The Alibi | 4024 N Interstate
If you’ve been taking the Alibi—Portland’s first and most famous Tiki bar—for granted, then cut that shit out. After a tidy-up and menu change from its new owners, it’s just as glorious as before. And their happy hour starts at 2 frikkin’ pm! Settle in with some garlic green beans, teriyaki beef skewers, potstickers, or anything else on their $6 menu, as well as a buck off beer, wine, and well drinks, and you’ll be a happy camper. But it gets better: Their happy hour goes all day Sunday—the same day they do karaoke from 11 am to 3 pm. You do the math! WM. STEVEN HUMPHREY
Happy Hour: Mon-Sat 2-7 pm, all day Sun, $1 off beer, wine, & wells, $6 menu
Backyard Social | 1914 N Killingsworth
Backyard Social has a back patio, a classy bar, and at least one very good policy (“UNATTENDED CHILDREN WILL BE GIVEN TO THE GOBLIN KING,” reads a chalkboard), and its happy hour offers solid cocktails (like the $8 Backyard Old Fashioned, which floats a big rock on Buffalo Trace, Reagans and Angostura bitters, orange, and a sugar cube) and a grilled cheese/soup of the day combo with perfectly grilled cheese ($7). So it’s pretty sucky that during my visit Backyard Social also served up some New Portland pretension, with service that was cranky and slow when it wasn’t outright sneering. (Individual results may vary, but beware.) ERIK HENRIKSEN
Happy Hour: 3-6 pm, $1 off 20-ounce drafts, $1 off house wine, $5-10 menu (50 cent charge on card transactions under $10)
Bar Bar | 3939 N Mississippi
Bar Bar—the beefy/boozy sidecar affixed to Mississippi Studios’ beautiful musical motorcycle—is old-fashioned in a charming way. And you can spend a fine few hours sipping sturdy, balanced cocktails and guzzling through an unusual beer list. But at Bar Bar’s best, when it’s nice enough outside to sit on the ample patio and you’re starving for a well-crafted burger, it’s almost transcendent. DENIS C. THERIAULT
Happy Hour: daily 4-6 pm, reduced-price cocktails & beer
The Box Social | 3971 N Williams
The Box Social is an attractive neighborhood bar that serves up happy hour in a series of cocktails: Either short ones ($5), such as a gin and tonic, or tall and more elaborate ($7)—Moscow Mule, Brown Derby, and, most interestingly, the Seelbach. Named after the hotel in Kentucky where it was created in 1917, the Seelbach blends bourbon, orange liqueur, bitters, and bubbles into a balanced and intriguing drink. The food is mostly bar snacks, but they’re remarkably good—witness the flawlessly executed grilled cheese and house-made tomato soup ($6), or the herbed croutons, which tasted like a superior version of the boxed stuff you had when you were a kid. The bartenders are friendly, the lighting subdued, and the atmosphere mellow—it makes for a great meet-up den. MJ SKEGG
Happy Hour: daily 4-6 pm, Sun-Thurs 11 pm-2 am, reduced-price beer, wine, & cocktails, $4-6 menu
Interurban | 4057 N Mississippi
With its dark wood paneling and mounted taxidermy, Interurban plays into quite a few Portland stereotypes. But that shouldn’t stop you from patronizing the North Mississippi bar’s happy hour, which features discounted Irish whiskey pours, solid $5 house cocktails (the tart Jasper’s Punch is my favorite), and some great food deals. The Olympia Provisions pork mini corndogs ($5) are served atop a mountain of fries with a trio of mustards, while the large and delicious pub salad ($4) throws together radicchio, kale, blood orange, pepitas, pistachios, shaved fennel, and pickled kumquat—and I am now madly in love with it. CIARA DOLAN
Happy Hour: Mon-Fri 4-6 pm, $4.50 drafts, $5 wines, $5-6 cocktails, $3-6 Irish whiskey pours, $2-9 menu
Life of Pie | 3632 N Williams
Life of Pie’s very long happy hour, in which you can snag a piping-hot margherita pizza for a mere five bucks is a goddamn bargain anywhere, but particularly along North Williams. Sit at the bar in sight of the wood-fired pizza oven—where you can see your pie being assembled with housemade mozzarella—and pair that $5 margherita with a $4 Barley Brown Point Blank Red or a Boneyard RPM IPA. Boom: in and out, pizza and beer, under $10. EH
Happy Hour: daily 11 am-6 pm, $4 beer & wine, $5 margherita pizza
Moloko | 3967 N Mississippi
Moloko is not your stereotypical Portland bar aesthetic, and its happy hour offers fresh-squeezed OJ or grapefruit juice infusions, Rainier for $2, $5 for house wine and champagne, and a cocktail of the day for $6. The paninis are the only food on the happy hour menu ($1 off the normal $6-10), but they’re pretty filling and delicious. You can add a ton of Kettle Chips to your tuna melt, grilled cheese, or plants/cheese/pesto sandwich for $2. JENNI MOORE
Happy Hour: Sun-Fri 4-7 pm, $5 wine, $2 Rainier, $4 wells, $5-6 cocktails, $1 off sandwiches
No Bones Beach Club | 3928 N Mississippi
This beach-themed, vegan cocktail bar is both welcoming and dangerous—the boozy, frozen piña coladas ($9) are so smooth and creamy you can easily suck one down in five minutes before ordering another. Other options include a margarita for $7, a “Shark Shot” (key ingredient: rum) for $6, or their rotating Surfboard Special for $8, which changes monthly. Then line your belly with their all-vegan food—the crab cakes ($7) created from parsnips and veggies taste nothing like crab, but who cares, as they are crispy and delicious anyway. Their beer-battered avocado tacos ($6) deliver as well—big, crunchy, and packed with a chipotle aioli kick. MJS
Happy Hour: Mon & Wed-Fri 4-6 pm, $7-9 cocktails, $6-8 menu
The Old Gold | 2105 N Killingsworth
Happy hour’s nothing fancy at this near-perfect (if beard-and-designer-ball-cap-filled) neighborhood watering hole—deservedly beloved for its sandwiches, expert cocktails, well-curated tap beers, and prominently displayed roster of astonishingly rare whiskeys. Pay $1 less for your fiery and crisp tofu banh mi (the sweet, pineapple-speckled chicken salad’s a fine alternative) and pay $1 less for the microbrew you’ll want to wash it all down. One warning: While well drinks and wine get the same dollar discount, the whimsical entries on the Old Gold’s cocktail list do not. Order one anyway. DCT
Happy Hour: Mon-Fri 4-7 pm, $1 off wells, wine, micros, & sandwiches
Open Tandoor | 4311 N Williams
Open Tandoor has put together some thoughtful $7 cocktails for happy hour, and the $4 drafts are all solid, but it’s just... not a great scene. It’s over-bright and positioned right across the street from the battle-tested happy hour of Vendetta. However, the happy hour food does boast a small array of snacks, including samosas ($4.50), pakoras ($7), and a curry lentil soup ($4.50) if you need a tasty Indian food fix. DIRK VANDERHART
Happy Hour: Sat & Sun 3-6 pm, $4 beers, $7 cocktails, $1 off snacks menu
Patton Maryland | 5101 N Interstate
Patton Maryland is a temple to good cocktails and South Carolina-style victuals, and the happy hour price is right: $6.50 pulled pork sliders, and every beer in the place is $1 off, including some better beer if that’s your thing. The dealer’s choice $6 happy hour cocktail on a recent visit was a smooth-sipping lemon and vodka number with sprigs of thyme. DVH
Happy Hour: daily 4-6 pm, $1 off beer & wells, $5 wine, $6 cocktails, $2-7 menu
Psychic | 3560 N Mississippi
Though you don’t get the full effect of its red neon windows and vaguely occult décor in the daylight hours, you can enjoy Psychic’s expansive patio at happy hour—and since it’s heated and covered, you could stay out deep into the night as well. You can also enjoy the finest bar popcorn in the city ($4, doused in chaat masala, crispy jalapeño peppers, and crunchy chickpeas), curry fries ($6), and a burger paneer and American cheese ($11), plus save a buck on drafts, house wines, and well drinks. THOMAS ROSS
Happy Hour: daily 4-6 pm, $1 off draft beer, wine, & wells, $4-11 menu
Quaintrelle | 3936 N Mississippi
Quaintrelle may not be the cheapest happy hour—its ever-changing HH menu recently included a $27 steelhead dish, and if you can afford that at happy hour, you better be happy—but it’s a solid contender for prettiest. While food might stretch the limit of “deals,” the drinks are reasonable, and happy hour always features a $6 punch inspired by a classic cocktail. But most importantly, everything—from a plate of bread and butter to a mackerel-and-smoked-yogurt dish or a pisco-and-amaro sour with a sprig of thyme in it—is gorgeous enough to turn a first date into an anniversary. TR
Happy Hour: Wed-Sat 5-6:30 pm, Sun 5-9 pm, $1 off draft beer, $6-8 wines, $2-17+ menu
The Rambler | 4205 N Mississippi
The Rambler is like if someone turned their perfectly located 1920 bungalow into a super casual bar. The Dark ’n’ Stormy ($6 at happy hour) tastes just as complex and wonderful as it sounds, with rum, lime, ginger, bitters, and soda. Food highlights include the Toronado potatoes ($4), fried Brussels sprouts ($6) with charred onion and currants, and the ever-popular chicken strips and fries ($6). JM
Happy Hour: Tues-Fri 4-6 pm, all day Mon, $1 off beers & wells, $6 cocktails, $4-6 menu
Victoria Bar | 4835 N Albina
Oddly, for a place that likes to show off its bottles of spirits on beautiful, backlit shelving, there are no special cocktails during Victoria Bar’s happy hour, just a dollar off well drinks. I settled for the punch ($7) that had me thinking of Tommy Bahama shirts and suntan oil. The house red was decent—a full-bodied Cabernet that remembered to be mannered as well as fruity—while the tap list went from pilsner to porter with a gose detour. MJS
Happy Hour: daily 3-6 pm, $1 off wells, house wine, & beer, $7 punch & Moscow mule, $3-10 menu
Swift and Union | 8103 N Denver
The bright, airy, and welcoming Swift and Union’s happy hour offers cheap, fantastic food options, like a $2 cup of soup (when I went it was a deliciously spicy tomato basil) or a warm, chewy, salty Fressen Bakery pretzel that comes with some punchy Mama Lil’s pepper mustard ($3). There’s more—like a $7 burger or a $3 salmon cake—but a pint, a cup of soup, and two pretzels were all I needed to make taking the MAX up to Denver 100 percent worth it. EH
