Deschutes Brewery & Public House

Bfarr

Washington

3.85/5  rDev -10.5%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4 | service: 3 | selection: 4 | food: 5 | $$$

A big family style resteraunt in the Pearl District just a block over from Powell's books so you have an extra reason to go. Nice looking interior with some nicely carved archways, it really lacks any sort of welcoming feel. It's busy all the time so they know they don't have to make any sort of attempt to get you to come back. They only carry their beer which is okay because they have several experimental beers available for something different. Service from my server was lackluster but some of the other staff seemed more helpful. I will say though, you MUST have the yellow-bellied burger. It's $15 but worth every penny.

10-24-2011 20:59:03 | More by Bfarr

dmgnyc

New York

4.63/5  rDev +7.7%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 4.5 | service: 4.5 | selection: 5 | food: 4.5 | $$

This is how you do a brewpub. My first visit to Portland, and was thrilled to know that Deschutes was a 10 minute walk from my hotel, on the cusp of the Pearl District, right around the corner from the legendary Powell's Bookstore.

Very large, wood-heavy spot with a long bar, high ceilings, and plenty of tables both inside and on the sidewalk. About 20 beers to choose from, ranging from their standards to exclusive creations like the low abv, shandy-esque "Bicycliste," to the "Dissident," a 10% Flanders Brown sour that was still only four dollars for a very generous goblet of same. It was delicious.

I recall flights of six being around 7 dollars, with a handy write-in sheet that made it easy to choose. But what really sets this place apart from your average brewpub is the quality of the food. Fantastic soft pretzels, spicy sausages, and a very respectable burger were all to be had, and reasonably priced. Very good service as well.

The only noticeable flaw was the curiously horrendous music blaring over the p.a. The "Dissident" will make up for my being subjected to P.O.D.'s "Alive" and Nickelback in 2011, but just barely. WTF guys!?

10-02-2011 18:01:47 | More by dmgnyc

dtivp

West Virginia

4.63/5  rDev +7.7%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 4.5 | service: 5 | selection: 4.5 | food: 4.5 | $$

My first trip to Portland would not have been complete without a trip to Deschutes. I didn't have time to drive to bend, however, the brewpub in Portland was a great experience.

The Brewery and Public House was a very large place, a large bar area and a very large restaurant area. There was also a small sidewalk area for outside seating. The decor was very ornate with lots of wood, very fitting for the North West. We arrived early and beat the crowd and landed a nice window table. The atmosphere was excellent.

Selection was very good with approximately 20-25 Deschutes on tap including the year rounds, a nice mix of seaonals, a few one offs and a few pub exclusives. Including a cask and nitro tap selections.

Service was excellent, our server, Nicole, was friendly efficient and was very knowledgeable on the beer. You have to love a girl whose favorite beer styles are porters and stouts.

Food selection was very good the clam and sausage appetizer is excellent. Nice selection of sandwiches and entrees.

Over all we had a great experience and I highly recommend you stop in if your in Portland, get there early.

09-21-2011 22:09:25 | More by dtivp

cbarrett4

Oregon

5/5  rDev +16.3%
vibe: 5 | quality: 5 | service: 5 | selection: 5 | $$

This is without a doubt the best service of any busy brewpub in Portland. I have not once sat in the restaurant side because these bartenders are among the nicest and most attentive in the Pearl District.

Another plus: all of the rotating selections. Every time I return there is something new and EXCITING on tap. Black Butte XXIII, Mirror Mirror lost barrel, Abyss, experimental IPAs, XPAs, Blondes, Saisons, Trippels, Quads, wheat, CDA... the list is endless. And they are all GOOD.

This is the first place I take my out of town friends and family when they arrive in Portland for a visit.

On another note: I didn't rate the food because I am vegan, so I have really only had pretzels with no butter or cheese (yay for mustard!) or modified pizzas.

They have two TVs in the bar (and more in the restaurant) for sports games if you are into that.

This is a fantastic large scale brewpub.

08-07-2011 23:26:16 | More by cbarrett4

oregonskibum

Oregon

4.3/5  rDev 0%
vibe: 3 | quality: 4.5 | service: 4 | selection: 5 | food: 4 | $$$

Review based on many stops at the pub. I usually sit in the bar or restaurant for lunch. Rarely there for dinner.

A: I knock the place down a bit here. Thu-Sat evenings are a zoo and a little on the meat-market side. It can be very loud in the restaurant. Even at an early lunch, the music is typically turned up enough that it's hard to have a conversation with someone. The TVs in the restaurant section seem out of place. The decor is nice, kind of upscale NW (which is perfect for the Pearl District).

Q: Deschutes has really impressed me in the past couple years with the quality of their beers. From time to time there are misses, but overall, their beers fresh on tap are excellent.

Serv: Generally good. Most of the servers try to keep up, but you can expect a little bit of a wait if it's super busy. Escape from work on a Tuesday afternoon around 3:00 though, and service is pretty good at the bar.

Sel: It's not the best overall selection of beer in the city, but for a brewery (and not a beer bar), I can't think of any place that has as many house taps as Deschutes. They are constantly rotating and frequently have beers on that aren't even listed on BA. Plus they run experimental beers through the pub, so there's almost always something interesting available for tasting. And then from time to time, they through on something out the cellar. Nothing like finding an old BBXXI on tap some afternoon.

Food: good. Interesting. But expensive. I don't eat here a lot, but it's always been solid when I have.

Val: a little on the spendy side, especially the food. But it is in the Pearl.

08-05-2011 03:31:12 | More by oregonskibum

tjensen3618

California

3.83/5  rDev -10.9%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4 | service: 3.5 | selection: 4 | food: 3.5 | $$

My first stop on my first trip to Portland, and it was a nice one!

A really large place with ornate wood carvings throughout. It was easy to get a spot as we arrived before noon on a Tues.
We took a spot at a table in the bar area, overlooking the several 25+? taps, there was also a window looking into the copper brewing setup. A very pleasing ambiance for a beer place.

On tap they had all the regulars from Deschutes, a bunch of brewpub one-offs, a couple casks, and some special releases, etc.
I had the '09 Mirror Mirror and my GF got the Sour Saison.

Food ordered was tasty, I had a Chicken sandwich of some kind. Server was nice and helpful, pretty much what you ask for in a server.

Enjoyed my experience here a lot, I wish I could have stayed longer and had a few pints, but there was so much more to do in the short time we were visiting.

07-21-2011 18:38:13 | More by tjensen3618

DaftCaskBC

British Columbia (Canada)

4.28/5  rDev -0.5%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4.5 | service: 4 | selection: 4.5 | food: 4 | $$

Atmosphere: Good atmosphere, although it is a large place so it can get loud at times. More of a family atmosphere than I had envisioned, though, since young children were present at an adjacent table. Wood carvings, a bar section on one side and more of a restaurant with families on the other.

Quality: No complaints.

Service: Staff is busy, and the hostesses made us wait longer than she had to due to a mix up. However, the server was good.

Selection: Largest selection of beers by a brewer I have ever seeen. Food selection was also quite decent.

Food: The food was good, and there were some interesting menu items.

Value: Better value on the beer than on the food.

07-19-2011 08:12:02 | More by DaftCaskBC

Beerandraiderfan

Nevada

3.79/5  rDev -11.9%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 4 | service: 2.5 | selection: 4.5 | $$

Smack dab in downtown Portland, although my iphone map led me somewhere in East Portland, but I digress. Huge place, much bigger than the one in Bend, wood all over the place, cool carvings, big long bar, big glass allows you to see some brew equipment. Largest urinals anywhere.

This most recent time I was there, the brewer's reserve selection or whatever its called wasn't the greatest, but I like that it has never been the same thing. Porter/stout and the saison were decent. Whatever the ipa, it was horrible. Screwed up my tasting order. Didn't fix it. Picked up a case of XXIII relatively easy though. Place always seems packed, even though it probably accomodates over 300, but it is downtown. Smelled lovely. Great woodworking carvings. Weird bi-level tables in the bar area, someone let me know what that is all about. Pizza?

07-11-2011 20:31:35 | More by Beerandraiderfan

zhanson88

Montana

4.18/5  rDev -2.8%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 4 | service: 4.5 | selection: 4 | food: 4 | $$

Went on a relatively short vacation to Portland and had to stop by this place while I was in town.

Atmosphere: The place is pretty cool. You can tell that the place is centered around beer but it was also tastefully decorated, and very large. We got here around lunch time and it was pretty busy, but not overly so.

Quality: Everything seemed very fresh and quality, beer and food included.

Service: The service was excellent. Our waiter was a pretty good guy and seemed to know a lot about the beer Deschutes had to offer on tap at the time.

Selection: The beer selection was very good. I dig pub-only offerings and there were quite a few of those on tap here. A pretty wide selection of styles. My only disappointment is the lack of limited release offerings, but it was mostly just bad timing on my part.

Food: Slightly upscale pub grub, but very tasty. Definitely not disappointing in this category.

Overall, I really enjoyed visiting the Portland pub and would absolutely come back. I'm planning on making it back to Portland at some point and this will be on the must stop list.

07-05-2011 02:27:50 | More by zhanson88

colonelforbin

California

4.66/5  rDev +8.4%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 5 | service: 4.5 | selection: 4.5 | $$

Top notch facility in Portland, OR. I think this place is just a couple years old. The building itself and the interior are very well done. Lots of wood and a great layout. Atmosphere is great. We sat in one of the booths but I checked out the bar area as well. Very nice. Pretty spacious but I imagine it gets crowded. It was on a weekend afternoon when I was there.

Deschutes makes excellent beers so the quality at the public house is outstanding. I was lucky enough to be there when they were doing a five (or four?) year vertical of Abyss. What a treat. They seem to have some pub only selections as well, in addition to their regular offerings, which is always nice to see.

Service was solid. Pretty well run staff, as it sort of has to be for a place of this size.

I will definitely try to get back here next time I am in Portland. Highly recommended.

06-17-2011 18:04:08 | More by colonelforbin