Basement Pub

A cozy neighborhood haunt with a great jukebox and a nice backyard. Miss ya, Basement!

Nice quiet bar with cheap drinks. I like the outdoor seating and pinball machines. The bartender is really nice and seems to treat newcomers and old timers the same.

Wonderful bartender with creative suggestions! Great pricing, great environment and great service! What more could you want! Definitely found my new neighborhood bar!

STRONG mold smell assaults you the moment you enter. How this place hasn’t been shut down by health inspectors is far beyond me. It’s literally in a basement and does not have a proper dehumidifier. When we went there was condensation running down the walls and again, serious mold smell. We lasted less than 30 seconds. The stench was too much, not to mention breathing in humid mold air is dangerous for your health. The building probably wouldn’t even pass inspection to sell it.

I’m only going to give this place a two because I actually haven’t had a chance to eat here yet.
I have come here before to attempt to eat here, however they don’t open until the afternoon. When we went in there it was about 10 minutes until the guy said hi to us and even offered to get us water. Let me remind you there was only one additional person in the place and it had just opened… so there was no reason for non-​speedy customer service.
During my 10 minute wait I did check out the menu and it had limited options more like vegetarian options I’m not a vegan… so I don’t want to knock this place because I actually haven’t had the food yet.
Honestly with the shitty customer service I don’t plan to ever here

Came here after a bad experience at Roadside attraction. I was greeted by a friendly blonde bartender promptly served, and everything tasted great. She got the tip the other (at Roadside) didn’t work for. When in doubt, hit up Basement Pub first!

We got two drinks, one with Aviation gin, and the total was $ 10. How is this even possible?!? I’m still so stunned by it, I don’t even know what else to say.
I’ll update after I go back.

Probably my favorite bar in portland. This place feels like home. Simply put, everything a neighborhood should be.

This place is great. You can drink beer, play pinball, and try and control the jukebox. Plenty of tables for groups. Also the walls are decorated by local artist. The staff is great to serve you a cold beer.

Stopped in here on a Saturday night for a beverage. Quick, friendly service, we all got our drinks in a timely fashion. I loved the ambiance — nice and dark, with a lounge feel to it. I got a whiskey sour, and it was pleasantly stiff. It looked like they had a small food menu. This seemed like a good place to meet a group for a few drinks — I’ll definitely be back for a beverage, hopefully sometime soon.
The bar is definitely on the smaller side, so to speak. I liked the «cozy» feel of it. They were playing good music, and we did not have trouble finding a seat early on in the evening (10:00 p.m., I think). As we left around 10:45, it was really filling up with people.
Highly recommended if you’re looking for a good dive bar in SE.

it was fine til lady gaga started blasting through their shitty sound system. gross.

I suspect they have to know who you are to rate anywhere in this place. It feels like the opposite of Cheers. A beautiful day to happy hour hop… but this place is a bit too dark and cold for any of that.
It is laid out kinda cool, a little hidden corner booth, small bar, a couple tables, and even a few old-​ish pinball machines. I opted for the Sopranos machine since one of the other options was CSI… I don’t do CSI, now if they’d had a Law & Order machine, you couldn’t stop me. But sadly, even the machine seemed to mock me and tell me I didn’t belong here.
No happy hour from what I could discern, or we would have stayed longer and ordered food. The picnic tables outside are a nice addition and make a cool spot to sit on a sunny day. On this day, a slightly-​to-​very crazy Vietnam Vet (just guessing) was plunked outside being extra crazy so I didn’t make use of the outdoor seating.
I guess this place is cool for the hipsters who hang out here… but not really for me.

Interesting place for happy hour. It was dark and mostly quiet inside. With one exception, the retired Marine yelling out how proud he was to be a Marine. The bartender shut him down quickly. She was bad ass.
20oz pints of beer for the 16oz price or 50 cents off mixed drinks and some small bites to eat. I had a really good porter. Very few people but there were some old pinball machines. World Cup 94, Soprano’s and CSI and of course a small fish tank. My friend did poorly on the Soprano’s game. Oh well, one and done and on to the next happy hour. Nice dive bar.

This is a dark cave of a bar. They’ve got a fish tank in the middle and nice padded seats on one wall. The people that go there are generally pretty awesome every time I’ve gone, and they do nice pub trivia on Sunday that me an my date got destroyed on. We didn’t even place. Our glasses to person ratio was way above any other table, and yet we were not the smartest. I think the Basement is actually where the smart people go here in Portland, and I got hustled.
Anyway, good drink selection and they’ve got fun pinball. I’m not super good at pinball, but they don’t say anything when I jostle the machine. I bet they think I’m just dumb and don’t know how to make it work because of my trivia showing, so probably don’t jostle the pinball as much as I would.
After being introduced to this place a week or two ago, I’ve finished a few nights here and I’ve been comfortable and happy to do so. I don’t think this would be everyone’s cup of tea, but probably if you’re bad at pub trivia come on out. I hate finishing in last.

They take care of their fish here at basement pub

The basement pub is dark. Like so dark after 10 minutes of sitting at the bar I realized that there were people sitting across from us that were just coming into focus. I literally couldn’t see anything in this place coming in off the street, Not a big deal at all for the review but I just found it super odd haha. Ok, so the walls are adorned with great art, I wanted so many things and they aren’t expensive either so go get some for your wall. They are mostly animals and they are pretty damn cool. I love that their is a deck out back, you can bring your beer to, and for smokers, you can smoke, which is nice, I don’t smoke but I get it. We ordered some drinks, prices are good, and the mac and cheese which was awesome. I’d definitely come back!

What an awesome outdoor area! I really enjoyed playing games in the back with beers during cheap imperial beer prices. We stuck around for trivia, which I love, but ended up not thinking too highly of at Basement Pub. It was really quick, which could be a positive if you werent looking for a full experience, 45mins only. Wasn’t really my thing. There were two bartenders that I had, one that was very friendly and the other that was sort of a sourpuss that was hard to even get her eye when I was the only one at the bar. Overall it was pretty nice. I would skip trivia next time unless I’m looking for just a quick game.

Contrary to its name, I don’t see any basement here. But it kinda makes you feel like you’re in one. Dark and gloomy. But the place is always alive with (mostly) hipsters, especially during summer. The have a big patio in the back. Can’t really say much about their average food. Still a fun place to hangout, if you don’t have anywhere else to go.

I have been a patron of the Basement Pub for over a decade. Yet, with all the changes that have altered the landscape of Portland ever growing bar culture, I still find myself belly up to the bar at the Basement Pub with the same gleeful cheer as I had when I first walk in over a decade ago.
With a lovely eccentric cast of regulars and equally entertaining staff, the Basement Pub has created a culture rather unique and that its managed to not change and yet still evolve since opening its doors in 2001.
The properly dimly lit interior is affixed with the click clack madness of pinball machines, enlightened aquatic life and a healthy array of hanging plants. All back washed against a interior of dark green paint. A monthly neighborhood art show hangs adjacent to the pubs permanent collection of pictures and artsy clutter. Cheeky mismatched tables and chairs logically laid out in this basement space complete the supplied atmosphere. For those who care to partake in a smoke or seek the sun, a cozy wood patio in the back awaits.
The drinks and beers provided are of the standard fair, with a nod to the healthy drinker in all of us with 20oz happy hour drafts. The modest daily food menu serves as a staple for those who just want a snack to continue with the task of drinking or to tide them over until reaching their nights end. For those who love the art of the game, the the Basement is quite possible the best pub in town for their popular weekly trivia, name that tune and cribbage tournaments.
Where a pint glass is seemingly always raised high, good conversation endlessly permeates the air and where the otherwise sane among us delight in the simple joys this pub has to offer, the Basement Pub earns a stellar five star review for being there for us all to enjoy.

Because most places within a 4 – 10 block radius refuse to stay open past midnight or 1am at best… this place has become a «last stop» sort of bar for me.
This is usually the cherry on my Green Dragon sundae.
The bartenders are insanely competent, self-​sufficient machines of efficiency. Make sure you know what you want when they look at you. There is often only one person running the whole show here, impressive.
The Décor is dark and cozy, there are pinball machines, comfortable sitting places, and hidden nooks. In a way the «feel» of this place reminds me of my favorite place back in Spokane. (Baby Bar, which I have yet to find a fitting replacement for, btw).
They always treat me right and have a couple good beers on tap, can’t complain. Gives me the courage to continue my walk home.
P. S. THEY ALSO HAVE A FISHTANK