21st Avenue Bar & Grill

As far as patios go, this place is rad. If you are just passing by on the street, you would probably never know this sweet spot exists back behind the bar. And the inside of the bar itself is very roomy.
Do yourself a favor, make the time to visit for some happy hour food served up every day from open until 6 PM and happy hour drink specials Mon-​Fri 3 – 6 PM. They have a nice selection to choose from. $ 1 oyster shooters are a favorite of mine. I’m also partial to the sliders. The spinach and artichoke dip is great for sharing.
The patio is quite spacious so it’s a good spot for groups. I was there a couple of days ago when it was about 100 degrees outside and because it is covered by a huge, shady tree, it was quite comfortable in the late afternoon.
Service when we arrived was order your drinks and food at the bar and they would bring your food order to you as the server had not yet come on duty. We didn’t wait long for our order to come out though. The server came on duty right after we got there and we never had to get up for anything.
I’ve been coming here for years and have been remiss for not giving them the proper praise they deserve.
2016 — Review # 46

Great happy hour prices! Wonderful back patio– nice little secret… Staff is always friendly

Totally in agreement with this place’s current 3.5 rating, but what the heck I’ll round up to 4 stars :)
Snagged a patio seat last nite. (BTW they have only about half of the backyard cleaned up and open at this time.) Service was a tad slow but it wasn’t an issue for us and the place was busy with quite a few large tables.
Decent portions, yummy beers. Will be back!

This is the most immediate I have ever made a review after visiting an establishment. Everything was horrible. service and food, not worth the $ 35 I paid, for a meal where everyone at the table had something wrong with their meals, which also took an hour and 15 minutes for 3 burgers and a mac n cheese. the drinks were weak as hell and my Mac and cheese tasted like they seasoned it with sugar instead of salt. what a waste of food and money. paid and left because I wanted to leave asap, and get away from the waitress that made it seem like we were causing her such a struggle because she didn’t have the brain to make sure that our orders were even mildly correct. also was lovely to walk back through her smoke break on the sidewalk talking shit about her customers right outside the door. I wish I could get a refund for the entire night because it put such a damper on the evening. never coming back.

Chill bar. Uses an über to get here. There’s an outdoor patio and the waitress was nice. Come for a quick drink but nothing special.

I really had fun during trivia night! The whole place (well, the side that we were on) was packed and the trivia host was great. There was only one waitress (who was awesome and sweet) so service was a bit slow but you could tell they were doing their best.
The spinach artichoke dip was delicious! Red pepper flake on the top made it a bit spicy but it had a lot of flavor and I appreciated the fact that it was served with pita AND tortilla chips. Also ordered the battered fries because someone else did and damn, those are some of the best fries ever (I’m an expert… trust me). Other friends enjoyed their food as well, although it took a while to come out, and all of our beers were great. Solid food, solid people, great trivia night!

My wife and I expected the food to be much better when we went. We ordered the mac and cheese and it was very bland. I would actually prefer Kraft.

My friends and I randomly picked this bar because we needed a restroom break. The security was really nice, we enjoyed the fries, and all got a good laugh at the ladies’ restroom’s soap dispenser haha.
We were only here a short time, past midnight/​one in the morning this past Saturday, so not much intel, sorry!

Love the patio! It’s the perfect summer spot. Make sure to go for happy hour. Cheap eats and strong drinks!

Came to have some food and drink and then realized maybe only a drink (kind of grungy look to the place, my mother says you can tell a place by how clean the bathroom is) the bartender was super helpful and friendly and chatted with all the patrons on the slow Saturday afternoon. I’d come back for drinks :)

Omg I love the variety of delicious food and the drinks are just perfect. One of my favorite spots!!! Highly recommend

Apparently I get the pleasure of FTR this event :).
Tamara, thank you for getting us all together at 21^st Avenue. UYEs are quickly becoming one of my favorite things.
The Happy Hour was fantastic with $ 3.25 margaritas, $ 4 food items such as nachos & salads, and $ 1 oyster shooters, yum!
To drink I had Monopolowa and soda, with extra lemon & lime wedges. It was priced very fair at $ 5 a pop, with freshly sliced fruit, and they weren’t stingy with the wedges.
Most importantly I have come to really care about this lovely group. We always have fun, I adore them, and am happy to call them real life friends.
Added bonus I met Deb, whom I had never met before, and she is one awesome lady!

21’st Ave. Bar and Grill is a classic happy hour go-​to. They not only have an inexpensive and versatile happy hour drink/​food selection, they also have a really pretty secluded dining patio out back (you’ve gotta walk all the way through the bar).
Plus… I was there once when it all of a sudden started pouring down rain (I was lamenting on how I had lost my umbrella that very morning before going to 21’st Ave. Bar and Grille), and our super sweet waitress took pity on us and provided an umbrella that had been in the lost and found for months. GREAT SERVICE in my book.

My boyfriend, some friends and I decided to try out a new restaurant. We found this place on Unilocal with decent ratings and figured, why not?
Needless to say the experience was horrible. To begin, we got there and waited 20 minutes for someone to come over to the table, which was okay due to the fact that our friends hadn’t arrived yet. If it was just the two of us, we would have left after a few minutes. It took my boyfriend having to get up and go ask the bartender if we could get service in the other part of the restaurant.
After our friends arrived the waitress came over and we ordered. The waitress had know knowledge about the menu. Our friend asked about drinks and she couldn’t give a recommendation. We ordered an appetizer, which came out at the same time as our food. When I got my food it was completely wrong. I sent it back (after everyone had already finished their food, because she was no where around) it took another 10 – 15 minutes to get my food again. By this time I asked for a box and packed up. She was not a pleasant waitress. Nothing was taken off the bill and I felt like she just made excuses as to why it happened. We won’t be returning.

Pros: happy hour 3−6pm, front outside seating and awesome back patio, servers + bartenders = cool cats, locals’ bar
Cons: I’m an alcoholic
Located on the west side of NW 21^st, between Irving and Johnson, there sits 21^st B&G. The front has four picnic tables and inside there are two sections: one mainly for dining with booths and free standing tables, and the other section is the bar with stools and small intimate tables. If you go all the way to the back, there is a magnificent patio with a pond in the middle and a wrap around deck.
All of this sounds like a family friendly, easy going, laid back bar, which it definitely is to a certain degree, but don’t be fooled. It’s not for the faint hearted. It’s a rocker bar and a sports bar all in one. You come, you drink, and you roll. But most importantly, it’s a neighborhood bar. Everyone knows each other and sticks together. The bartenders know the regulars by name and are the absolute sweetest.
I like this bar.

They are open late and serve food. For the price it could be better, but if it’s late and they’re not far away, it’s a fine option. It is rather loud.

Despite my long held aversion to dive bars trying to dispense foodie worthy eats I am compelled to give the 21^st Avenue Bar and grill a pass. Yes, should you find yourself in the upscale confines of northwest Portland and feel the need to quell the pain of modern life with the soothing embrace of Mr. Booze then by all means stop in. While drowning your troubles it dawns upon you that some food might be a good idea then lucky you. Because, not only can you get a Totchos, loaded tater tots with cheddar cheese, sour cream, salsa AND bacon but there’s also a truly fine lamb stew with Irish soda bread to sop up the luscious broth. So my friends, bring your sorrows and your appetite to the 21^st bar and grill and forget for a moment that it’s rainy on the weekend.

Sweet happy hour. Tons of items for $ 4. Nice patio out back, even in winter. Service was kinda slow but we weren’t in a rush. I’d go back.
I had the Caesar and tot-​choes (tot nachos) and two pbrs for like $ 11. Food was good. We spent a good 2 – 3 hours here. The left side is more quiet for chatting. Lots of people watching here. Inside and out.
Also we came here after work and didn’t feel weird being in scrubs. It was divey/​casual.

The only reason for more than one star is the patio, and even this feels generous. Honestly, I wish 21^st avenue bar & grill would close so someone else could make a better use of the awesome space.
I’ve been here twice, once last summer, and once this summer. I’m pretty sure the entire beer list was exactly the same. There’s problem number one. It isn’t a long list either, so unless you happen to be completely obsessed with one of their offerings, it isn’t worth it for the beer selection.
Problem two — the food. The menu is pretty large, and I tried a few things, but nothing was even slightly above mediocre. In fact, the kitchen seemed pretty careless. A friend of mine ordered a plate of nachos, (yes, I know, it should be impossible to mess up nachos, but I’m going somewhere with this) and after eating the first couple chips on top she realized the layers underneath were all crumbs. It was so bad the only way to possibly eat the dish was with a fork. No one comes to the bar to share nacho crumbs with forks and spoons. So she politely told our waitress that the nachos were not what she expected, which brings me to problem three…
The service. It took ages to just get our waitress’s attention, and when she finally did come over she unenthusiastically told us she would see what she could do. She ended up comping a beer, which really didn’t make up for the $ 10 plate of messy crumbs. We got quite a few laughs out of it, but the whole experience definitely wasn’t worth the price.

Small & unappealing yet I’m a fan of 21^st Avenue Bar & Grill.
The roasted jalapeño & chicken macaroni ($ 13) was fantastic. It wasn’t my dish but I wish I had ordered this instead. I had a couple bites & was utterly amazed. Was it because I hadn’t eaten since breakfast & it was past 8pm when I tried this? Maybe, but highly unlikely. The crushed red pepper cream sauce & roasted jalapeño was a nice kick that I gladly accepted but then consuming mushrooms, onions, chicken, & bacon as well was just downright perfect.
The description for the B.L.A.S.T. sandwich ($ 12) sounded good but sadly it was disappointing. The majority of its flavor was avocado, which isn’t terrible, but when there’s bacon, tomato, swiss cheese, & dijon aioli, too, I want to taste it all. The tots weren’t dressed with fancy seasoning but they were still edible & just fine dipped in ketchup.
There’s a patio out back we didn’t get to since the first TV we looked up at upon entering was televising the Worlds Series. A couple of us ordered the Hurricane ($ 8) & the 21 Tuaca Smoothie ($ 7.50) which are sweet & dangerously good. During HH (M-​F 3pm-​6pm) all their signature cocktails are $ 6. There’s also a HH food menu with all items priced at $ 3.50 every day from 3pm-​6pm & 9pm-​midnight Sun-​Thur.
I’ve frequented here several times & have never dealt with bad service. It’s always been fast, efficient, & friendly. The drinks are great, the food portions are large, & even with my disappointing sandwich this time around I’ll still be back.