed my flight so i did. bit bland though only went in for the soccer

I don't know what most of these people are complaining about - if you want to be that uptight and callous take a flying leap off a cliff. No one wants your genes in the gene pool. The Lion was one of the better pubs I've been to - the staff was prompt and very nice. The food was excellent, and I'll definately visit again the next time I fly in to the downtown heliport.

What did I think of the Thirsty Lion? Not a lot. If this is an English pub,then I'm the Archbishop of Canterbury.

Beautiful old venue with high ceilings, and big sliding doors open to the sidewalk. Too bad these a-holes put up a football jersey and a fake royal crest and think they can pass that decor off as an English pub.

The lights are on "auto-dim" at 9 pm on a Sunday- the staff has no control over the light panel- I asked. Wow, that is really a statement about how smart you think your employees are. Ridiculous musak soundtrack played too loud for the number of people in the joint on a Sunday (about 12). Michael Jackson, followed by Metallica, followed by The Eagles???? WTF? Again, staff were unable to lower volumne- I asked... Cost of a pint $4, worst calamari in town. A cryin' shame.

Go instead to the Kells or Ash street. At least they are "real" places.

I used to work at the Lion and first off, it doesn't serve Budwieser. If you don't even know what you're drinking, don't complain about "overpaying" for it. Downtown bars have downtown prices...get used to it. As far as personality goes the Lion has, by far, the best bartending staff I've ever worked with. I always had a good time behind the bar and those vibes seemed to transfer to those I was serving. CEG can stand to loosen up a bit, but what can you expect...they're corporate. The management staff, however, is the tits. My advise...drink your beer, nod your head to the music, put a smile on your face and you're gonna have a good time.

Cold at first, kind of like the English. There was interesting people watching. The band was great. The bartenders gave great......service, men and woman!!! I drank beer, from the bottle. I don't look at the bill.....unless the server pisses me off. Lots of f____able employees and customers. We'll give it a second chance. Fat Tuesday?! lol, Randi

Very disappointed- our party of 8 paid $25 each for dinner that looked great on the menu but in reality was marginal. Crab cakes were so so- second course was listed as Cesaer Salad but when dinner arrived instead of salad our server said she thought it was crab cakes OR salad- when the menu was pointed out she said she would check. Dinner-green beans had to have come from a can- mushy. "wild rice" on menu was not wild rice, it was white rice with some tired carrots and pieces of celery-more like Uncle Bens. My salmon was OK, moist but others in our party had salmon that had clearly been cooked way too long-my daughter's was like a dried up sponge. After dinner the salads were belatedly brought and they were OK, just a course late. Coffee was lukewarm then after a complaint hotter coffee was brought. All in all not what we would expect for $25. The band was great. Was the idea that $20 of the $25 was a cover charge and we paid $5 for dinner?

This place has been kind to me and I will definitely return again, especially since Gillian is offering up a free shot. I see all these reviews dissin tha place and its as simple as this: you create your atmosphere. If you cant accomplish that here I guess this place sucks, or you're trying too hard to be cool, better stated "authentic". That said, I'm also an alcoholic.

Definitely not an English/Irish pub, or whatever the hell it's supposed to be. It's a nice space, though and a nice location. And they serve Boddington's. Haven't seen too many PDX bars with that on tap. Good place to watch sports.

ALL of the CEG bars are a joke, and this one is no exception. Their target crowd... morons who think that putting up a few British flags makes a bar "English". Just like the Dixie, Gypsy, etc, cookie cutter Disney-esque bars for people who don't know better, designed so old men in polo shirts and Dockers can make some cash off unsuspecting idiots. Give us a break, quit trying so hard and be genuine, don't the people of PDX deserve more?!?!

This is a good bar and beside with all the hot guys around us cocktailers can get to meet some hottie boys ; ) Come see me and I will get you a free shot on the house!

Went there on Friday and enjoyed the band. The cocktailers wear skirts with socks, which is pretty hot. The staff was friendly and cool. They have cool sprinklers that chill pint glasses and good steaks. We had a good time and will be back.

Wow, just when you thought CEG couldn't get any worse, they open a crap bar to replace a crap bar. Service sucks, food is contrived. Music is as bad as it gets. Stunningly stupid Concept, especially when compared to Kells, ACROSS the Street. Idiots.

These guys are poseurs trying to make you feel like a Brit Pub is supposed to feel clubby too. C'mon lads!! We are drunk but not stupid. I just got back from Heathrow side and a tour of the Liverpool and Newcastle. The people there would be insulted and pissed at the wankers that put this instituition into place. $4 for a pint of piss? Your food is okay, but it's english food...how could you mess it up? Poach it or toast it. The drinks were lame and I felt like an arse thinking this place could stay true.

I believe it's suppose to be an English pub but they fly the Irish flag outside. maybe they are hoping to trick (drunk) people into thinking they are Kells.

to be fair, i dislike all of Concept Entertainment bars so take this review with a grain of salt but if you do you like them (Barracuda, Dixies etc) and you want to go to an "English" pub you're probably set here. Otherwise, you should go to the Moon and Six Pence or sumthing.

Oh, and to top it off apparently C.E.G. thinks the Brat truck that serves us drunks late at night that the truck is stealing business from the bar. they have called the cops on them multiple times.

if you work for C.E.G. ... guys/gals you don't want me in your bar and probably don't want most of the other drunk customers. your company is just going to generate ill will and i'm a neighbor.

- Yamada

Just as crappy as bar 71. I paid 4 dollars for a budwieser. WTF?