Black Book

«Last night a dj saved my life»! How this place wasn’t packed on a Saturday night… I do not know! If you like hip hop and wanna dance and get faded with some cool folks… Come to Blackbook! Being that I’m from the Bay Area and hip hop clubs/​bars are the main nightlife entertainment, I must say this place brought some «home» to me. They had DJ RoninRoc and he definitely was a good time. No wait outside, no wait for drinks and service on point. Plenty of tables to sit at and even the bathroom was cleaner than the strip joint! I will definitely be bringing myself and friends back her for some fun!

I went here and it was completely dead except for a DJ and his friend. I was dancing and having a good time, tried to converse with the DJ. He was nice but his friend had me kicked out, something about me calling him a silver back gorilla. Are you kidding? Oh my goodness, I think maybe these guys just wanted to hang out alone– if that’s the case don’t go out. Bad service, and security kicked me based on here-​say. I had to rush to finish my drink… Weird.

Great music, cheap drinks & good atmosphere! I recommend be there before 11 to get in!

The bartender had very bad customer service! If u don’t know how to make a drink then just suggest another beverage in stead of saying u have be another person to help. I found that very disrespectful! I feel that his service can be better but then again he may have been having a bad night. None the less he shouldn’t express his feelings towards the customers! I will not go back for the bartender but the music was good :)

If you’re looking for good hiphop, Blackbook is the place to go. It’s a fairly small club right next door to Tube and the demographic can best be described as Portland’s trendy and underground creatives. Blackbook is pretty small with a capacity of around 49 so expect long waits on weekends after 11:30 PM. Great music, bartenders and bouncers though.

Pretentious and music was mediocre. The bouncer kept people waiting for the sake of creating the impression that there was a line to get into the place — when in fact it was almost empty.

Ohhh snapppp! My friend and I were at Stumptown a few blocks down on a Thursday afternoon. They were playing some good hip hop music in the background. We approached the DJ and asked if he knew of any places near by that play music like this. He suggested Black Book or Tube, so the next night (Friday) we rolled up after dinner. Both places charge cover, but Black Book wasn’t doing so when we got there (a little before 10pm — we were in the area!). Since we got there so early, of course it was dead, but damn the DJ was playing so real hip hop music, it was «dope» — i don’t say that word, but it seems to fit well in my description.
So the bar tender made me a special drink — told him something fruity and it was really good! $ 14 for 2 cocktails, not bad. The music just got doper… forreal…extremely legit hip hop. There was this guy who just moved to Portland from Houston and was soooo into it. Crowd was going wild. We stepped out to go to a different bar, but eventually came back because the line got long and it seemed like that was the place we fit in the most. We got a stamp to come back, that’s always a treat. Enjoyed myself!
Please note that this place is a little small. No one was really dancing, they were just feeling the music.

This place tends to draw a decent line on the weekends, largely because it’s so small inside. It may or may not be worth it, depending on what you’re looking for. But I seriously dig the tunes here. Finally a club without mostly edm/​tech/​pop hits stuff. I have to say too, the drinks are cheap and the bouncers are quite nice. From what I witnessed, they respect their patrons and play relatively fair… it’s always a given that if you’re willing to slip some cash you can skip the line.

If you like the style of the Tube, you will like Black Book. Small but never too crowded. The music is always amazing and the bar tenders are super friendly. A great place to dance without feeling dirty. Love this place. A gem in the grime of China Town.

I’m officially deeming this bar as thee spot for fat hip hop and trap beats any day of the week… and I actually think it’s a great spot for dancing *thumbs up* line is out the door on the weekends but it is with good reason

Cool bar, just opened. Modern and cozy décor, good lighting. Compact layout, does not feel empty early on, but enough space for a fun crowd. The night we went, the owner was bartending. Solid selection of cocktails: classics and things I have never heard of. None of the cocktails were extravagant to the point of being annoying. Not too expensive either. They also has some food you could buy, but selection is very limited (quiche and cake the night we went).
A fun band was playing. The only downside with them is that they were TOO LOUD. turn it down. We left in a hurry, unable to communicate and fearing damage to our ears. But I hope that was just a fluke.
Best of luck to this new spot.