I’ve been to East Burn probably five or six times now and am convinced that if it were a person it would classify as a shape-shifter. Don’t get me wrong, I always enjoy myself, but for different reasons each time. First it was the skeeball and jukebox. Then it was the patio with fire and swings. Then it was the sassy bartenders. And so on. Every time I go to East Burn I get a different experience. It doesn’t seem to have found its scene yet either, which makes it all the more exciting in my opinion. You never know what you’re going to get. One night it’s packed with skinny-jeaned hipsters and the next you have to fight through a battalion of Jager-bomb shooting swingers to get to the bar. A week later it’s mellow, classy and you can settle into a nice buzz on the patio. So I like it. With a melting pot of neighborhood characters who all show up for a different reason, East Burn is like the Goodfoot Lounge in many ways. It’s got it all: a grip of heady microbrew taps, cheap tallboys, trivial pursuit cards on every table, an electric race car track, solid pub fare (great burgers), DJ’s on several nights, etc. And then there’s the upstairs…

Ever since it opened, a lot has been made of the polarity between the upstairs and down at East Burn. Everything I’ve described until now applies to the downstairs. While I’ve never actually eaten upstairs, I’ve walked through it several times on my way to and from the patio. It’s a whole different world up there: fine dining setting, chic bar and a small stage featuring jazz and lounge-style performers. Bizarre? Maybe. But I think it’s this bold business model that makes East Burn a unique new Portland haunt. I love any kind attempt to bridge the different clicks and demographics of Portland. It makes for good people watching and gives people a place they can meet new and interesting people. So here’s to skeeball, Captured By Porches IPA and strange encounters of the inner-Portland kind.

East Burn
1800 E. Burnside
(503) 236-2876