Yes and No
20 NW 3rd Ave Portland, OR 97209Phone: () .
Located in: Downtown Portland & near Northwest Portland
BarFly's Review of Yes and No
We remember when this little place twixt Dixie and Tube was the Foodhole, where children flocked, no one could drink, the admissions booth was cut with shears out of the wall, and the live-music acoustics sent everyone’s inner ear retreating into their throats. Now—well, rising tides, rising ships: dim-lit, fully-refurbished, hardwood-lovely lounges. It’s that same train-apartment geometry as next door, but the trip to the bar is shorter.
The drinks are uncomfortably stiff and the music is… wait… Hüsker Dü? Minutemen? ‘80s SST everything? We could swear, suddenly, we were in early-‘90s Los Angeles and that this was our cocktail lounge, everyone both less and more desperate than the gyrating throngs to the left, to the right, and, oh lordie, across the street. Except: certainly less desperate.
Along with Valentine’s, a much-needed sea of low-rent, tasteful (not-too-tasteful), vintage-feeling calm in Old Town, though it’s achingly new and may yet catch on with the douche-vide crowd. Save it from its own neighborhood, please, because I smell blood in the water.
15 (fifteen), Alexis, Ash Street Saloon, Backspace, Barracuda, Beauty Bar, Berbati's, Berbati's Pan, Boiler Room, C.C. Slaughter's, Cabaret Lounge, Captain Ankeny's Well, Casey's Nightclub & Lounge, Club Rouge, Couture Ultra Lounge, Dan & Louis's Shucking Room, Darcelle XV, Davis Street Tavern, Dirty, Dixie Tavern, East Chinatown Lounge, Fifteen, Fox and Hounds, Graeter Art Gallery, Hamburger Mary's, Hobo's, Kells Irish, Kincaid's Fish Chop and Steak House, Magic Gardens, Mucho Grande, Old Town Pizza, Pints, Pizza Vita PDX, Portland City Grill, Portland Prime, Qube, Republic, Roseland, Ruth's Chris Steakhouse, Shanghai Tunnel, Silverado, Someday Lounge, Star Theater, Ted's Room, The Barrel Room, Rockin' Show Bar, The Crown Room, The Original, Thirsty Lion Pub, Tube, Valentine's, Whiskey Bar & Lounge, XV
Long story short, the place has a good jukebox, cheap drinks, and pretty cool decor. Most of the regulars seemed to be interested in drinking and not being bothered, which was exactly what I was after. Unfortunately it is next to the Dixie, and a bunch of douchebags from next door wandered in for about half an hour. They made a ridiculous amount of noise for about half an hour, pissed all over the bathroom, and left. There was a round of applause when they did.
