Rock Bottom Restaurant and Brewery

kdoc8

Oregon

3.7/5  rDev +1.9%
vibe: 3 | quality: 3.5 | service: 4.5 | selection: 3.5 | food: 3.5 | $$

I've been to this place a few times. It's at a great location and is the closest brewery to the McCall Waterfront Park in Portland. They usually have about 7-8 beers to choose from on tap. None of them are spectacular but none of them are terrible either. They have a pretty extensive menu, reminiscent of a typical chain restaurant though. The atmosphere is a bit like a sports bar depending on where you are sitting, and lively at night. They also have outdoor seating. Their location is really their selling point, as it's right on the MAX line and in central downtown Portland.

06-18-2009 21:30:57 | More by kdoc8

tjensen3618

California

2.95/5  rDev -18.7%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 3 | service: 2 | selection: 3 | food: 3.5 | $$

This turned out to be the last stop of the night in Portland. It was a great place to be on a Tuesday night, they had some live music that was really very good.

It was real busy in there so the service wasn't quite on point. We ordered an appetizer and a couple rounds of beers. Food tasted good in an overly greasy kinda drunk sort of way. Beers were definitely below the curve in a city like Portland, but they did the trick and tasted alright.

The atmosphere and the live music made this the perfect stop at the end of a long day, I'm really glad we stopped by.

11-12-2011 02:51:47 | More by tjensen3618

Redrover

Illinois

3.75/5  rDev +3.3%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4 | service: 3 | selection: 4 | food: 4 | $$

It was a cold & rainy night, so I decided to stick close to my hotel. I was glad I had a good option.

RB is located in an older corner building. There are two main areas. There is dining to your left and the bar and more dining straight ahead.

I like the very high ceilings with the exposed old wood rafters. They use half walls to add a sense of space. They use lots of copper, wood and plants for decoration. I like the rustic lighting in the bar room.

They had a huge crowd for happy hour. The bar was 4/5ths full at 5 pm. Good food and beer specials from 2 to 6 pm that may help explain the crowd.

I enjoyed the friendly staff and patrons. However, service really dragged. I was sitting at the bar and the single bartender took care of the wait staff before the customers at the bar. Even when they brought tin a 2nd bartender, service was slow. I know I waited 5 to 10 minutes on two different occasions for a beer.

They have a large blackboard in the bar area listing the regular offerings. 7 on the board during my visit plus two seasonals (yea Dunkelwiezen!!). 2 beers on cask.

I thought the food and beer were well worth a stop. Service could be improved, but I was not in any big hurry.

05-19-2011 15:43:18 | More by Redrover

squaremile

Oregon

3.73/5  rDev +2.8%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4 | service: 4 | selection: 3 | $

Decided to give them a try after some nice talk about their seasonals and one offs. Place is your expected up-scale touristy brew-pub by the numbers, but done very well. Sat at the bar and was helped promptly, while I ordered a sample tray. Bartender gave me an extra and I was shocked at the 4.95 price for what ended up being 7 4oz pours. The beers were respectable for their styles and all quite drinkable. Great TVs all around the room showing world cup. I could imagine going back to watch a game if I'm in SW and Bailey's is closed.

07-10-2010 21:47:10 | More by squaremile

jdense

Oregon

3.68/5  rDev +1.4%
vibe: 3.5 | quality: 3.5 | service: 4 | selection: 3.5 | food: 4 | $$

Visited 7.2.2010 during Waterfront Blues Festival for a pre-funk (Trombone Shorty!) beer and snack.

Located hard on the MAX line, I'd certainly suggest taking public transit than fighting for a parking spot on any nearby street (although SmartPark provides a nice option). Certainly has that corporate brewpub (lack of) ambience, loud blaring 70s/80s rock, with a number of HDTVs to watch games, World Cup, etc. on. I have to say the beer is pretty good at this location due to headbrewer Van Havig, no newbie to the Oregon brewing scene. I tried several brews and while the Saison was a bit undercarbonated it was tasty, as was the unfiltered American Dream IPA released the previous day. I dabbled with the happy hour food menu, there was sufficient choices to go with the fairly extensive regular beer list, along with three seasonals and two cask conditioned beers. The help was attentive enough but not overbearing. While there are certainly better places to drink downtown, it was before 4 so Bailey's wasn't open yet. In a pinch if you are looking for a beer and some grub with buddies this makes sense. Worth a try for Van's seasonals and one-offs, though a bit light on the ABV side pretty tasty stuff.

07-03-2010 17:42:17 | More by jdense

djbreezy

Washington

4.22/5  rDev +16.3%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 4 | service: 4.5 | selection: 4 | food: 4.5 | $$

Rock Bottom is one of the initial places where I started drinking craft beer. The beer here is pretty solid, but now that I've become a fairly intensive consumer, I haven't been back solely for the beer. I think I definitely need to give it a chance.

The bar is nice here but it gets packed. The restaurant provides a great experience, and the upstairs area is a good place to enjoy pool.

I'm pretty fond of the food, and the service is usually pretty on point. I like the appetizers on the menu as well as many of the main courses. A good spot to hang out at with friends or a large group if you can get in.

03-12-2010 06:12:56 | More by djbreezy

RedBrewer83

Oregon

3.73/5  rDev +2.8%
vibe: 4 | quality: 3.5 | service: 4 | selection: 3.5 | food: 4 | $$

Tried this place with my wife recently....good experience overall. The atmosphere is nice, typical urban pub feel. Pool tables upstairs along with additional seating. Lots of stained wood and the bar has a nice vibe. The beer quality is good, but I wouldn't say great, nothing standout and pretty typical offerings. The service was good, attentive and knowledgeable about the brews and food. Selection was good as well, again would help to have some more exciting offerings. The food was pretty good and the price we paid for it was reasonable. Overall the experience was nice, but nothing that would make me really want to come back, especially with so many other breweries to try in Portland.

01-11-2010 19:30:28 | More by RedBrewer83

NeroFiddled

Pennsylvania

3.95/5  rDev +8.8%
vibe: 3.5 | quality: 4 | service: 4 | selection: 4 | food: 4 | $$

I think that there are enough reviews here to cover the basics. It's a nice, well-done place with a good sized bar. The beers and food are typical Rock Bottom. Some of the beers are better than they are at other locations, and some of them are not as good as they are at other locations - that's Rock Bottom (but at least they give their brewer's a little elbow room in the specialties area). The service is good and the prices are reasonable. So, basically, if you've been to another Rock Bottom, you've been here. The only difference here is that there are so many better places so close.

10-10-2009 21:28:56 | More by NeroFiddled

heapofaoatmeal

North Carolina

2.85/5  rDev -21.5%
vibe: 3 | quality: 2.5 | service: 2 | selection: 4 | food: 3 | $$

diacetyl.

getting the sampler was a mixed bag. the ipa was to style and perfectly acceptable, as was their stout and poter. although my wife(she is a double ipa, and belgian ale kinda girl) didnt see any difference between the two. their lager was a butter bomb, exactly what i expect when i have a lager from a brewpub. but what was interesting was heather and i also picked up butter in both the wheat beer and the amber; albeit in much lower quantities as both these beers were far more drinkable.

the pub itself was clean, welcoming for families, and full of tvs. the server we had was clueless, it was obviously not her first day, but it could have been her last. i went to the bathroon, my wife tried to order unsuccessfully, but we did get a sampler. our order came out with no napkins, i couldnt get the the server to slow down to take my pint order, and then we had trouble getting her to give us a check and swipe our card so we could leave.

all in all it was unimpressive, diacetyl, and service was bad. food was ok, it was clean, well lit, and and offered food that was non threatening.

might be good for a low end business lunch, but that is about it. there are so many brewpubs that are just so much better in portland i see no need to return.

01-14-2009 17:46:03 | More by heapofaoatmeal

msubulldog25

Oregon

3.83/5  rDev +5.5%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4 | service: 4 | selection: 3.5 | food: 3.5 | $$$

Despite quite a few visits over the years, I've yet to review this brewpub - until now. Located on the ground floor of an historic building at SW 2nd/Morrison in the midst of downtown Portland, adjacent to the MAX station.

Bar area is to the right, restaurant to the left upon entering at the street corner. Some overflow space upstairs holds several pool tables and a smaller bar and occasionally hosts special events (notably the 'Cheers to Belgian Beers' mini-fest in 2007). Upstairs is also where most of the brewing operations are kept; several big 16-bbl tanks are visible through huge windows overlooking the bar, with several more smaller tanks on the lower level. High ceilings (at least 20') and tall north and east-facing windows give an airiness to space, though deep booths and some heavy outdoor awnings can still make it seem rather dark. Plenty of TVs in the bar (where I most often have found myself) tuned to all the ESPN channels. Outdoor seating when the weather is nice, smoking in the bar after 9pm (at least until January 2009, when the smoking ban hits).

Beer choices are good and cover the range of styles, from the lightest Pales/Blondes/Wheats to Stouts and Porters. They have regular tappings on Thursday evening, about every 3-4 weeks (check the chalkboard up front). Brewers Van Havig and (newly hired from BJ's) Vasilios Gletsos stick with some RB original styles (often creatively named for local landmarks) but also craft some clever seasonals and one-offs (the Flanders Red called 'Ned', served at OBF 2007, comes to mind), often for local beer festivals. 2 casks are centered behind the bar; on this day the offerings were 'Sunny Day' IPA and 'Oregonic' Amber. The latest tapping is a tasty and balanced IPA called 'American Dream'.

Food is pretty standard pub-like fare, with a variety to please the masses. I picked a club sandwich and caesar salad today, but have opted for other sandwiches, soups, burgers, nachos or pretzels on other occasions. All are pretty good, though none remarkable. There's a pretty nice discount on some items during happy hour (which I believe is 3-6pm and after 10pm most days). Costs seem a little high, typically $10 or more for most entrees, even at lunchtime.

Service is usually very friendly, but sometimes a bit slow, even when it shouldn't be. Expect a little wait, but also expect a smile and a cute server. Samples of the beers come freely. Pints are of the imperial variety and are $4.50, with $2.95 10 oz. pours.

Not a 'must-visit' but certainly a good pub staffed with nice people and skilled brewers doing all they can to craft beers for the masses as well as a fickle Portland beer crowd. Recommended.

06-06-2008 21:02:36 | More by msubulldog25