City Cast Portland logo

Best Portland Happy Hours

Posted on August 11, 2023   |   Updated on September 30, 2025

Rachel Monahan

glass storefront with tables outside.

Hey Love is in the Jupiter NEXT Hotel. (Rachel Monahan/City Cast Portland)

August can be a slower month. Maybe it’s time to fit in some late-afternoon drinks. Brooke Jackson-Glidden, editor of Eater Portland, shared her recommendations for the city’s best drinks, snacks, and meals at happy hours around town. Here’s a selection:

'Nice Day, Good Vibe'

“The place has been there forever, and their happy hour is wildly inexpensive. They do a $6 mix-and-match. So basically you can pick from a list of whiskeys and you can pick how it's served. And you're sitting out on their covered patio thing. It's just lreally, really nice classic happy hour vibes.”

Fancy Drinks

“I'm going for the cocktail happy hours. Sometimes those two specific places can get a little crowded later in the day or in the evening, and if you go during happy hour, it's mellower.”

Good Meal

“I was blown away. Their cocktails are good, but they made one of the best gumbos I've had in Portland. And it was a happy hour gumbo that was like seven dollars. They do catfish sliders and that kind of thing — really, really good and very clearly dialed in.”

“They knock $10 off of their bowls of pasta. It's playing the hits. It runs all night at the bar.”

New Happy Hour

“I'm perplexed by it and kind of delighted. It's death-themed, but in not a bummer way. It's not goth or anything. They have a coffin hanging from the ceiling with a disco ball in it, and they have an ‘unhappy hour.’”

If none of these are your pick, you can find more recommendations on the City Cast Portland podcast. Or you can check out Eater Portland’s picks.

But also, do you have a recommendation: What are your favorite happy hours?

Must-Try Happy Hours
see more:food

Share article

Hey Portland

Stay connected to City Cast Portland and get ready to join the local conversation.

Can't subscribe? Turn off your ad blocker and try again.

Food & Drink

See All
Food & DrinkOctober 5

The Best Fall Foods in Portland

A fall festival at Bauman's Farm apples at a Hood River orchard (Kiyokawa Family Orchards, ideally), and a Sauvie Island pumpkin patch (B...

A pulled pork sandwich, soup, and apple cider slushy at Sugarpine Drive-In.
Food & DrinkSeptember 27

Take a Tour of Franz Bakery in Portland

There are some things you knead to dough (sorry, seasonal allergies are the worst) about Franz Bakery, a fifth-generation, family-owned b...

Loaves of Franz bread tumble off of a conveyor belt at Franz Bakery in Portland, Oregon.
Food & DrinkApril 7

Where To Find the Best Deals for Portland Groceries

For the last year, Stumptown Savings’ Bryan M. Vance has been tracking where to find the cheap groceries in Portland. His one-person medi...

A grocery store aisle.
Food & DrinkFebruary 17

Where To Find Portland's Best Dumplings

Dumplings are a comfort food, a Portland favorite, and perfect for the rain. Eater Portland editor Brooke Jackson-Glidden recently shared...

Bamboo basket of xlb dumplings, Portland, Oregon
Food & DrinkJanuary 26

Portland Kids Eat Well and More Restaurant Updates

Portland restaurants offer a foodie take on the kids menu. Kann hosts a Georgia king of barbecue. Rangoon Bistro is moving its original l...

hush puppies and a dip next to a golden colored basket, Parallel Wine Bar, Portland, Oregpn
Food & DrinkJanuary 6

The 5 Portland Restaurants To Try Right Now

January is a quiet month for restaurants and bars, while everyone minds their budgets and their waistlines after the holidays and New Yea...

bar scene at LaVerne's in Portland, Oregon
Food & DrinkDecember 22, 2025

Portland Restaurant and Bar Closings As 2025 Comes to an End

The end of year is filled with celebrations of the best restaurants in town.

a hush puppy from Parallel Wine Bar, Portland, Oregon
Food & DrinkDecember 17, 2025

The Best Things We Ate in Portland in 2026

Portland had an abundance of good restaurants to choose from. As we head into a new year, the City Cast Portland team is sharing a person...

a white table clothed setting with raw shrimp and sauce in one dish and a curry in another, and empty plate

The latest in Portland

Local CivicsOctober 29

Your Guide To the Fall 2026 Election in Portland

We’re closing in on Election Day 2026, so here's your guide to the key races and how to vote in the Portland area.

hand putting ballot into mailbox
The Weekly Wander by City Cast PortlandOctober 25

Side Quest: A Bubbly Backstory

Which backstory of downtown Portland’s Benson bubblers do you choose to believe?

A four-armed drinking fountain pedestal, known in Portland as Benson Bubblers, squirts water. Yellow leaves cover the bricks and some leaves have even landed in the bowls of the bubbler.
The Weekly Wander by City Cast PortlandOctober 22

Your Guide to Downtown Portland

Last caw! Don’t miss out on “Follow the Crows,” an interactive art trail in downtown Portland celebrating Laika’s upcoming film, “Wildwood.”

Downtown Portland’s skyline sparkles during blue hour. The perspective shows the view from Pittock Mansion, facing eastward.
The Weekly Wander by City Cast PortlandOctober 18

Side Quest: Drawing Nature into the City

Every award-winning park starts with a sketch. See the history behind one of Portland’s most famous green spaces.

Landscape design sketches from architect Lawrence Halprin show the vision for a tree-lined promenade in downtown Portland’s Open Space Sequence.
The Weekly Wander by City Cast PortlandOctober 18

Your Guide to Portland State University

There’s always something to do around the South Park Blocks, from the PSU Farmers Market to cultural celebrations like Catrinas en la Calle.

Two passengers walk onto the yellow and green Portland Streetcar beneath a leafy green canopy at the South Park Blocks stop on Portland State University’s campus.
The Weekly Wander by City Cast PortlandOctober 11

Side Quest: From Beyond the Grape

Frightful festivities from beyond the grapes await as Willamette Valley wineries host Halloween events. Throw on your costume and get rea...

Fog sits low among the fields and trees of Willamette Valley wine country. In the foreground, green grape plants show signs of fall as leaves begin to turn yellow.
The Weekly Wander by City Cast PortlandOctober 11

Your Guide to Tualatin

Don’t rock the gourd or you’ll miss Tualatin’s West Coast Giant Pumpkin Regatta when it returns Oct. 18. Join the fun and see what else t...

Two costumed people — one dressed as an aviator and the other in a squirrel suit — paddle their giant pumpkins toward the finish line at the West Coast Giant Pumpkin Regatta in Tualatin. Crowds of people cheer them on in the background.
The Weekly Wander by City Cast PortlandOctober 4

Side Quest: A Smile That Can’t Be Bleat

Need a mood boost? Portland's goats deliver. Here's where to visit, feed, and hang out with the city's most charming herds, from St. John...

A black and white goat stands elevated on a stone and wood tower outside of the Sellwood Goat House in Portland, Oregon.