Kelly’s Olympian

Disclaimer: I just joined Unilocal and I’m catching up on my reviews!
Friend and I stopped by here to have a drink or two while we were waiting for our movie to start at Fox Tower (around April of 2014). It was during a lull, so that was nice also. Got what we came in for (: We didn’t have any food, just some mimosas and bloody Mary’s. Nothing negative to say about the place.

Wonderful & welcome to all! Best service industry discount in down town & it’s honored all the time! Restaurant workers, servers, bartenders, tattoo artists & military discounts!

For a place that boasts Americana on every inch of the walls, they sure have a crappy way of showing respect and integrity to the men and women that made this place called Portland Free.
I have visited this establishment numerous times, and every time I heard the gentleman that runs the place degrade and belittle down on there luck people which happen to be vets, and when told by patrons to take it easy, the man responds with «fuck em, I don’t give a shit about vets, or «them being Veterans, ain’t making me money». So yeah those kinda of remarks are horrible, and are disrespectful. The atmosphere and decorated walls are pretty cool to look at, and 90% of the bartenders are cool, but when the manager is there (or whatever his title is) it makes it all crummy.
There’s a little saying that goes «karma a bitch», and when you make your money by customers enjoyment and fulfillment, Then you really should
Recognize and respect people whether there in armani, or dirty dickies.

Kelly’s is, and will always be my downtown home. There are ridiculous rumors that they don’t respect veterans? They have veterans on their staff! These people are fantastic. Respectful. Kind. If someone shows up drunk or without a valid ID sure they will turn them away, because that is their job. This place is fantastic. Don’t listen to the hate.
Enough about that. Their prices rock, the service is with a smile, humour, and/​or sass. They rock here. Music some nights, great pours, good food. Just come here already! Good for dates or day drinking. Love them.

Came here last night with my girl friend.
First real bar I’ve been too since moving to the Portland area!
The atmosphere was great! Everyone was cheery, and thankfully there were no creepers like the usual bar atmosphere. The bartenders were super nice and attentive.
I had a Moscow Mule which I wasn’t too fond of; prefer when they make it in the copper cups. Then I tried a Mai Tai which was almost all liqueur no flavor. Then I asked for their sweetest drink and they gave me a pink drink with a lemon peel. It was great! Wish I had ordered those all along!
Will definitely be back!

Surprising on all accounts. Space is large, eclectic, and cozy. Good beer selection and plenty of cocktails. Quick bar-​only service. Good fried food, aka spicy cajun tots and mac & cheese balls. As with any dive bar, pretty nasty restroom with weird super low stall doors. Drunk girls beware the restroom!

Twenty incredible local beers on tap. Decades old Motorcycles hanging from the ceiling. Lots of motobilia on the walls. Glass never goes empty. Great bartenders. What a great place for a drink. Oh and 4 craft beer pints and a shot of buffalo trace…16 $.

When I’m in a new town, I tend to place bars and restaurants into two categories.
Category 1: Eh…
Category 2: Place is cool, but not a place I would frequent.
and,
Category 3: Fuck yeah! If I lived in this town this would be my spot.
Well, Kelly’s Olympian falls into category 3.
This would be my go to spot if I lived here.
It takes the best parts of a dive bar (cheep drinks, good food) and added the biker theme and lots of neon lights.
Ended up spending two nights in a row here to watch the Cubs defeat themselves out of the playoffs, but had a good time anyway.
Lots of local beers to try even though I opted for the shot of tequila and a Tecate $ 7 deal for one round.
Our group shared a plate of nachos which really hit the spot after spending all day walking around.
The bar tenders were all nice and fun to interact with.

Always meets expectations. Dropped in for breakfast on a Sunday at 11 am because all of the other near by joints had a twenty minute wait. Never had breakfast at Kelly’s before (mostly happy hour). They had an awesome standard affordable breakfast plate. They even had veggie sausage. It was a great calm and chill place to eat and imbibe before heading to a timbers game.

Quintessential dive bar. Cheap booze and bar food. Added bonus: They serve breakfast. Music at the right volume, lighting perfect. Service friendly on 2 consecutive visits. Very likable. Good chill space. Welcome relief to higher priced restaurants in the downtown hotel district.

Divey, bar eats, motorcycles above our heads, and some awkward interactions? Boom. Yes.
Came here on my first night in Portland with two friends. Basically came here on recommendation from our New Yorker turned Portland resident Über driver who reminded us why everything is so weird. We had no real luck roaming around the area as the night seemed to be super dead (Saturday Night, where was everyone?).
We got the chicken tenders, corn dogs, and tater tots. Pair that with some beers and we were zoned out and in love with everything. Definitely recommend if you’re all for divey and good priced drinks.

This place this awesome!!! Food is awesome had the French dip sandwhich just AWESOME!!! The staff is FRIENDLY!!! This my new home bar!!!

I’ve been a patron at Kelly’s for about as long as I’ve lived in Portland (almost two years) and I don’t really have anything negative to say about the place. It can become pretty packed during piqué hours (Their happy hour is from 4 – 7, and as far as my opinion goes, one of the best in Downtown Portland.) However, the bartenders handle the long lines like the epic spirit guides that they are. Stiff drinks, comfortable/​plentiful seating, dim/​decorative lighting and an eclectic playlist are key points to a great dive bar, and Kelly’s offers it all.
The bartenders are pretty legit (and professional badasses), but they won’t take your shit if you’re being an asshole. Kudos to them for tolerating my dedication to afternoon inebriation. This also goes for all the corporate 9−5ers with bloated senses of entitlement. for the love of all things holy, STOP blocking the middle of the walkway with half of your company’s employees and take the pretentious conversations elsewhere. (Preferably at a table. SITTING down. or at least out of my way as I’m trying to drown my sorrows. ;-))It’s bad enough that I have to stand in line next to you, and listen to you bitch about the need for cocktail servers when the bar gets too crowded. Like… This is isn’t The Departure. And thank the universe for that…
Okay, end rant. Kelly’s is my comfort zone. And when I’m drinking copious amounts of whisky, I enjoy being comfortable. (But hopefully not too comfortable.)

I love bars like these! It’s comfortable, decorated with lots of points of interest for conversation starters, and the taps on draft are meant to please any beer fan. The crowd was a mixed the night we were there (late Thursday night). Nonetheless, this place is awesome and the atmosphere is solid.

My second stop on my trip and the best one so far. Kelly’s is a huge bar with a great selection of drinks. They have a couple of cocktails on draft that rotates often. We got their grapefruit one that was so good and got an order of the Mini Corn Dogs. You can’t go wrong with corn dogs and the fries that came with them were really good. The bartenders here are hilarious and they obviously love what they do. Definitely a bar to check out.

Went here with a couple of work friends before a dinner and had a good time. It is a good divey bar and a good place to grab a couple beers. You have to order the drinks at the bar and there was plenty of seating through out the bar. For a dive bar this place was pretty clean or at least clean enough that you don’t have to shower from sitting at the bar. Maybe you will just need to shower based on the choices you made in the bar.
Overall good selection of booze and beer. I was drinking an IPA and my colleagues were drinking well drinks. They made them strong enough where you did not think they were weak. Granted they can always be stronger.

A dive bar that I can get behind! I had been drinking somewhat heavily by the time we got to Kelly’s, and splotchy memories make for a splotchy review, so bare with me:
Neon! And mirror! And frickin’ motorcycles hanging from the ceiling! This place has one hell of an aesthetic. On our weeknight visit the looooooong bar was sparsely populated by who I can only assume were regulars, but we beelined for the back corner, with curved red pleather banquette booths that felt like the «champagne room» in some sort of cheesy strip club. But instead, it was just a really comfy and casual spot for our group to mingle.
Drinks are cheap, as they should be. The selection of beers is smallish, but they have a number of local offerings. The music was decent, and the DJ was definitely a character. He had some sort of nerd-​chic thing going on, but his selections were alright, so whatever.
The bartender yelled at me for something that wasn’t my fault. She later apologized. We’re all good now.
I’ve never been a huge dive bar fan b/​c I feel like too often they teeter the line between casual and dirty, but this place didn’t have that issue at all. It’s well maintained, clean and professionally ran. I’ll be back, hopefully with more of my mental capacities intact.

Say what you will about Kelly’s Olympian, but this dive’s fried mac and cheese bites came into my life at really crucial time.
You see, I’ve been going through some stuff… and that stuff was maybe too much beer at the strip club we’d hit up before Kelly’s Olympian. So I needed those mac and cheese bites like the a rap video needs a gaggle of hot chicks and Kelly’s Olympian really delivered. They were ridic delicious. Like whoa.
Beer selection was good, Japanese music video playing on the tv screens made it better, and even the cup of sauce (hickory ketchup?) I took of shot of was pretty close to Michelin-​worthy… at least after that last beer.
I dig.

Upscale dive bar, and when I say bar, it s one of the longest on the west coast. Classic shot gun bar. I love their choice of tunes, a mix of 60’s pop, Motown, soul and rock. The sound is also very good.
The bartenders were efficient, but droll and not especially friendly. Nice mixed age crowd and I love the signage and neon.

I discovered Kelly’s when I moved to town. Went here for a date or two, and then with friends. I always remembered it very fondly, and remembered the awesome gear ashtrays that they no longer have. They probably all got stolen.
So I like this place, i like the look and the feel. I feel comfortable here and seems like most folks would. There’s a bank of video poker in the back that’s easily ignorable. We had fried mac & cheese balls — crunchy fried goodness cooked in fresh grease. The fries were average and the hot dog bites pretty good. So ambiance is a 4, food is a 3.75, happy hour options/​prices 4.5 but the problem I had was with the booze. A rare complaint will you hear from my lips as regards alcohol.
So we ordered a whiskey and coke — a cheap $ 3 at happy hour. Blahhhh — that was so bad! Neither of us could stand it — we were beyond nursing, we were doctoring. I finally gave in to the drink and asked the nice bartender to try it. He had the same reaction and said that he thought the soda was flat. Problem solved. He brought me something else. But my friend is the shy type and she agreed the drink was bad but said she wasn’t going to complain. So he left her with her disgusting drink. I got a vodka, pineapple and a splash of cranberry (the Dreajane) and it was also horrendous. Crappy booze is one thing — and a thing I am used to. But if you make a drink with the worst drek of juice products then your drink will never be good. I have encountered this at Montvilla station and a couple other joints around town.
So I want want want to give this place 4 stars. But I have to give the whole drink situation and bartender handling of said situation about a 1. I’ll go back sometime and see if I can’t turn that up a star!