The Liquor Store

A welcomed upgrade from the Blue Monk, which never really felt like it belonged in Portland.
Nice, dark ambiance, decent beer selection and good cocktails.
They have bands in the basement.
Food looks alright, didn’t eat any though, so I can’t comment.
Service was classic Portland: e.g. slow and aloof.

Paid $ 15 to see a show that they WAY over sold. Didn’t even get downstairs. This was not just the case for myself, there was a line of people who PAID to get in and couldn’t.
The basement sounds great but is too small for large shows. Bathroom line is terrible, always overly packed on the weekends.
Beware if you are about to pay to see a show here. I will probably never be back

The ambiance is what pulled me in and the vibe of the place is pretty cool. Kinda like dig a pony but way less douchey. It’s got a nice mixture of hipsters and non-​hipsters and a wider range of ages (handsome older gents haha). Lots a good looking people. Space is tight though. The round bar takes up 50% of the room so when it’s crowded there’s only standing space. I hear there’s a floor in the basement for dancing and live music but cover is often required, so I skipped out on it. Also your check comes in a book. I don’t know if that’s just super hip or genius.

I approach this bar mostly as a music venue & find it to be rather awesome. Tonight we got to play there for the first time, although I’ve seen a bunch of shows in the space. Our sound guy jevon was so nice and did an amazing job with the sound even though it was just a monday night. The bartenders are also kind and good. Great taps as well, I’m so glad to have it in our neighborhood!

Love this place. Have yet to have a single bad experience. Actually the bathroom line sucks on weekends but whatever.
Upstairs is a great spot to hang. Great drinks, delicious food (Cubano and quesadilla w/​pulled pork are awesome). They give you trophies when you order food instead of little numbers or whatnot. They give you your checks in actual books instead of checkbooks. Vinyls line the walls. They have great DJs spinning jams. Couches near the bathroom that are great for a larger group if you can snag them. I’ve seen them totally empty on multiple occasions on busy nights. And a photo booth.
Downstairs is the music venue which typically has DJs on the weekends and usually free local artist shows during the week. It’s a cozy little space with a bar down there as well.
The usual door guy is also the friendliest human.

Overrun with hipster wannabes. Go before 9:00 or you won’t be able to get a drink. If you go before 9:00 it doesn’t seem like a bad place. My friend ordered food which was standard bar fair.

We came here for a Burlesque Show that was downstairs and had a great time. They had special cocktails on a chalk board and we ordered a one that was a vodka mule! The downstairs female bar tender made our cocktails strong and was very attentive to all the waiting customers. Upstairs they have an older picture booth that I wish we would have used! They were $ 4.44 and took credit cards!

The worst deviled egg of my life. Okay bar otherwise. The record collection looks nice but they weren’t playing them. The bartender was nice.

I love Portland and it’s bars. The Liquor Store is conveniently located on Belmont next to other cool bars (Sweet Hereafter, Aalto Lounge, etc.)
My friend took us here and like every other bar, I really liked the ambiance and décor. There were all these vinyls on the shelves, a dj in the corner (playing mellow house music), a photobooth in the other corner, and a bar in the middle.
Our bartender made our drinks and he was super nice and gave us some recommendations. I went with my usual moscow mule, which was amazing. :)
Then, my friend said there was a downstairs area. Little did I know what I was about to see next. Just an FYI, I went on a Sunday. We walked downstairs and my friend paid for all of us. He only told us that we were going to see a show…
About 15 minutes later, it started and it turned out to be a Burlesque show! My very first one. It was interesting to watch, definitely would recommend to check it out !

We love happy hour. We both work in the industry. I’m a chef and my wife is a GM. We work crazy hours and like to eat at weird hours. We did some research on happy hour and saw good things abou TLS. We were the only ones there when they opened. We grabbed a wall table and ordered their Punch and a beer. Both great. We ordered a bunch of apps which were all great. The flat bread, salad, deviled eggs and mac-​n-​cheese. My only feedback was the mac needs some work. It came out pretty dry and it looked like it was just pasta and cheese, then baked in the oven. Nothing remotely creamy about the dish which is what we were looking for. We probably wouldn’t order it again. The service was at the bar and the bartender was very nice and the gracious cook dropped off each dish. We’d definitely go back again.

Great spot for a proper drink. Staff is super friendly. Like the dark ambiance and great bands.

The drinks were strong but the food leaves something to be desired. There wasn’t anything on the menu that wasn’t overpriced.
On a side note, this has to be the worst name for a bar. Try explaining to your friends that you’re «going to the liquor store. no, not a liquor store.»

Came here for happy hour on a Thursday… only after a slight struggle to locate the bar and not the 50 liquor stores on my Google maps app. First world problems, I know.
–Atmosphere was welcoming. Large bar with stools around and plenty of tables throughout the area.
–Service was speedy and bartender was friendly. It wasn’t very busy, maybe 5 – 6 other patrons dropping in throughout my two hour visit.
I like this place and would definitely return if I was in the neighborhood again. According to their menu/​award and vouched by my friend, the Gin & Tonic is the bestest. I had the piña colada as I’m not a huge gin fan.

Last night, I sat on a couch that looked as it were plucked from the early 20^th century, sipping the best Gin & Tonic of recent memory, watching Charlie Chaplin’s «The Kid» as it was projected on an upper wall of the bar. I was in absolute bliss. Now truth be told, I could be in a state of absolute bliss watching Charlie in a trash heap, his antics projected upon a discarded mattress. But I would much prefer it this way, in The Liquor Store, my new favorite bar.
And even after the film was over and my attention was forced on other things, I still adored this bar. The Liquor Store is a vintage throw-​back– records adorn the walls (and also provide musical backdrop), antique players and instruments act as decorations. The bar is painted dark in a shade both romantic and sumptuous. The bar itself is humongous and opulent, providing plenty of bar stools to gather round. There’s a basement too, which I can only assume is just as grand, though it was closed off with a velvet rope when I visited.
And that gin & tonic! The floating hibiscus petals and juniper berries clue you in that this isn’t your average G&T; it’s something so much better! After tasting this cocktail, I have high hopes for the others listed on the menu. But if cocktails aren’t your thing, rest assured– the Liquor Store also serves up craft beer and a number of wines.
In a street saturated with spirits (and the great bars that serve them), The Liquor Store holds its own, and then some.

I’m going to start by saying how silly Sean S.‘s review is of this place, you drink cheap vodka yet have no idea where there are liquor stores near you? I don’t believe it.
Soo… I really liked this place, although I feel it falls into the same category as a lot of other bars in the area. Overpriced drinks, but delicious food. I ordered the pork sliders. They have this amazing pineapple slaw on them. So good. My girlfriend got the Cuban something sandwich. That was so good too. I just wish the drinks were a little stiffer for the price you know? Oh there’s a wall of vinyl records you can play during the week when there’s not a dj. That’s pretty cool.

I’d been here before when it was the Blue Monk, and I must say, the Liquor Store is a definitely welcomed upgrade. It’s classy yet way more comfortable than the Blue Monk ever was. Comfortable enough for me to come by myself in the early evenings to read a book with drink in hand, as is the style in Portland. (at least before the place gets more popular).
I do wish the owner kept the Wednesday night belly dancing, though. Would have been good to keep that as part of the music/​events variety. But they did name a drink after the Blue Monk.
Drinks: pretty good. There’s punch. and $ 5 happy hour cocktails from 5−7pm or so.
But once i ordered the old fashioned, and it was probably one of the worst old fashioned’s I’ve ever had. Such a ripoff. For whiskey drinks, stick to Aalto across the street.
Music: good/​great though I’ve only been to one show there so I can’t say too much.
Big ups to the owner for trying to make this Portland’s new venue for house/​electronica!
They promote their Funktion1 system pretty hard, but for that one show I’ve been there, I wasn’t impressed. It was a drum’n’bass show, and I felt like the EQ wasn’t properly adjusted to maximize good sound. Maybe the system just needs breaking-​in? Sidenote: the djs weren’t that great. But maybe they were just rusty since there are rarely dnb shows in Portland to play at in the first place.
Décor: nice. The artwork on the walls downstairs/​basement is a good touch. They also took out that dancefloor flooring that used to be in front of the stage when it was the Blue Monk. It’s a much more comfortable space to be in.

I found this place cool, relaxing, and entertaining. A bartender friend pointed this out — so when I was in the neighborhood I remembered to look up the address. Yes, I used to enjoy a show downstairs — when it was The Blue Monk.
Cody was the bartender this eve. and he demonstrated great hospitality and talent. I ordered a Dirty Martini, how dirty? «Filthy». Executed!
I admired their mix of clientele, wall of vinyl carefully displayed with a random household object propping up an album. I liked the U-​Shaped bar and overall open feel of the bar. I liked the beer selection, too — some BreakSide and Buoy. I didn’t eat food, but their menu looked small, eclectic.
Can’t comment much about what takes place downstairs — DJs and shows.
Overall, I’d return for how I was treated and the solid drink.

We came here because it was listed as the #2 bar in Portland… meh, it was just a bar. The drinks were just okay, and the service was slow although it was not busy. Maybe it would have been better if we could have gone downstairs, but the basement was closed tonight. The music was just piped in 50’s stuff – nothing memorable. Really a let down…

I would give this place 5 stars because it’s f@!king GORGEOUS! Prime location. I’m with the others, however. It has THE MOST potential out of all clubs in Portland. Unfortunately, it’s more of a 3 and a half star place. One change needs to be the volume and bass levels in the basement need to be turned way up. Every time I go, I want to dance, but it just ends up feeling awkward and creepy because I can barely hear the music, let alone feel it. Such a shame since they have wasted all that money on the Funktion speakers. I REALLY REALLY hope they realize that fostering an environment like most prosperous clubs do, would involve creating more of a party atmosphere. I would even offer my services to the owners/​management at no charge. We could pack this place out, every day of the week, no doubt about it. We’d have to begin with advertising heavily that the above chances have been implimented. Best of luck with the success of the venue, guys. You’ll need it.

Great spot to drink, eat, chill, listen some great tunes! You can also venture downstairs for live music and dancing. Good and drinks on point!