Apex Bar

This is the first review I’ve ever written on Unilocal.I felt compelled to alert people of the absolutely rude and horrible service from the staff at this bar. We were overly nice to the bartenders and were met with rude comments and a sense of annoyance that we were even there. Don’t go to this bar. They’re assholes.

Had 3 bartenders tell me I should read the board instead of asking. I’m blind. I wear dark glasses to hide my disfigurement.

Ridiculously great beer selection. Casual atmosphere. Plenty of seating inside and out. You are welcome to bring food in. I recommend Los Gorditos next door, burritos the size of your head!
Staff is knowledgeable. Cash Only. Fresh Beer. Usually carry the latest, most exclusive beers if you’re looking for a hard to find beer like Pliny the Elder for instance.
Good, natural lighting and pinball. Fun meet the brewer/​beer events, too.

Great beer selection. Staff friendliness level is. well, that’s unimportant really.
Cash only so that’s a pain.

It’s a beer bar. That’s all. They have good beer. All kinds of beer. The even publish a bible of all the beer the have. And the even have more in bottles. All In coolers in the back just in case you can’t find what you are looking for. Oh, it’s cash only?
I had a really good bourbon barrel stout. Very nice. Now I have very complex porter. Also very nice. This is a local hangout bar and in good weather they have a big patio.
Look around and the have one tv playing some old movie from the 60 s. They also have pinball machines. Wow, exciting huh?
Food? Order food from nearby restaurants and go get it and bring it in. Wow, that’s great too, eh?
Did I mention they have a lot of different beer? I mean lots and lots of beer of different types. Two stars for lots of beer.
Drink up me harties.

Not sure why it’s not 4 stars. Listen, go in there with cash ready. Don’t go up to the fucking bar until you make your decision and be confident in what you order. They only have an attitude when you act like a fucking jackass when you try to order a beer. They have a great big screen live beer list and the list is stellar. Just know what you are doing.

Love this place! Owner is awesome and service is top notch. Total Portland establishment!

Cash only. Kind of cheap of the owners. Taps need to be cleaned. Over priced. Very sterile environment. Not a Portland kind of place. Thought it sucked.

Literally the worst customer service I have ever experienced. Change machine broke and the bartender gave me attitude for a solid 15 minutes about fixing it. Refused to give me $ 0.50 out of the register to amend the situation. Left before they fixed the situation and the bartender came outside and cursed at us as we drove away. Horribly rude and stole my money. Could never recommend this place to anyone.

This place was dead on a Saturday night. Rude service from a blonde behind the bar. The draughts were really old too :-/​it made a dipa taste super malty. My overall experience was awful and I honestly felt like I wasted my time here.
Would not recommend to anyone. Ever again.

It’s ok. Very good beer selection. Atmosphere is fine, deck looks decent but it would need to be dry and not during rush hour. I found the service was limited and unfriendly. No smiles, no acknowledgment of what you ask for. May be it was an off night but I feel staff can set the tone for the life of the bar and wasn’t impressed with «meh» as their setting.
Prices were fine, avoid the horrible Mexican food next door.

The beer selection has clearly been chosen with care. The music is basically a copy of my playlist at home. The movies they play on the one screen above the best are entertaining. I’ve found the bartenders to be polite and attentive enough to satisfy my need as a bar patron.
No, it’s not a pretentious and trendy joint. A bar designed by true beer lovers for true beer lovers. Plain and simple.
This place is awesome. I will be back again and again. My only negative would be the bathrooms. Ladies would want to hover over the loo. Oh well, it’s a beer bar. Love it here, end of story.
Ps– love to grab biscuits from pine state and bring em in for snack while we drink the fine beers on tap.

Dropped in with some coworkers. I no longer drink alcohol but can appreciate a nice watering hole. They had a large variety of taps and some of my old favorites were on tap including the Samoan Coconut (or a variety of such.) They have everything from IPA’s to the new popular Sour Beers. The bartender was extremely nice and knowledgable. There is seating outside so on a mild Portland evening its a great place to hangout. Its also next door to Los Gorditos so you can get a killer burrito and a pint. If you are in the Division area and need a quick brew check out Apex Bar!

As a woman, this is not a place that would get my money. When you do not care about the harassment and threats of sexual assault on your patrons and your go to is to victim blame, why would I feel safe or encourage others to give money to your establishment? Tip: every woman for themselves, bring your pepper spray.
There are plenty of other bars in SE.

Apathetic Apex, it’s not for everyone but I just love it!
There’s something almost nostalgic for this type of place. Where else but SE PDX do you find the ultimate beer bar that has just the right amount of «screw you pal» to make you feel welcome and warm. Service is good but be careful how you frame a question, you may get a smart response, and don’t be surprised if you hear servers use the «F» word in place of a noun.
This place is unique, and very smartly laid out. Set in an old garage type building, it’s like stepping into a 1940’s era bicyce shop, with classic metal posters, ads, and even a beautiful old bike hanging from the ceiling. The double doors open to the outside, and there you have a mass of basic picnic tables that make for long summer nights, and bundled up locals for winter.
They have an amazing selection of beers, both bottled and on tap to make your heart flutter, your head ache, and face flushed by the time you leave. They do not mess around, and that’s an understatement. There are at least 300 choices altogether, and they have a huge reader board for beer listings and prices. I like that, I like that a lot. There’s some really special items here, like Underberg, a little bottle of herbal German apertiff drunk after meals.
Negatives? Well, don’t expect a lot of smiles and charm. This is not the Peal District and you will not be getting a fake «tip me more» grin. It’s loud, it’s fun, and you get to try beers that you won’t find anywhere. Would I take a date here, hell no! Would I meet here with some buddies and beer it up, you betcha!
It’s cash only, with no apologies. Totally crazy in this day and age, but they seem to get away with it. It’s a busy place, and cash only makes it more efficient for the bar staff, but you just cannot do that when you have groups of people out on the town.
Food is also an issue here. There isn’t any! They freely invite you to grab a to go container and bring it in from the local restaurants next door. They’ve managed this long, but I would like to see the pinball room next door disappear and put in a small basic kitchen with some basic food items. People would stay longer, order more beers, and you’d have a more well rounded pub. Kitchens aren’t cheap, but you don’t need to go overboard. Just some old fashioned bar snacks, simple sandwiches, and a couple salads would suffice.
Overall, I’m just amazed by this place. It reminds me why I love this city so much. Where else do I go and see two drunken girls downing pints going over wedding dresses on a laptop?
Apex doesn’t care if I don’t ever come back but for some reason that’s why I’ll be back.

Came here right when they opened to get our first taste of Pliny the Elder and Blind Pig since Russian River doesn’t distribute anywhere near us at home.
No complaints; it was literally 11:30AM so as you’d expect the place was empty; the seating outside looked nice and they had a really cool old cash register behind the bar.
Not sure if this would be my «scene» for Happy Hour or a busy weekend night but it served our purpose when we stopped in!

Where to start… this place is freakin’ awesome. The draft and bottle listing are ridiculous (and super sexy), and is easily accessible on the website too. Frankly, after moving here from California, I have been on the search for a certain beer (which I won’t mention on here to keep the attention off it) but I was incredibly surprised to see it on the list… that is until I walked into the pub and saw their drool inducing selection. The pub hasn’t been completely overrun with hipsters and pretentious beer snobs either, which is a major plus. Bar staff is very knowledgeable with regards to their selection and were fun to talk with. Prices range is super wide and you can get as fancy with your buzz as desired.
The main downside is mentioned across most other reviews: cash only. I guess it’s natural to want to find ways to shelter some income from the man, but it’s incredibly inconvenient for the 90% of us who likely NEVER, EVER, carry cash. The only thing that helps this a bit is the in-​house ATM with a $ 3.00 service fee attached to it (equivalent of going to the bathroom only to return to find you buddy drank 60% of your first pint). The death metal was not particularly awesome but I am willing to brush it aside for now. There is also a nice outdoor area for congregating with few people. «I’ll be back.» Cheers!

Impressive beer selection. We stumbled in here about six months ago and found our favorite pinball game that we rarely see out anymore… Junk Yard. Junk Yard Dog rules!
Found ourselves over on Division today and said «let’s go play Junk Yard!».
There is a bouncer checking ID to walk in the huge patio. Seemed a little odd but I guess it’s a 21+ place and maybe a big party spot?
Ordered an IPA on nitro — heck yeah that’s a treat. And got quarters from the change machine. Oh no! No Junk Yard… bummer! I feel like this game is like Zoltaire or something it doesn’t stay in one place very long.
We played another game which was entertaining— looked up where to find junk yard I know it’s out there and I might have to track it down. It’s more fun to stumble upon it though :)
Neat spot here at Apex that I would probably frequent more if I lived closer. Maybe try the tacos from the joint next door too.

Cash bar. That’s the most important thing to remember.
Lots of beer.
Metal.
Patio.
Great place to meet friends on a Friday night.
Want to try something new? Peruse the bottle list. I like going with friends and sharing a few bottles. You can spend $ 5 or $ 50. It’s entirely up to you.

50 Beers on tap. Great selection. They do overcharge. Cash Only establishment. Every Feb they get Pliny the Younger which is awesome. PtE seems to be always on tap here. Aight spot
Parvis the Medious (PtM)