Marathon Taverna

Christmas Eve, in a group with probably 25% of the entire population of this college/​timbers/​old dive bar and the guy who checks ID’s comes up to us and says were being too loud and need to quiet down. Little does this gentleman know that I’m completely sober and am very aware that everyone around us was being a ⁶⁄₁₀ at best on excitement or noise. Be that as it may, ITS FUCKING CHRISTMAS EVE AND WERE A LARGE PORTION OF YOUR ENTIRE BUSINESS TONIGHT.

A friend from the East Coast who lives on the «Rose City’s» East Side wanted to get lunch. I actually wanted to go to Pambiche … again. I love Greek food, but I have been looking for a reason to go back to Pambiche for Cuban food.
I knew Marathon Taverna has been here for an eternity and didn’t know what it entailed. I figured it would be «Northwest-​y» as opposed to Inner S.E. or NoPo like because it sits between the Pearl District and upmarket Jim Fisher Volvo.
Let me move over to numbers. It’s easier.
4 stars — The gyro was filling because it was a good sized gyro and the contents were good
4 stars — The price of the gyro was reasonable.
3 stars — No Greek styled potato wedges, so you can choose fries, tater tots, cole slaw, or a side salad but, hey, tater tots are cool.
2 stars — There was an almost imperceptible huff or wry look that we didn’t order alcohol (lower price = less tip … who knows?) and rarely have I been in a place nowadays where they don’t refill soft drinks.
1 star — Where exactly does their patronage come from, being right there near NW 23^rd? The door was held open for a slight bit longer to allow for closing umbrellas, and the folks at the bar grumbled stuff to the tune of ‘shut the (fucking) door.’ Nice.
1 star — It’s depressing and worn once inside, true to its genre.
1 star — As you walk in, there is a rickety box, or a pulpit, to your left for a security person (bouncer) and such a person is there during the daytime hours as well. Now I haven’t seen that in a long time. Again, nice.
Two stars for Marathon Taverna. I might just get the gyro to go if near here in the future and sit on a bench somewhere and eat it. For Greek fare, I’d take Mad Greek Deli East for a more casual ambiance and Alexis for a restaurant ambiance, both of which got 3 stars from me.

I had the worst experience ever at this bar

Horrible bouncer! At 5:30pm on September 13^th the bouncer at the door denied our service animal and denied our paperwork. He obviously did not know he was breaking federal law and then got alpha male with us when we mentioned he was doing something illegal.
It is managements responsibility to train their employees properly.
We were humiliated and will discuss this matter with our attorney.
He should be ashamed of himself and should be retrained in proper procedures.

First time here and I had lunch.
Simple lunch… Burger, fries, and a couple beers.
Overall very solid bar food.
The atmosphere was great. TVs everywhere and friendly staff.
I’ll definitely be back for dinner and cocktails.

Much like batters in the baseball games that frequently take up a sizeable number of the ample television screens in this establishment, Marathon Taverna is hit or miss.
The good:
Cheap beer (like, under $ 5 pitchers of shitty beer cheap), which if I was ranking this place on the dive bar scale, would kick it up to 4 stars easily. This place is definitely going for sports bar though, as evidenced by the huge number of television screens, viewable from all areas of the bar. They were good about switching screens over when big games started or upon request, making this a great place to go to get shitty and watch any kind of sports. Their happy hour is also great, the food is cheap and the beer gets even cheaper.
The bad:
There is a definitively negative air about the bouncers and some of the bartenders which made me feel less than welcome sometimes. The servers, on the other hand, have been welcoming if a bit brisk when they’re busy. There’s also a crowd of regulars who is fond of giving the stink-​eye to young folk such as myself.
The ugly:
The first time I went here, I had a gyro that had great proportions of meat, vegetables, and tangy tzatsiki sauce. It was so good that I ordered it again – this time, I got almost entirely meat and bread, an anemic tomato slice, and almost no tzatsiki sauce. That time, my food took 30+ minutes and I had to ask the server to check on it as well. Service was also noticeably worse that day despite it being similarly packed. Other ugly things include the way my guts felt after eating a pita bread/​meat bomb and chasing it with pbr and french fries – ouch.
I had one good and one less good experience here, so I give it an A-​OK for the time being. I plan to be back sometime and will update based on that visit.

2 $ breakfast is delicious and simple. Toast, eggs, and two pieces of bacon; yum. Atmosphere is a bit too dim, but curable if you grab a window table!

Terrible service (they are understaffed), but the food and drinks are really cheap. Best part is you can always find a seat here to watch a game when all the other bars are full

Only ever come here to watch premier league football. It’s a sports /​dive bar and it excels at being just that. Cheap drinks and food. Simple but effective.

I very much enjoy playing pool here. The tables are nice, the room is bright, the windows re large, the music is good and the beer is cold. What more do you need in a Portland bar on Burnside? We never spend much, as the beer is cheap. We play a lot of games as the tables only cost 50 cents and we enjoy the crowd and the music they keep pumping out on the jukebox.

Came here before and after my first Timbers game and loved the atmosphere. Reminded me of when I was in Ireland and went to a game as for soccer atmosphere! This place is a soccer bar! was packed and fun, died down a little after the game but was great. We ordered zucchini wheels and chips and salsa. They were both alright, I have had better and worse bar food. Also left my wallet there on accident and didn’t notice until we reached next bar about 10 minutes later and they had seen me leave it gave it to bouncer and they noticed it was me when I walked back in from seeing my ID and it was pretty busy in there.

Came here to avoid traffic ordered beer and buffalo strips my server did know what the chicken strips just add buffalo sauce??? She brought me the check and said $ 9.25 no 2^nd beer nothing. I wrote on my check thanks no tip because im bothering you you should be doing everything you should to make customers feel welcome to spend $$$ no shoe them out the door. Ill save my tip for someone who wants it.

Asshole bouncer on Monday night March 9,2015 which sucks, but great for the bar across the street because we bought everyone in the bar 3 rounds and tipped him 100%

Large bar, lots of TV’s, pool tables in the back, good for watching sports with that dark-​comfortable-​gresham-​sportsbar feel to it.
They serve a $ 2 breakfast which is pretty great just for the price, however I had some plastic labeling mixed into my eggs… so…yeah.
The service has always been nice and attentive. Good for groups.

I do not know when the Marathon Taverna became such a circus but after last night, I’ll never step foot in there again.
We watched a security guard beat up a patron (that they over served). The guy was asked to leave, and after a little convincing, the guy stood up and and calmly put his jacket on – the sleeve of his jacket touched the security guard and then the guard bum rushed him. Then another guard wanted to play tough guy, so he jumped in: Beating up a non-​combative drunk is a cowardly, and unprofessional thing to do if, you have ever worked a door.
The owner then threw OUR group out because we called them on their BS. The worst part was, we had just ordered a bunch of pitchers. What kind of thieving owner does that, I do not know. Then there was something said about nobody having any civil liberties in his bar… which was funny.
The only redeeming part of the bar was their wait staff — they were slammed — but were getting food and drinks out like pros.
Tonies Tavern is down the street and they are always cool. Along with a bunch of other bars.
So spare yourself the intestinal discomfort (which they serve well) and the clowns that have seen Road House too many times, and are just itching to start S*&%@.
I’ve worked in Law Enforcement and hope the guy who got beat up files a report and gets the security feed.
Abysmally unprofessional environment.

How to characterize the Marathon Taverna?
Is it a pub that opens at 7 am for the career drinker?
Sure.
Does it serve highly dubious food?
Absolutely.
Does it have lackluster service?
Without a doubt.
Probably the most egregious of MT’s short comings is how they treat their primary clientele: fall down drunks. I had the… let’s say privilege, of watching two large bouncers play whack-​a-​mole with an inebriated man. Something that would relatively understandable, were he not actively leaving at the time.
A gentleman who filmed the encounter was also removed from the establishment.
Overall, I can’t think of a reason to go to the Marathon.

Great old school sports bar
26 taps of great beers and full bar.
A huge 96 inch tv for the main events
Great staff, lovely ladies

Me and my friends favorite dive bar! Super cheap drinks and eats ($ 5 pitchers!) great place to watch games and not break your bank. Tons of tvs, pool, ping pong, awesome jukebox, good customer service and people of all kinds. Close to providence park and 23^rd which is great too.

Good spot for soccer in the heart of the city, near the Timbers stadium. I was there twice while traveling on my book tour. The first time was after a Timbers game, the second time was the next morning watching the opening match of the World Cup.
Cons: A little dark and greasy. But hey, it’s a dive bar.
Pros: Good beer selection, cheap pitchers, lots of screens, pro-​soccer slant.

I do enjoy some Greek food and who doesn’t love a gyro every now and then. Of course for me, most of my gyro experiences over the years have been at 2 or 3AM at either diners in NJ or late night stops at college. I don’t know, I guess the Mediterranean version of a taco is best served in the wee hours of the morning. Surprisingly, that wasn’t the case here.
I was at the Marathon Taverna for the start of a rugby pub crawl and well, I wasn’t planning on getting drunk or even drinking that much. I was there to get to know the guys and have a great time. I needed something to fill the belly prior to the festivities so I wouldn’t have any issues later in the evening and a gyro with feta seemed like a great choice. The menu had many options including pizza and burgers plus fish and chips and some Greek fare and of course the gyro or in my case the Super gyro (it had feta, and I do enjoy the feta) and it came with a side. Not much of a choice really, salad, tots, fries or potato salad. The salad was uninspiring. Iceberg lettuce and Greek dressing. That’s it. No other veggies. Thankfully the gyro was so good. Beef, tomatoes, onions and tzatziki, plus feta. I was looking for the pepperoncinis but I forgot to ask for them. It was still good, large and filling. I’d eat it again and again.
The place is pretty small up front, but the back bar is a pretty large area with a pool table and plenty of loud music. It’s essentially a dive bar, but a pretty cool one with pretty good food.
Enjoy.