Bars : USA : OR : Portland : Apex Bar
Bars : USA : OR : Portland : Apex Bar
About Apex Bar
Only in Portland could one gripe that a bar with nearly fifty taps doesn’t rotate them often enough. But there it is.
Otherwise Apex is cool enough on all counts, with a spacious patio (although the view of Division isn’t exactly romantic), a long bar that people will presumably actually sit at come winter, and a symbiotic relationship with next-door taqueria Los Gorditos, which will delivers to the patio (or at least as far as the railing).
Nice touches include a clipboard on the wall to note problems with the four pinball machines, an easy-to-read HDTV beer menu (which spares you the withering contempt of the none-too-hospitable servers), and cubbies for bike and motorcycle helmets. Speaking of which, they tend to play bike and motorcycle races at high volume on the TVs, which is awesome if you’re into that, and less so if you’re not.
Cash only, but they’ll give you a dollar off a beer if you show your receipt from the ATM.
Apex Bar Review By Todd S. : Portland, OR
As good as it gets for a beer bar. Some 50, rotating taps, amongst a great beer-drinking atmosphere. You won't any token beers on tap (e.g. Mirror Pond; you can get that anywhere), as they specialize in great US and international beer; many of which you will rarely see on-tap elsewhere in PDX.
They carry some of the microbrew heavy hitters (e.g. Russian River, Great Divide, Bear Republic), and often have some of their more rare beers. For local brews and breweries, they have many you don't see around town, either. Love their "live" beer menu (http://apexbar.com/menu/), as it will link you to a review page (Beer Advocate, RateBeer), or whatever else is available; enabling you to read-up on the beer, to help you make a decision. Bottled beer also available, including some gluten-free options.
They also do a number of events which are worth your time. Out-of-state brewers will come in with rare kegs and have discussions. Recently, in commemoration of Spring, they had an abnormally high number of Belgian blondes and saisons on-tap. Their 2-year anniversary was phenomenal, with a ridiculous number of rare brews on-hand.
Plus, the price of these beers are very reasonable; practically cheap. Many of the beer here, are smaller-batch, more carefully crafted, and/or simply more expensive to secure; so how they offer them cheaper than you would normally find, I don't know.
I've heard some complaints about the service, and while I suppose they could be friendlier, I've always found them informative, and have never had a problem.
Seating is decent inside, but weather permitting, the outdoor patio with a gazillion picnic tables, is where it's at. While they don't serve food, take advantage of their bring-in-food policy. Los Gorditos next door is awesome, and will bring food to fence, separating the 2 businesses. Sandwich shop across the street is decent, but not as filling, nor as good.
Cash-only.
Contact Apex Bar
Address 1216 SE Division St, Portland, OR 97202 | Phone (503) 273-9227
Contact Bar fly Magazine
0 comments: