Spints Alehouse

Rebecca and I stopped in on our way to the theatre. This was our first visit. We ordered the chicken paprikash and the pork schnitzel. The chicken was good, but the batter on the chicken was too thick. The schnitzel was great, cooked just right. Wonderful flavor.
We paired the meal with a zweitgelt. This was a new wine for us from Austria. It was fairly priced. In fact, it was a much better wine than we expected for the price. It improved as it aired.
We stopped on the sour of the moment and are glad we did. The staff were friendly. The service was good. We ate at the bar and enjoyed a nice conversation with another patron. All In all, this was a very nice meal at a very comfortable establishment. Come try it.

For my final brunch in town, and actually my final meal in general, I decided to take a chance on one of the new kids on the block — not necessarily a new restaurant, but a new (and decidedly unique) brunch service at Spints Ale House that would turn out to be one of my best spontaneous decisions of the trip — and the second best brunch, as well.
Obviously a watering hole from its title to its layout I was clued in to Spints by a fellow Chowhound and after so many crowded brunch spots throughout Portland I was admittedly surprised when I arrived to find the space literally empty; myself, a bartender, and a hostess the only people present save for the kitchen staff and honestly, had there not been a sign out front and a smiling «good morning» from the man tending both bar and table I’d have probably turned around at the door instead of seating myself at a hightop in the bar room where Radiohead played overhead and heavy woods and concrete once again filled the space with Stumptown soon to fill my mug.
A warm and open space with an ample collection of top shelf liquor befitting its primary function as a bar it should go without saying that service was excellent given the lack of other patrons (though another couple would show up later) but just to stress the point service was really quite exemplary, the bartender well versed in both the food and beverage program and even going so far as to gift me two cocktails he was «experimenting with» for future menus — the first a take on the White Russian featuring Apple Rum, Mint Bitters, Condensed Milk, and Kahlua while the second was served as a «warm-​up» to my coffee with espresso, Bailey’s, and Cedar Bitters. Generally not one to imbibe so early in the day but not wanting to seem rude I must say that while I generally prefer my coffee sweeter, the first drink was excellent — the house made bitters coming across as a light kiss on the palate while the rest of the drink tasted like a creamy Amish apple pie.
Chatting as I awaited my plates and informed that despite the lack of patrons that day the brunch service had been doing rather well it would be a mere fifteen minutes before my first dish arrive and as much as the dish has become bastardized and cliché here in the States I couldn’t pass up the concept of «Sweet Potato and Chicken Liver Poutine» after my server’s description of hand cut fries, fresh curds, rough cut fried chicken livers, and a touch of cheddar; the whole thing decadent and rich with plenty of mineral funk — a great dish if you like liver, but probably not ideal if you don’t (or if you’re expecting the Quebecoise classic.)
Moving from funky to funkier, my main plate at Spints was the dish that got me in the door and as much as I knew I was taking a risk ordering Sweetbreads at a non-​French, non-​fine-​dining restaurant the old adage of «high risk: high reward» proved quite true in the case of Spints’ French Toast with Fried Sweetbreads and Maple Syrup. Starting first with two slices of rich poppyseed bread entirely saturated with creamy custard and fried to a golden brown and moving on to three peerless sweetbreads; much like the toast golden crisp on the exterior and creamy within and lightly touched with powdered sugar plus barrel aged maple syrup this was the sort of dish one would expect to find, perhaps, at Martin Picard’s Au Pied de Cochon and achieving the same deft balance as much of APdC’s cuisine at a mere $ 14 this dish was a veritable steal and amongst the most memorable in all of Portland.
At this point sated — and actually rather full — I could have easily departed Spints’ quite happy with the entire experience but literally incapable of passing up Bread Pudding when it is present on a menu I did the smart thing and ordered a slice — the $ 6 square far larger than I’d anticipated yet so good I nearly found myself licking the plate clean (and well aware that I was in for a long, sleepy flight.) Described simply on the menu as «Apple Bread Pudding» but in reality chunks of angelfood cake saturated with apple infused custard, cider, and chunks of roasted apples topped with rich vanilla bean crème anglaise this was, like everything else at Spints, the sort of food I love and without a doubt amongst the best bread pudding dishes I have had in some time — another must order, no matter how full you think you are, and a beautiful pairing to the apple rum cocktail.
An exquisite brunch in a city full of great brunches my visit to Spint’s ended with the bill — a modest $ 30, served alongside house made pecan brittle and thanking my server for both the recommendations and the drinks with a hefty tip I made my way to the car not only completely satisfied, but also with the newfound knowledge that Chicago is no longer my favorite breakfast and brunch city in America; not even close.

This place was quit a nice surprise. When you walk in its like most trendy little bars in NE but one you see tier offerings for appertiefs and beers and bourbon it will put a smile on your face. We also had a bite to eat The burger was super good with a great bun and toppings but small The warm salad of romane and brussel sprouts with hog fat was super delious wonder balance of flavors and textures the brussel sprouts were cokked perfect and the romane was not overly limp.
I would recomend this spot the next time you are over making a tour of NE

Nice bar. Good drinks better bar food food than most

Spints is ultimately an exercise in unmet potential. Plenty of enveloping, warm enclaves await your visit, but these are just spaces. On several occasions the staff have been both cold and confusing. As a fellow service industry drone, I suspect the evil toxins of being too slow and sitting around talking shit have firmly taken hold and they just can’t seem to snap out of it when patrons walk in. Case in point: m’lady and I went in to find an empty restaurant save one patron seated at the bar. Someone greets us and we ask to sit in the coziest corner booth, which is big enough to seat 5 or 6. Of course we know that given a busy restaurant, we would never expect the big table, but the place was so dead that there was no danger of infringing on the rights of a larger group. The staff begrudgingly obliged our request to be seated in the booth and the remainder of our visit continued in similar fashion of being generally treated as an entitled nuisance.
This treatment is especially pitiful given the quality of the food and drink. I have never been disappointed with the drinking snacks, drinks, or entrees. But I cannot abide the way I’ve been made to feel here. Pity that it’s so close to Laurelhurst Theater too!

Torn, I am. Came here with the GF for prefunc dinner and I can’t decide exactly how I feel about it. I got a burger that at $ 9 was a little bit small and came with chips instead of fries. But it was really good and the chips were housemade. GF got, um, something else that was $ 17, but had been (as she put it) «deep fried in butter». I had a bite and my knees got weak.
The service was okay, but nothing to shout about. And they were playing some ill advised smoove jams from the 90s. TLC and the like.
I guess it’s okay, so three stars.

This place must have a split personality. I see lots of good reviews on here, and lots of bad ones. Different staff? I can’t fathom how anybody would ever give Spints a rave review based on my experience.
The service (what service??) was terrible, we had to get up and ask for everything. No one ever came around to check on us at all. And they were not busy. The food was absolutely unexceptional, like the flavor had been systematically removed. The pretzels were a total disappointment, as they tasted like they just got popped out of the plastic wrap and into the microwave. Also, the appetizers came out with the main course… The whole point of an appetizer is that it precedes the main meal. The clue is in the name, really: appetizer.
The beer list (it’s an ‘alehouse,’ after all) was average and overpriced. The food was below average and WAY overpriced. The service… yeah.
So, 1 star because I won’t be back. Maybe all these rave reviewers like the airport wine-​bar ambiance, overpriced faux-​fancy food, and the solitude that comes from not seeing a waitstaff, ever. Or, we got the off night B-​team. I don’t know.

I really dont get this place. For some reason, stuck in my mind, is that this is a german place. Perhaps with the spaetzel, that just makes me think German. However, there arent very many beer selections and they seem to rely heavy on double mountain. I did enjoy the heater allen pilsner, but that, again, wasnt what I was really expecting.
The server was nice enough, but at some point you expect to be able to order and get food/​drink in a reasonable time frame. After ordering our meal, I waited 10 mins before having to ask again about my beer. The food took about 40 mins to come out from the time we ordered. It may have been the kitchen’s fault (and it wasnt really busy when we got there), but I certainly expected to be able to eat the pretzel I ordered before my entrees came out, (and without having to ask for it, again).
The food itself was extremely sub-​par. My chicken was heavily battered and it was hard to find the actual chicken pieces. The mashed potatoes were awfully buttery and i left most of all of it on my plate. My wife had the quail which she also felt was buttery and an overall disappointment.
Factoring the price of this meal, I’m really left scratching my head. It wasnt that enjoyable and not worth the time and money spent on it. I seem to remember a meal over a year ago that I enjoyed much more, but I can assure you that I wont be going back for the tie-​breaker.

I’ve been a few times and really loved the food! All of the food is really delicious and unique. Not just your standard bar food. The afternoon staff were sweet and friendly. The Sunday night girl was weird and depressing and didn’t give us attentive service. Foods amazing though!

The menu looked good from the start. I liked the cocktail list and food items listed. The tap list is alright but I decided to go for a strong cocktail with rye whiskey, scotch, celery bitters, and a slice of lemon rind. It was good. They served it chilled and I thought that was a little strange but not too big of a deal.
The service is pretty slow so just expect this before you go in and you won’t be so hung up on it. The drinks and food make up for it in my opinion.
We ordered a few things to get a real taste of what they got at this place. For starters we had the meat platter. It had a house made bologna, beef heart with cooked garlic, canadian bacon (also house made), and some pickled cabbage. This was a great choice! I loved how they made stuff in house and it varied from the typical meat platters that usually have the signature salami’s and foie gras.
Next up was the arugula and pea salad with pork belly. The dressing on it was really nice but I have no idea what was in it. The pork belly was pretty good but a little overdone on the top.
Main course was fried chicken with gravy and mashed potatoes. It was good but I have had better for sure. They need to work on the gravy. It was a bit on the creamy side. The chicken was delicious and the mashers were tasty as well.
The prices are reasonable. The ambiance is good. A-​OK alehouse.

My wife and I travel to Germany every year and the food here is every bit as good plus she said that if she wasn’t in public she would lick the plate clean!
Don’t be put off by the prices as great food made from scratch costs just a little bit more and it is worth every penny! I travel for work and eat out several days a week and I wish I could find places like this to eat at!
The selection of Import beers was very good as well. Enjoy!

The list of places that I want to try in this dear city seems to grow and grow and grow. There is no end to this list as I read articles on new places and hear about others from fellow Unilocalers as well as friends in the real world. The man writing this review loves to eat. What can I say? It helps me live. Spints was definitely on this list. I was hesitant to go because I didn’t hear great things about the service. You can say that about many places in Portland, but I heard that a few times about Spints. I can tell you on this night the service was very good. I have no complaints there. No complaints in the food or drink either.
My date chose this place as she had mentioned that she had been a few times. When I said I hadn’t been yet, we decided it would be best if I check this one off of said list from paragraph 1. Honestly there isn’t a written list. It is all in my head. Restaurants come in and restaurants drop out. That is just how my brain works.
I got here a bit earlier than my company and found a seat at the bar. Was immediately greeted and a glass of water was placed in front of me. Would I have a cocktail on this night or would there be beer? I decided on beer even though the cocktails they were preparing behind the bar looked to be top notch. I knew I would be eating something as well and the food here isn’t inexpensive. With beer in hand or actually on coaster in front of me I waited for my date to arrive. Within minutes she did and was also greeted by the bartender with a glass of water. She too went with a beer of the Belgian variety. They have a nice tap and bottle list here. Some good bottles that you don’t see in other places along with the usual suspects.
There was talk of the dirty pretzel here or more to the point before we got here. Once one talks of dirty pretzels one cannot stop thinking about dirty pretzels. On this night the version of that dish had mac and cheese and truffle oil on top ($ 9). We both ended up ordering one. This is a fork and knife kind of a meal as the plate was heaped with mac and cheese. This is the hot pretzel we had at the concert or sporting event growing up. This is an adult pretzel. Sometimes getting older isn’t such a bad thing.
To top off the evening I ended up getting a glass of the Aspall Demi-​Sec Draft Cider to go along with the Poached Pear Bread Pudding ($ 5). If you’ve read any of my earlier reviews you will know that I am a big bread pudding fan. If it has bread pudding at the end of it, I will order it. It could be dirt bread pudding and I would still eat it. They know how to do bread pudding here. Not too sweet and the pears weren’t the dominating flavor either which to me is a good thing. I don’t often go for the pear dessert, but it had bread pudding attached to it and I can’t say no to that. The cider went perfectly with this dessert.
A great way to end an evening. Total bill was just under $ 50 plus tip. It is probably a bit more than I’m used to spending, but it isn’t something I do often and it is nice to splurge once in a while. I’m satisfied with the choices that were made and happy that I was finally able to get here.
Now, what is the deal with that sign I saw inside about $ 1 house-​made sausage Sunday’s? It is Sunday today. There might be $ 1 house-​made sausage in my near future.

*Pretzel Review Only*
In my quest to find the best pretzel in Portland, I payed Spints Alehouse a visit per recommendation by my friend Vanessa asking if a dirty pretzel is legal in the Throw Down. We’re dropping it like it’s hot in this throw down so anything is legal.
Spints offers a weekly dirty pretzel. We went for the Korean Spare Ribs and Kimchi Dirty Pretzel week. Since I am keeping my throw down at pure pretzel consistency as to not get confused, I opted for a traditional pretzel while Vanessa got duuurtay.
The (clean) Pretzel: Tasted like it had just been re-​heated in the microwave. You remember that dry-​hard texture of re-​heating foods in the 90s that you just accepted because you didn’t know any better? The outside had a plesant slightly bitter lye taste.
The Mustard: Excellent burning notes with tang and a little sourness. A little horseradish heat always makes things better. I needed another round of mustard to make my pretzel better.
The (dirty) Pretzel: This was disappointing and just weird. Rice on top of a pretzel? White man’s kimchi? Fatty spareribs? But, it was worth a try and probably just a bad week of being dirty.

Excellent cocktails and bartender — if it were just the bar, it would get 4 stars.
Unfortunately, the restaurant is just awful. The food is OK, but just. The service is seriously the worst I have had in Portland, which says a lot. No silverware, drinks didn’t come out before food, plates came out at different times and our server was sloppily dressed and couldn’t be bothered to provide service.
I won’t be back.

Oh that I could select 3.5 stars because for my first experience at Spints it was better than A-​OK but not ready for me to say Yay! I’m a fan.
It’s a Tuesday night, we’re celebrating my friend’s birthday, somewhere close to 9ish, after spending the past 4 hours over at Thatch with at least 2 dozen of her nearest and dearest (or at least those that could come out to play,) a small group of us decided we wanted dessert. Our destination of choice was all filled up, so somehow we ended up at Spints Alehouse.
Eight of us made our way across the threshold and were ushered into the deserted back room. Seated by a friendly host, sated with glasses of water, we settled in to peruse the menu.
A not nearly as friendly server (god, I hope it was just that he was having a bad night) came to take our order. He stood at one end of the table, not moving an inch as we tried to chat him up just the ittiest bit, as he muttered an explanation that he had a lot of tables.
Our order included:
2 orders of farro croquettes & sweet pepper-​tomato coulis (he seemed to fail to appreciate our describing them to our table mates as a sort of fried rice ball) — Not something I could recommend as it was lack luster in flavor and had an odd outer breading — the textures of the exterior and interior just didn’t compliment.
1 Reuben w/​gruyère, pickles, sauerkraut, russian dressing & onion rings; the two people who consumed this plate said it was okay, but that the meat was too fatty.
2 orders of triple hot chocolate (a sipping Chocolate) w/​housemade cookies;
AMAZING!!! REALLY, TRULY, WORTH GOING BACK FOR, AWESOME!
2 orders of chocolate espresso torte; good, solidly good.
1 brown butter waffle & nougat ice cream — super delicious!
1 pear bread pudding — nearly good enough to lick the bowl.
3 hot teas
and possibly another few beverages.
I’m fairly certain no alcohol was consumed probably due to the amounts most had already enjoyed at our prior stop.
Overall, I would return when in the neighborhood, I might even suggest it for a good place to meet for Happy Hour. I would for sure recommend it as a good place for drinking chocolate and other desserts.

We dropped in a few Saturdays ago with an ambitious plan to grab a bite in the hour plus before a movie. We got seated right away by a friendly hostess (+1 star) and poured over the menu. We were relieved to see they weren’t too busy & within moments we’d decided on our food, hungry and hopeful. Then we sat… and waited.
We watched the server at another table in our room have a long conversation with his guests, and he walked back and forth from the kitchen at least three times, never making eye contact with us. And we continued to wait…
Surely the hostess (or the other server in that room) told someone we were there, right? After over 25 minutes of zero acknowledgement we saw a new table in our room get seated. My lady was already prepped to walk, but I wanted to see what would happen. That table’s server was out within a minute or so to take their drink order.
And SCENE*
We left. Would have loved to try the food but no luck, so no additional stars. Slow nights are when stupid shit like this happens… I can kindly say it’s a cozy place. Hope the staff can pep up and make sure no one else gets completely ignored.
The skinny — There are so many options in Portland, and this experience was the equivalent of getting stood up on a first date, I’d be hard pressed to bother visiting them again.

Look out! It’s girlfriends together with martinis in hand!
I believe I have been in almost every restaurant on 28^th so of course I had to give this place a try.
I like to start out with my dry gin martini and I have to tell you I was immediately impressed by how many different types of gin that I had to choose from! And many were local! First * just for that!
Their menu was eclectic and curious so that’s always refreshing. ** stars. We tried the roasted delicata, mint, pumpkin seed SALAD? for starters. How fun is that. The squash was very sweet and you definitely could taste the roasted aroma through it. the greens were real fresh.
I ended up ordering the roasted golden beets, cured sea scallops & dill tartar dish along with a side of roasted cauliflower! How many places can you order something like that? I’m a lover of vegetables and get tired of the whole mashed potatoes sides so this was also a nice change. Oh and the scallops were just done enough so they melted in your mouth. ***stars.
Girlfriends ordered a ton of items as well like the chicken pot pie (I’m making my point again here on some different menu choices for a change). Everyone seemed to enjoy their food and no one was poo pooing anything.
I have to stop here and say that our waiter was very animated and worked really hard at helping out our table full of older and wiser women and all — so he had his hands full. We wanted just a sip of a few of their wines before we decided on one and he did us right. He was always available and just trying hard enough. Nice chap. Even up to the dessert, some of us just wanted straight raspberry sorbet and he had no problem serving it up though it was not directly on the menu. And so, finally — ****stars it is!

Now I get it. It took a few trips to Spints for me to get it. But I get it.
Spints alehouse is not really a place to imbibe ales (for me anyway). It’s a place to hang out and have some amazing cocktails. Don’t get me wrong, they have a good tap list. It’s a mix of some interesting imports and tasty domestic micros, but they’re a tad pricey (at least for the ones I want to drink) and I have my other divey, beer-​soaked places to quaff some frosted barley pops.
So yeah, the cocktails at Spints are not only very creative, but simply delicious. They can make plenty of classics, and they’ve got a custom house-​made cocktail menu that uses all sorts of interesting ingredients, proprietary infusions, and similar. It’s good stuff. Really good. So good that when I think about where to go get cocktails on the East Side, Spints is now popping up in my list… up near the top.
The service has always been great for me, and the space is thoughtful and well-​appointed. It’s clean and pretty but not pretentious. It’s laid back, in a good neighborhood-​y kind of way.
It took a bit, but Spints is definitely growing on me. I am guessing that once I try the food I’ll like it even more.

Really?! REALLY?!
When I first saw that a place calling itself an «Alehouse» was opening in the hood. I was completely stoke-​ified. I walked home high-​fiving trees, I moto-​surfed to work, I drank Mt Dew instead of beer with my dinner (that was made completely of items one could purchase at a 7 – 11)
Wow, an alehouse, a new place… but an alehouse, near MY HOUSE (myyyy house). When I lived in Oklahoma City I tended bar at an alehouse. We had 100+ beers, ON TAP (oblig: no big deal). I practically lived there (maybe that’s why they call it a house? The name was Tapwerks, check it out.)
Turns out Spints is a «gastropub». An unfortunate phenomenon that is now sweeping this great nation. Gastropub?! You say? What is that? A fart-​a-​torium? No, my friend. To me, a gastropub is:
A pub…
With prices jacked 50−100%
With food of 10% better quality (max)
Usually specializes in imports that are usually quaffed by people that are constantly telling you how much better: beer x: tastes in: country y, and that you could «never understand».
Smells of rich mahogany and has many leather-​bound books
All of these pretty much hit Spints to a T. If I could use one word to describe this place it would be «pretentious». A section of the menu with Belgian beer reads: «Belgiums». Wow, NICE, I can order ENTIRE COUNTRIES! (the pricing is in keeping with this). This is a place with a doucheriffic, we’re trying soooOOooo hard-​vibe that belongs downtown, not in the NE/​SE.
I didn’t get food here, but I’m not much into paying $ 20+ for a couple of brats with some rich sauce.
If you have an expensive purse, wear designer jeans, or your dad owns a dealership; you will probably LOVE it here.

Spints has been open 3 days, so take that into account as you read this… they should iron out the wrinkles with time.
The beer taps, wine and food on the menu are inspired: clearly the work of someone with talent exploring Germanic cuisine underrepresented in Portland.
The saffron soup with chanterelles, endive salad, and weisswurst with beans were all delicious. My dinner partner made the mistake of trying to see if they could invent on the fly to accommodate someone who doesn’t eat red meat and that fell flat. Sadly, with no inspiration, remove the oxtails from a dish and a only rich Chinese chop salad remains.
The downside though was the service. We realize it just opened and would forgive any snafus if we felt welcome. Unfortunately, while everyone else went out of their way to make us feel comfortable, our waiter made us feel like unwelcome guests. Pulling food away before we were done, slapping down silverware, acting like each second spent at our table was an ordeal. A simple change in attitude would’ve made us forgive any issue. If we had been jerks, I’d understand, but I think we were not the worst guests.
I’ll be back for the food, but I hope the waiter will be having a better day.