Hal’s Tavern

Dive bar… essence are the cheap strong drink apx. $ 5. Shuffle board is the highlight and two large screen tvs so we entertained ourselves with the Olympics and competitive shuffle board with the regulars. Food looks scary fried.

Good dive bar with an AWESOME shuffle board. I haven’t eaten the food so I can’t comment on that but the drinks are cheap and strong. The butch bartender is funny, nice, and efficient. They have karoke one night a week.

Can this woman hold down a bar or what?! Came in near midnight on a Friday night and it was busy with locals or not so locals and the barkeep was definitely holding down the fort. Extremely friendly, but I’m sure if you got on her bad side it’d be the end of you.
Drinks were made perfectly and quickly available after request. Seats are plentiful and entertainment can be as great as you want it to be.
Shuffle board, big game hunter, pool, board games, AND karaōke?! What more can you ask from such an awesome dive bar? I’ll be back, but when I feel like exploring the local joints without driving because man… Those drinks can get ya good.

The only reason i gave up the three star is A. This place is like two blocks from my house and B. They have a nice shuffleboard table. Besides that this place is just like your typical dive bar with the exception of the fact most of the patrons are well into their 60’s. Beverages are averagely priced and the food, well the food i have seen so far is definitely fried to perfection. The shuffleboard table is the looming beast of the joint as it is the first thing you see as you walk in and dominates most of the floor space around the bar, if you are trying to play i recommend you get there early during the day or sunday evening or you have no chance to play as the table is most likely taken over by a group a dudes that look like they should be working the docks on the jersey shore. all in all if your in the buckman area and want a place to pre drink before going out on the town this is the place

the new owners, hugely expanded bar, awesome bartender, still free (sometimes) shuffleboard, the same regulars (mostly drunk, always hiliarious), stiff drinks and cheap as shit prices deserve a 5 star update.
5 star update.

They still sell Cheetos, but now they serve food as well. They still have the shuffleboard. They still have «full of characters customers». It still smells a bit funky in there.
However, the new ownership changed this place for the better. Now, they have flat screen TVs. They made really good potato salad. It doesn’t taste like Reeser’s so the only other guess is that it’s homemade.
They grilled perfectly seasoned and lean Beef Ribs. Add to that some Baked Beans. You will get all of that for $ 6.95. During Happy Hour, their well drinks are $ 3 and they are pretty well made.
The bartender was super nice and quirky. I must say, this is a really nice upgrade from the old Hal. It’s still a dive bar… a homey neighborhood dive bar. Where if they see you often enough, they will know your name or even write your name in the bathroom stalls.
Just for that, you earned three additional stars from me. Ooh, look at you four stars dive!

A bar in my neighborhood that I had never been to before this evening. I’m sad to say that I wish I had been here before the renovations. I don’t know this for a fact, but I’m guessing this bar didn’t always have flat screen TV’s showing sports.
This doesn’t seem like it should be a sports bar, but apparently that is what it has become. That is upsetting. The times I used to walk by this place, months and years ago, it just seemed like a neighborhood bar with some eclectic character’s inside. Not sure that is the case anymore.
The bartender was friendly. This is a good thing. There was inexpensive beer to be imbibed. Definitely an important thing in these times, but the TV’s distracted too much. I like sports, but I also like bars that don’t have TV’s. I have a TV at home. I don’t necessarily need one at the bar.
Anyway, I’m still searching for my neighborhood bar. Not saying I won’t go to Hal’s again. Just thinking that my search is still on.

This little gem is right down the street from me. My friends and I have become regulars for 2 reasons. First, they have shuffleboard, so it’s a great place to start our evening. Secondly, they have insanely strong drinks. You know how most bars fill your cup with ice before making your drink? Not at Hal’s. You get 4 ice cubes max. It’s quite a value.
Now it’s definitely filthy and filled with a sketchy crowd. But hey, the drinks are such a great deal and there’s no line to wait in. So on my way to a more crowded/​expensive bar, I like to stop and save myself a little time and money.
I’ve found that in my neighborhood a great/​trashy evening can be made from the following: drinks at Hal’s on the way to Holocene for some dancing, followed by a stop at Sassy’s and finally ending with some Potato Champion goodness. Try it if you dare.

Describing Hal’s is like describing a bowel movement to your coworkers: They won’t really be able to picture it, but they’ll still be grossed out by the prospect.
So anyway, picture this: Hal’s is full of people just like me — if I had been born thirty years earlier, and instead of going to college I went and pulled green chain at the mill in Woodburn, then got laid off when the timber industry fell apart, then signed up for unemployment and moved into a grubby one-​bedroom in lower SE to live out my days in a drunken stupor.
It ain’t Holoscene. It ain’t pretty. And you’re probably going to get hit on by an old guy with questionable dental hygiene habits.
But let’s face facts: You’re beyond wasted, you’re lonely, and you have nowhere else to go.

I know it’s just a dingy, dive neighborhood bar, but I gotta say, I had a great time here 2 days in a row during my vacation in Portland this year. Why did I spend so much time there? It happens to be in my friend’s neighborhood, and during the daytime the shuffle board was available. Cheap beer, a good jukebox, what the heck? Nice way to kill a couple of hours and get a little local flava, Portland style.

i don’t like drinking at Hals, but my friends do. i like drinking (its called alcoholism in some states) and i like my friends, so i will probably drink at Hals again.
a $ 1 tip for 1 drink is reasonable, but it is okay to tip $ 2 or $ 3 for 1 drink. talk to the regulars, they look lonely and alcoholic.
they have Cider here. i heard it was called ‘Hard Cider before. i like to drink Cider sometimes.

another dooz!
the regulars rule at hal’s.
there’s often nowhere to sit, but people are nice, and it is likely that you’ll be purchased a drink, should you choose to accept it (um, accept it), and if you’re real lucky, you’ll be invited «out back» (that one’s up to you).
oh, and the shuffleboard reigns supreme.

This place, like most, has its ups and downs. On the upside, they have shuffleboard and relatively cheap beer and booze prices. On the downside, they have no girls. The clientele is made up of the regulars who’ve been there since noon, and smell like it, or those souls who’re already hammered and just want a place to play shuffleboard and have a couple more pitchers of cheap beer. It’s perpetually smokey, but mellow when you just want to play a little pool with the boys. If you’re a girl, prepare to be hit on since you’ll more than likely be the only one the clientele have seen all day.