Korkage Wine Bar & Shop

Great service and it goes without saying the wine selection was above average. We did shared plates and everyone really enjoyed it.

Sadly they are closing! But we went in and got a couple bottles. They have a lot of bottles from the US. I was expecting to see more Malbecs from Argentina, but they didn’t (perhaps because of the close). Nevertheless, it was a very good visit.

My wife and I really enjoyed the Papperdelle and Cauliflower Salad. The Papperdelle has so many amazing flavors but watch out for the dressing in the salad a bit spicy but tasty. Elija G was our server and he’s very professional and enjoyable. Strawberry Rhubarb pie was incredible!!! We will be back. Visited on 5÷3÷14 5pm.

Worst service ever, food is terrible and the Portland Dining month «deal»
Is a rip off. Avoid!

We enjoyed the food we had here (the lamb slider was delicious), and the wine selection for drinking by the glass was fairly good. Overall I’d say the experience was fine, but I won’t rush to come back, based on comparing the place to other wine bars in town such as Bar Avignon.
The main downsides with Korkage are the very slow service and the lack of charm to the interior – it has the feel of a strip mall café in terms of the seating, tables, etc.

I walked in here to browse for a gift for my parents. The employees are extremely rude. They literally made me not want to ever come back. Terrible business. Save your money and shop elsewhere.

Before I post a negative review, I usually wait a few days to see if the feelings of dissatisfaction peter out, or if they continue to simmer. I waited; it simmered. So here I am.
My hubby and I were excited to try Korkage during Portland Dining Month. Portland Dining Month is an exciting time — a chance to try restaurants who have set a special menu of 3 courses for $ 29, under the assumption that you’re getting a «deal» that normally isn’t offered. Not until it was too late did I realize that if I had ordered the Portland Dining Month options separately off of the regular menu at Korkage, the total would have been $ 22 versus $ 29!!! So what was the benefit of ordering the special menu? Well, per Korkage’s menu posted on the Portland Dining Month website: «Each selection is accompanied by a wine pairing».
My first course, some undercooked Brussels sprouts, came out without the wine pairing. I (along with the table behind me who were also ordering off the Portland Dining Month menu) had to ASK «isn’t this supposed to come with a glass of wine?». «Oh yes», was the reply from our waitress, «let me go get that for you, but it’s really more of a taste». So eventually I get my tiny taste of wine well after I had finished the first course. Reading the description I noted above, wouldn’t you assume that a GLASS of wine was being included with each course?
Along comes the second course, a very bland cassoulet. I had to ask for salt and pepper since there was none on the table. Eventually my wine «taste» came out for this dish as well. The last course was crème brûlée and was quite good.
My husband ordered off the regular menu: two sliders, fried chicken, and a side of macaroni and cheese. Instead of fried chicken, the waitress brought out pâté. Um, ok… when he said he didn’t order pâté, she said she must have somehow misheard him and that he could have the pâté on the house. But guess what was on our bill at the end of this experience? The pâté. And guess what never did come? The fried chicken.
This entire experience took 2 hours. During one of the long waits in between «courses», I asked our waitress «So, is tonight busier than usual?» and she replied «No, we’re actually quite slow tonight.» which was shocking to say the least. We left feeling exhausted, unsatisfied, and frankly, a bit cheated.
It pains me to leave such a negative review for an independent business. If all of these troubles were just a crazy fluke and totally out of character for this place, I hope at least for Portland Dining Month next year that Korkage reviews their offerings to ensure that the customer is not being misled.

Great vibe, fantastic wine selection and reasonable prices.
If you love good food, wine and live music this is the best thing happening on the west side of downtown.
We did the March Portland 3 course dining and the food was great! The portions are smaller than the main menu and the wine pairings are about 2 ounces. Definitely, in hind sight we should have stuck to the main menu with a bottle of wine for far better value. Food was solid, inventive and our favorites, were the shrimp and grits, brussle sprout bacon salad and all deserts were awesome. The pairings were fairly average, but it was fun to try some new wine and they paired well with said courses.
Their wall of wine is fantastic! Some well known to the obscure producers with a focus on PNW but plenty of Italian, French, Spanish to please any wine geek. Their pricing is a few bucks above retail and for $ 10 corkage fee you can have it with dinner. This makes them very competitive when looking at many other restaurants in the Portland metro who serve small plates with wine as the focus.
We had ok service, he was a bit abrupt and seemed to be having a melancholy day… The atmosphere is clean, minimalistic, could use candles on the tables during dinner service and a bit of art or décor. Considering they are still new to this location I’m certain it’s to come.
The soft guitar musician was a nice touch. If more places modeled themselves after Korkage, they would be swamped.
Great date night place! We can’t wait to go back!

Love Korkage
Owners are awesome wine is great!

I’ve only been here for brunch, so can’t really review this place on its core business as a wine bar, but brunch was pretty off. Service was so-​so, food read loftier on menu but was just passable.

Came on a Tuesday night to a half full room. Started with a glass of Sangiovese that was thin and fruity. Next to the white bean hummus with crostini. This was tasty but not particularly special. I then tried the food/​wine flight-​ham hock rilette with dolcetto, truffle Mac and cheese with Nebbiolo and peanut butter pie with vin santo. The truffle Mac and cheese was worthy but at $ 12 keep in mind that this is a small portion for both food and wine. The balsamic asparagus with Parmesan was also a winner. Service was polite but slow. Wine prices (as far as buying a bottle to take home) are higher than other locations, but I am guessing that is how they offset the cost of the kitchen. With so many restaurants and wine shops in Portland, this one ends up fairly low on my list.

I was first able to visit Korkage at it’s old location. I really enjoyed it then, so you can only imagine how much I love it now with it’s new location.
I’ve had a chance to have dinner twice now at the newer, larger location and have had a great experience each time. Not only has the food exceeded my expectations (I’m seriously in love with the lamb sliders), but the staff are really knowledgeable and friendly. I also love that they feature a lot of boutique and smaller wine producers, each time I go I feel like I’ve been able to try a new winery from the area which is great. The only downside is that sometimes the wine flights on Thursdays can be realllllly slow (you’ll wait between tastes for a very long time) or the music can be realllllly loud. But otherwise, the overall experience here is so great!

My Son and I came here for Sunday Brunch at his insistence. He’s been here several times before with his Mom and apparently his Nephew’s Friend’s Dad is a cook here.
We were seated quickly and both ordered a breakfast dish with asparagus & poached eggs in mornay sause, with home fries. It was delicious and at a very reasonable price. At the same time, I thought that the length of time between our order and the food being served was a bit slow. Great food and «OK» service is usually a 4 Star experience for me, but the Kid wanted me to bump up the rating. Plus, I’m also mindful of one particularly snarkey 1 Star «Revenge Review» that appeared on this page back in September.
One nice bonus at Korkage is that they have a very nice wine selection, including a sales area near the back. And since I was heading off to San Diego the next day on a business trip, I found a couple of nice small aluminum wine bottles for my Monday and Tuesday evenings in the Hotel (watching The Voice). Cheers!

If giving an honest review, I’d stick with a 4 star for great food, good wine, reasonable prices, and a good atmosphere, with a minus for service, as noted in the «worst case» review a few below mine. Instead I’ll give them a five to outweigh the unecessarily negative review below by the guy with the kids. Come on, man, these folks just don’t want to lose their liquor license to an OLCC sting — no need to get preachy about the kid thing.
My impression is that they were surprised by the popularity vs. their old location across the street and that there have been some growing pains, especially w/​mixed service quality. For anyone who has ever been to newly opened restaurants, this is to be expected.
So let’s assume they can fix that and focus on the positives that make this well worth a visit:
1) Great Food — I especially liked the cajun fries, although everything we had was great
2) Great Wine — It’s also a wine shop, the selection is incredible
3) Reasonable prices — $ 10 generous flights of good wine? Yes, please.
4) Good music — there’s been very good music that doesn’t overwhelm conversation every time we’ve been there.
So, in my humble opinion, it’s a great neighborhood place and worth the trip from farther afield if you are a wine-​o. Errrr… Wine aficionado.

I’d sum up Korkage as generous servings and unpretentious. We went on a Saturday night — it was already hopping at 6PM, and some folks kindly made space for us at the bar. Sound levels were surprisingly manageable given the number of people in there, and the music was at a good level to still allow conversation.
Not being sure of the portion sizes, we ordered a variety of food — the beet salad (full size), the seared tuna (full size), and 2 sliders (BBQ beef and lamb). I had the flight of wine — $ 10, sampling 5 different wines for this evening, and thought it was totally worth it, as I like trying a variety but I’m a huge lightweight. The seared tuna was very tasty (and truly seared, not cooked all the way through). The beet salad was huge, dressing was nicely done — the only thing that would have added to the salad for me would be something crunchy — maybe some walnuts or pecans or toasted almonds. the sliders were more on the small side, but at that point we were getting pretty full anyway. Which did NOT stop us from splitting a crème brûlée — nicely creamy, though I’d maybe caramelize the sugar on the top a hair less, that didn’t stop me from bolting down my share.
The wines in the flight were all very drinkable. I would happily have taken a bottle or two home if I didn’t already have too many that aren’t getting consumed (re: lightweight). I’d love to be able to take a cheat sheet of the flights home to remember them (I’ll take a photo next time, and take some notes). We’ll definitely be back for more! Thanks Chef Earl!

Wow, really surprised to see the negative reviews. The new location for Korkage is just what Chef Earl and Hillsdale needed. This was our third time back since the move. The menu is small but has a good variety if you are looking for a nice glass of wine and a lite meal. The roasted asparagus with parmesan and the salami with goat cheese flat bread are my favorites. The service has always been good. The gentleman that served us seemed quite knowledgeable about the wine. It is loud, but they are currently working on the acoustics of the space.

Wife and kids and I went here on a spur of the moment decision tonight to grab a bite and glass of wine, or two. I had recalled when walking by last week the note on the front door said minors welcome until 8:30, it was 7:15. We approached the entryway and noticed a nice looking family sitting enjoying the end of their meal with their son, maybe 4 or 5 years old, cool, looked good. The manager came to us and said sorry no children after 7:00. «your sign says minors until 8:30 «I pointed out. He turns to go to the back of the restaurant and apparently speaks to the owner who I see imply «no». According to the manager if kids are «seated» by 7:00 then fine, 7:15 no go. He then says «you should have come by 7:00», really? As we stood there dumbfounded there was a four top table un-​occupied where we would have easily dropped 50 – 75 bones,
I also gotta comment on those hideous glasses, I saw those clunkers and was suspect before the aforementioned experience. For a wine bar in a decent hood I’d expect some care and thought given to this piece.
Sorry fellas, once bitten twice shy.

I love this place! So cozy with great music. The staff is really nice and not snobby at all (even if you aren’t super savvy about wine). Plus, it’s really affordable. All around great place. :)

Visited for Happy Hour last Thursday. Live nearby but had never stopped in. Walked in and music — live acoustic guitar — was going and it was quite loud. It was also quite busy — people at every one of the tables in the main space. The bar had one person on every other stool making it hard to sit next to each other. And, a couple of those people were not smelling too pleasant !
Felt like we couldn’t talk/​chat effectively at the very front table, so we went outside to the picnic tables. Good news is that there is additional seating; bad news is that it’s on picnic tables that need to be refinished, with a view of the trash cans and the next door doggie day care/vet’s dog run.
After the bar cleared out some, we got to sit back indoors and the person pouring our tasting was really nice, cool and definitely was into his wines! Basically rescued the venue for us, thanks !
Suggestions: something to go with the cheese that is gluten-​free would be great. Consider the volume of the guitar.

I’ve been saying to myself, I’ve got to get over to this wine shop, it’s so close and why don’t I stop. Well, you know how that goes.
We stopped in here because we belong to the Naked Winery, wine club. The Naked Winery as you may or may not know is in Hood River and you can choose to have it shipped or in recent months they have had «pick up parties» (that could have a dual meaning I guess) at local establishments. This was too close to ignore and we went by. They offered a free tasting to wine club members and if you just happened in then it was $ 10 for six tastes of their various naughty named wines. We picked up a bottle of Climax as well as one other in our shipment.
The Korkage Wine Bar has various Oregon wines. A good selection of southern Oregon wines as well as items from the Dundee hills.
It’s a small place but comfortable. Two tables, a bar and a leather couch and two comfy chairs is all this small space can boast. Therefore, a wine pick up party we drank got our wine and got out as there was no where to stand.
Thursday nights they have local bands which might be kind of fun, however, with the space challenge this place has it might be a little congested. I would give it a try, however.
I’ll be back when there’s a bit more room to move around. Looks like a great hang out.