O’Brien’s

CLOSED. O’Briens has been closed for months now. They were remodeling the place and have recently opened as «Dark Horse Pub»

The placed smelled of vomitt stale beer.
In a city where there are plenty of decent dives… go elsewhere. GROSS.

Great pub. Perfect bar food. Great prices, and the drinks and great for what you pay for. The atmosphere is great especially on sundays when they play the «Walking Dead.» Great selection of beer on tap, and a overall great experience. The bar is super dark btw.

a touch of dive bar atmosphere without the I’m-contracting-diseases-just being-​here feeling. about 10 beers on tap, from some respectable local brews to a somewhat hard to come by (and less respectable, but nonetheless amazing) Hamm’s on tap! also, they had some really delicious house infused vodkas, quite tasty with soda on ice. I only had one as it was entirely too drinkable, a dangerous quality in an 80 proof beverage.
three TVs for watching (or in my cases being wholly confused by) several games at once.
the bathroom is in a rather dingy alcove (generating some of that delightful dive bar feeling), but clean and serviceable. nice feature is the wall to NW 21^st is largely window, so it got some nice air.

This could quite possibly be my favorite bar on 21^st. A great place to hang out, watch some sports, eat, and drink!
Service is great! Even though the bartender was on her own in this very packed bar, I didn’t find myself waiting long (Cinco de Mayo, Kentucky Derby Day, annnnd Graduation weekend, so its safe to say, everyone was out that night). Drinks were awesome by the way. Food was quick, hot, and delicious.
They need a better lit sign, meeting up here at night is tough, our party kept walking past it…, at the same time, I like that.

FIVE STARS FOR O’BRIENS! I LOVE O’BRIENS! The one star is for the worst bartender I’ve ever encountered.
We went on a Monday, I think. And instead of the usual friendly dude, there was this hipster chick, with black glasses and unkempt long brown hair — who we’d never seen before. The place wasn’t busy, at all, and all the other barkeeps came to our table. She didn’t. OK, no big whoop…
Then we got our drinks (again, she just left them on the bar without saying anything to us). And I wasn’t even sure there was liquor in them. Same for my girlfriend– her gin and tonic was just…‘tonic’. OK, still, I’m a forgiving guy. We order burgers.
Both of ours come back burnt. When we took them back, the dudes sitting at the counter was like «yeah, we could smell those burning for ages, we were wondering if she was ever gonna go get them.» These guys had all finished their beers… empty glasses down the line. We look over and the bartender is completely ignoring them, instead chatting with two women at the end of the bar, which is where she stayed until we left.
Well, at least it wasn’t personal.
Again, LOVE O’Briens. But seriously guys, fire this chick ASAP.

Hubby and I decided to step out on Sunday night and decided to try downtown, figuring that something would be going on since it was Labor day weekend.
This was a typical little Irish bar and the service was so-​so. We had a drink and hung out for a bit but decided to go next door since they seemed to have a little bit more of a crowd.

Stopped in here once with some buddies to watch an OSU football game. It’s pretty small, and there weren’t too many people in there… but since it was the early afternoon, everyone was there for the game. Good food, decent beer selection and prices… would definitely go back to watch more sports.

Idk about this place. North 45 was packed, so we headed here for a bit because the sign said all night Happy Hour. Too bad that was only $ 1 PBRs. I’m not really sure how that qualifies as a happy hour, but I’m a little pissed that I was lured in with that and ended up paying $ 4.25 for a pint of Drifter.

Who doesn’t like $ 1 PBR and $ 2 wells drinks? Great pub to hang out and watch some sports! I highly recommend going! Great service and fun atmosphere!

My girlfriend likes O’Brien’s more than Wimpy’s. For me, it’s all about which side is playing better music — which is usually Wimpy’s. To be fair, I go to O’Brien’s more often because of my SWMBO. It’s a decent bar — a place I frequent now. The beers are often stale and always overpriced. The cocktails… I haven’t tried them. Nor will I ever try the food. But it’s a comfy place for a couple drinks. An, «it could be anywhere» bar, but a decent one.

Gabe, we miss you. Let us know where you’re at. Coronas just aren’t the same anymore.

I love this place. I’m a «sit on a stool elbows on the bar» kinda guy and this is the perfect place. It feels like a neighborhood bar (cause it is a neighborhood bar) with a semi-​regular crew that frequents the place. The weekends are packed with drunk college age kids from Beaverton or Hillsboro or wherever these people come from (I mean really, where do these people live?!), but during the week it’s a great place for good conversations between friends. They have several TV’s for the «big games», but mostly they play really good good music. Gabe is the friendly bartender and always has a smile on his face. I agree that while he’s not the «I’m going to talk your ear off» kind of bartender, if you get him going he’s pretty easy to hang with and is quite funny. I used to come here 3 – 5 times a week to grab a beer after work, play some cards with friends, or hide in the corner with a pint, a smoke and a good book. Now that you can’t smoke I’ve been coming less often. Which is sad cause I love that place.
Oh and the cook with the glasses and the ridiculously short shirts that came just under his nipples made the best bar food I ever had. The Turkey Bacon Avocado sandwich was/​is heaven in a dive bar.
Anyone fancy a pint tonight? Let’s meet at O’Brien’s.

Well, I was there with JC, so first off I will second his advice to Gabe. Smile! And enough with the Red Bull snobbery! Besides his personality, though, he pours a good drink, and if he put the Arcade Fire cds in the stereo (which played on and off on random for hours), he can be my bartender anytime.
I started out coming to this place because it was one of the first divey bars I could find in NW Portland when I moved here. (Note: I’m from Dayton, OH — ‘dive’ is a compliment in my book). I’ve come back because the beer is good, the drinks are just strong enough, and the place is dimly lit (yeah, what’s up with the brightness, Yukon?) This place is great for conversation on slow nights, and great for groups during the weekend.
In fact, a $ 3 hef sounds good right about now…

Gabe, you’re a cool dude, but you shouldn’t be a bartender.
Most bartenders are talkative or charming or something… but this guy almost seems as if he’s uncomfortable with his job. Only reason I’m mentioning it is because he just stood there and stared at us.
We finally got him to talk, but only to tell us why he was against serving red bull. He was drinking a Red Bull while he was explaining this. Just a little weird.
I will come back, because the bar is cool. There’s Pac-​Man and 3 buck heffy on tap. Plus, I love the neighborhood.

Fun Dive-​r on 21^st Street.
Although a visitor, I sure felt like a local. Especially when I recorded an all-​time personal best on the Ms. Pac-​Man in the 3^rd round of tournament play among my friends. I got a blister on my controller finger, but it was sure worth it.
I’d recommend chillaxing with a PBR on the outside tables or hangin out either at the bar or at neighboring wimpy’s bar next store, which you can walk in through the inside. But good luck beating my score.