If you’re fortunate enough to walk into Green Dragon Bistro
& Brewpub when owner Jim Parker is tending bar—as he often
does—do yourself a favor, and let him choose your beer.
The man has a beer-soaked resume a mile long: He published a beer
magazine in Colorado, ran a brewery-tour operation, was head brewer for
two breweries, worked at the Institute for Brewing Studies, became the
director of the American Homebrewers Association, and finally landed in
Oregon, where he headed up the Oregon Brewers Guild for six years.
“What I wasn’t doing was standing behind a bar, pouring someone a
beer,” Parker says. That changed when he opened Oaks Bottom Public
House in early 2006 (which he’s since sold), and the Green Dragon
Bistro & Brewpub in October, just off of SE Belmont.
On the brewpub side of the massive space—formerly home to
Yamhill Brewing—the beer selection is impressive, but impossible
to list: Open less than two months, Green Dragon has already rotated
more than 120 beers through its 18 taps, a selection that changes so
frequently, the beer menu can only be found on an easy-to-amend
chalkboard. The brew I sipped while chatting with Parker
recently—Elysian’s Immortal IPA—would run out by the
evening, he told me, and be replaced. He dedicates some of the taps to
specific styles of beer, always pouring three kinds of Belgian beers,
for example.
What makes the cut? Parker skips the “flagship” beers offered by
smaller breweries—you’ll never find BridgePort’s IPA at Green
Dragon, but he would pour BridgePort’s lesser-known Extra Special
Bitter. Otherwise, the beer just “has to be good” by his standards,
which means Parker has to “appreciate and respect it,” he says. “If I
can look you in the face, and say, ‘I can recommend this,’ then I’ll
put that beer on.”
By next spring, Parker hopes Green Dragon will also have five of
their own house-brewed beers on tap. One of his business partners,
Lorren Lancaster—who’s brewed at Deschutes and Anderson
Valley—is currently rounding up brewing equipment. There are also
plans to roast coffee, make their own sodas, and distill spirits.
The bistro side is just as ambitious, but less impressive. Upscale
pub offerings like guajillo chilaquiles sounded like a fancy riff on
nachos, until they arrived: The bowlful of semi-soggy chips capped with
seasoned zucchini and sour cream was bizarre and bland, while the spicy
au jus that accompanied a decent but unadorned Cajun meatloaf sandwich
more closely resembled bean dip. A grilled veggie panini from the lunch
menu, however, was perfect pub grub—crisp on the outside, with
tangy vegetables crammed inside. And the frites that accompany many of
Green Dragon’s meals are excellent. (Meanwhile, $14 and $15
entrées like roasted beet gnocchi or steamed mussels just seem
out of place in the casual, beer-focused joint; Green Dragon would do
better to focus on well-made pub standards like hot sandwiches, the
current highlight of the menu.)
Your best bet is to come for the beer, and perhaps snag something
off the happy hour menu—like the $6 “sausage du jour,” $5 fried
stuffed olives, or a $3 side of frites with curry aioli. And dare
Parker to find the perfect pint to pair with your meal.