Bridgeport Ale House

Good beer, reasonably priced and chill atmosphere. Service was a tad bit slow, but its Portland, what do you expect, lol Parking sucked. Oregon micro brew baby!

As far as Portland’s breweries go, Bridgeport seems to be among the most «upscale.» The clientele is a bit more «young professional» than «Hawthorne Hipster,» the food is very high quality compared to the food at other breweries (but it’s also more expensive), and the atmosphere of the pub has that upscale, corporate (somewhat yuppie, but not in a bad way) feel to it. This probably detracts many hipsters, but that’s not always a bad thing.
Bridgeport makes some of the best beer in Portland. It’s been around for a long time too, claiming to be Oregon’s oldest craft brewer. Bridgeport was founded by one of Oregon’s most renowned wine makers, the Ponzi family, who, I trust, know how to make outstanding adult beverages out of fresh, quality raw materials. Plus Bridgeport has won awards internationally, which really says something about their beer. Trust me, it’s freaking amazing. As good as it gets in the realm of craft beer.
And their food is also as good as it gets in comparison to your typical brewery pub grub. The menu has a sort of Asian/​Hawaiian fusion thing going on (such as Korean Fried Chicken with yangnyeom sauce, furikake rice, fried egg, and kimchi or Loco Moco Hawaiian comfort food) but also includes more standard pub-​grub favorites (such as mac-​n-​cheese or a pulled-​pork sandwich). They also have outstanding pizzas. Everything I’ve ordered from here to eat has been outstanding, if very filling. The portions are huge, so consider sharing with another if you aren’t alone.
Bridgeport has become a large corporate brewer producing something like 100,000 barrels per year with distribution in about 20 states. It’s nowhere the size of New Belgium of course, but it’s a large brewer. Because of this, many beer snobs seem to right it off, claiming it has become «too corporate» (the McMenamins Brothers, Deschutes, Rogue, Pyramid, and Widmer Brothers get a similar wrap) but truth is, they are all locally businesses. So what if «Bridgeport has gone corporate” — they still make some of the best beer I’ve ever had and remain a local institution!

I think we’re just spoiled here. In any other city Bridgeport would be the bomb, but here in beer town Bridgeport (is it because there are several locations?) seems to be regarded as a step or two above something like a Portland TGIFridays.
I’m not sure why. The beers are actually pretty good. The food is inconsistent, but is still scads better than something you’d get at a TGIF. Is it creative or challenging? Not particularly, it’s still bar food. However there are some pretty good vegetarian options (the quinoa bowl isn’t bad) and the pizzas are good (no, not Apizza Scholls good, but no hour wait either.) The all day Sunday happy hour (3 dollar pints!) is pretty sweet as well. Service is good.
All in all Bridgeport is why 3-​star reviews exist. It’s A-​ok. Good. You can take just about anyone here, from finicky friends to co-​workers to your Kansas mom, and know that they will be able to find something that they can eat and will likely enjoy.

I went to the alehouse to kill some time while my wife was taking class nearby. She talked me into going there because of a write up about some of their vegan offerings.
First Dish: 3 of 5 stars
I ordered the «oko-​lindoo-​yaki» a vegan Japanese pancake. It is very large, plenty of big enough for 3 or 4 to share as an appetizer. It has an interesting flavor, but after eating about ¹⁄₃ of it, it became too righ for me to continue on.
Second Dish: 0 of 5 stars
I ordered the Vegan bowl which was a huge mistake. I essentially took 2 – 3 bites and didnt eat another bite. It was totally lack luster and had NO flavor at all. It was like eating just plain quinoa. I brought the rest home and my wife had the exact same review, ate a few bites and we threw the rest of it away.
Now I’ve had vegan bowls all over town and don’t except to all pop with flavor, but when two people won’t even eat it, that says everything. And top of that, who the hell charges $ 12, I guess I should have known better.

First time I’ve been since they remodled. They’ve also thrown out their old menu for one that’s maybe Asian-​fusion. Not really my style, but the beer had arrived and she was hungry (come to mention, I was hungry too), so she went with a vegan bowl with some chicken added, I went with Mac and Cheese with bacon.
Summary:
Hop Czar was very good.
The vegan /​chicken bowl had «nothing wrong with it»
The Mac and Cheese was a festival of salt and grease. Should have left it. One of the worst things I’ve ever eaten.
Service was fair.
Atmosphere was oppresive.
Good beer but you can get good beer just about anywhere these days.

— Locale Destination —
It’s on SE Hawthorne Blvd and SE 37^th Ave, Portland, OR.
Neighborhoods: Southeast Portland, Hawthorne, Richmond
It’s very close to «The Waffle Window».
Inside is roomy, simple and contemporary chic design. Open kitchen. They have nice outside seating as well. TV for your game. Great service! Thank you for the great services for my birthday friend. What you did was just amazing. She was excellent (We waited for them to open at 1130 am ;p Of course, we got a great service)!! Street parking.
— Gluttony Expedition —
Foods look very interesting — Hawaiian, Japanese, Korean, burgers etc. I’ll try it next! Tasting flight: All 9 beers for $ 9.
1) Porter: Light/​medium body, mild toasted bitterness.
2) Summer squeeze bright ale: Very light body, not so much bubbly, full of yuzu zest and lemongrass flavors, very fruity. Interesting.
3) IPA: Medium body, mild hoppy, well balanced IPA. One of the best IPA I’ve ever had! This is definitely my favorite !!!
4) Spiced amber: Seasonal. Watery, lacked in CO2, nice mild bitterness.
— Conqueror’s Deduction —
4.5 stars — just because the IPA and the services were amazing! I wanna try their foods next time! What a great brewpub!!! Oregon beer scene is just AMAZING — hidden gems are all over!!! Not only good beers but also great service! I wish I could live around here ;p

Ok, I’m only giving this two stars because I like their beer because my last experience at this place was pure one star awfulness.
So, the beer here is always pretty tasty and the food is always pretty mediocre. A visit prior to our last was met with this awesome interaction:
«oh, we see you have nacho’s on special tonight… we’ll take an order.»
«Sorry, that special is only for Men’s Night.»
«I’m a man… I’d like to order the nacho’s and I promise my wife won’t eat any.»
«That’s not the point of the special sir. It’s to bring in groups of men.»
«Ok, can I pay $ 2 more and get the nacho’s?»
«No.»
So, given that amazing nugget of customer service, we should have never came back. But we did.
This time we decided to try a new menu item. It was a japanese vegetable pancake and it sounded exciting! When it came out, it was a big pile of soupy dough with vegetables mixed in and awful. But, hey, no big deal… we all make mistakes.
The server quickly noticed us not really eating and asked how things were. We were honest and she said that she could bring us out something else… we went safe and asked for the fries. The rest of our mediocre food came out and we had a mediocre meal and were ok with it.
Until the check came.
Me: «Oh, excuse me… it looks like you forgot to take the pancake off of the check.»
«Yeah, you have to pay for that.»
«But you offered to replace it when we said we didn’t like it.»
«Well, I brought it back to the chef and he said it was cooked perfectly so you have to pay for it.»
Well, be happy you managed to squeeze those last few dollars out of me as it is the last you will ever get.

When I was younger and first getting into the beer scene in Portland, I made the switch from drinking Blue Moon to a local, hoppy beer. Hop Czar was my new thing. It was bitter, it was strong, but it was local and far better than anything else I’d had up to that point.
So when I discovered Bridgeport had two brew-​pubs in town, I got a little excited. Back then, I probably would have given the Pearl Brewery a 5-​star review. But I’m older now, and I’ve seen the variety of beer and the great spaces that Portland has to offer. However, this isn’t a review for the Brewery.
After growing tired of the frat-​mosphere in the Pearl, I discovered the Ale house on Hawthorne, right in my neighborhood. I expected the same style of food — a level above bar food: i.e. arugula instead of lettuce on your burger. What I found was a chef that actually tries to serve an amazing menu that nearly makes the beer secondary.
When I tried the East Side Pulled Pork, I was blown away. It really is the best pulled pork sandwich I’ve had in Portland. The Kingpin Mac and Cheese is creamy and delicious. The best thing I tried recently was one of their rice bowls, which is the closest thing to Bibimbap in Portland. Full of rice, tender meat, fresh and pickled vegetables, avocado, and egg on top, it’s a tasty, filling meal. I’ll be ordering that for a while now. I’ve never had the pizza, but it always looks and smells great.
A nice welcoming, comfortable space, and the beer that you’ve come to know and maybe love. But Bridgeport beer always tastes better on tap, especially when it’s coming in a 20oz glass for less than 5 bucks.
Oh, and one last thing: Maybe the best happy hour in Southeast. Full meal options and cheap large beers.

Just went again today. We love this place. The summer menu is pretty amazing. I had the summer salad with roasted veggies and peaches. Wow! Also on the summer menu is oxtail taquitos. We tried those as well tonight and they were fabulous. The head chef pays so much attention to detail in all his cooking and it shines through.

Bridgeport Ale House. Corporate brew pub? It may have seemed like that to me in the past. Albeit local, it had that surgically executed feel. One that doesn’t necessarily scream «craft brew.» But this Bridgeport has recently undergone a transformation of sorts… one that has left me with a newfound appreciation for what they’re doing.
I had occasion to visit this location to take advantage of the Unilocal’s On Tap deal, but that’s not what this review is about. This is about Bridgeport’s food menu. And this 4-​stars is cautiously optimistic, with an expectation of moving up. Chef Jun has been hard at work transforming this menu into something that looks like it can hold its own in PDX. Sure there are some burgers and pizzas to satisfy those that expect more traditional brewpub fare. But the S. Pacific/​Asian influence also shines through here with items like Rice pops (a puffed rice ball dish with hoisin), coconut curry carrot soup (served cold or hot), and the ‘Dilla (a huge braised pork quesadilla with a sambal cream and cilantro) = both of which are delicious, and on the insanely low-​priced HHour menu. The $ 5 HH pizza is huge for $ 5. They call it a «personal pizza» but two people could easily split this 13″ monster.
The dinner menu has all sorts of interesting stuff that, after sampling the quality food on the HH menu, I am very excited to try: Loco Moco, Belly + egg, Creamed Miso Soup, bulgogi, char siu, and more. To use a hackneyed term, the menu here could be called fusion. Or if you hate that word, maybe a mash-​up. Nothing here looks too traditional to where it came from, but based on what I’ve had so far, I’m super intrigued to see where the chef is taking this stuff.
I am super glad that I overcame my former notions of what Bridgeport was, and am ready to get acquainted with the new hotness that this place is up to. If everything is as surprisingly good as the food I had last night, it’s probably going to move up a star too.

Comfortably casual with a sleek, modern open-​air twist on the décor
good variety of brews — the Bridgeport Summer squeeze is perfect for a day of foraging on Hawthorne.
The food is interesting aaaand good — unusual to get both — and so fresh!
We hit happy hour at 3Pm and prices were better than good — 2 appies and 3 brews for under $ 20.00.

Simply: Get the Mac and Cheese.
Huge portion, perfectly crisped top around the edges from brown to black but without being burned — big hearty shells not too laden with cheese like some places, and a topping of crushed ridged chips and fresh herbs for a nice balance between homemade and classy. If that sounds good to you — it will be.
Service is nice, beer is good and fresh, other options, blah blah blah. Mac and cheese! It’s quite possibly the best in the city.

This is one of those places that I visit, enjoy my food and beverage, and wonder, «Why don’t we come here more often? We should come here more often.» But then lots of time passes, and it slips my mind again. Until the next time.
I have always had a lovely time at this Hawthorne Blvd ale house, but for reasons that frankly escape me, it’s never my first choice. Their pizza is delicious; their beer is positively drinkable (especially whatever they happen to be pouring from the firkin); their wine pours are generous and nicely priced; service is friendly.
Why don’t we come here more often? We should come here more often. Really.

It was either at this pub or Alameda Brewing on NE Fremont that was my first ever proper meal in the city of Portland.
Beer… and beer accompaniment in form of calorie-​laden, carb-​loaded wondrous plates. I certainly didn’t eat healthy here! All in all, def a cut above (far above) the McMenamins menu, but not so wow in the food compartment that I could rave about anything in particular (and same could be said for Widmer’s food). Large menu. If you’ve a hankering, more than likely the item is on the menu.
Dunno… is there a pub out there that does have super WOW food? Hm… 5^th Quadrant?

Oh Bridgeport, thank you for supporting our city of bridges and celebrating it around beer! Really how can they not? The definition of a bridge is «a structure built to span physical obstacles such as a body of water, valley, or road, for the purpose of providing passage over». It needs support too and that’s where this great city of alcoholics. er. I mean the beer loving geeks of Portland come in. All we ask from you Bridgeport is to continue making great beers that compel us to cross those bridges, streets or jay walk our asses off to get our hands on!
This location is a hip spot grafted into the unique, artsy district of Hawthorne. I typically get bowled over by their Imperial red, Kingpin, for its rich caramel notes, and dry finish. I have many other favorites too like that tonsil-​tugging dictator, Hop Czar and smoky influenced Raven Mad Imperial porter. My buddy and I came for HH and were immediately greeted to 20oz $ 3 pints. The space inside is smaller than some but they maximize it well. So we pulled up some stools at a small bar in the left corner which looked out the front widows, perfect for people watching, after all it is Hawthorne. It was your typical cold, wet day, which doesn’t bother me unless of course there’s a vent blowing up at my crotch. Right below our seats lay a vent blowing 40 degree air directly at my Lil’ commander making him retreat into his bunker. What the hell, no warning? Or I should say warming? Where was the sign that read «arctic cold section, please protect thy nuts». Out came our food and I hoped to warm myself with my Big Island burger. A burger claiming to have crispy pork belly atop a chimichurri doused meat patty, pickled shallots and Hawaiian spiked slaw. I sat eating my sandwich and was feeling better until I noticed something wrong. Before I could call out victory um … didn’t I order a burger? Suddenly I flashed back to 1984 and asked myself where the hell the beef was! Yes it’s true there under my bun lied nothing that ever went moo. The only reason I didn’t start screaming bloody murder was because they were feeding me pulled pork. No matter my satisfaction, for this I need to deduct a star. Not because they got our order wrong but because success in completing my first daily dose of pork does not make up for needing beef closure. Those intense 15min before being served had me dreaming up visuals of a ½lb burger going steady with a slab of pork belly, a tender, juicy, glistening union, that makes my heart skip a beat. It did calm my pork lust but without the beef patty it really wasn’t a burger, hence no climax. However I will own up to their cooperation in putting a Willamette Weekly over the vent to silence our «complaining» something our waitress says she’s used to. She also comped our drinks for the misunderstanding of my missed meat, the beef.
At this point you might think this review only warrants 3 stars but perhaps with four, more will read it to learn about Bridgeport beers or be forewarned of their service aptitude.

Wow! What a menu!
Let’s ignore the fact this is basically a brewpub. This menu is very impressive. It covers like 20 different cuisines, and mashes them all together in a number of inventive (and very tasty) ways. Something for just about everybody on the menu and you’ll be covering numerous regions with each order. We got some poutine, steamed buns, a delicious burger with char siu and pork belly, and a rice bowl that was basically a Vietnamese Banh Mi sandwich in a bowl. Also, the beer is great. Super reasonable prices and tons of good food. Crap, I’m hungry thinking about it now and I’m sad I’m about to eat a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.

Not a big fan of the remodel. A lot of the great things on the menu are gone. Prices went up. Instead of getting a reasonably-​sized portion of the macaroni and cheese with a tasty side salad, you get an enormous portion of the mac n cheese with nothing else. I suppose people might be into that, but I liked having a couple of different things on the plate for a lower price.
Bummer. We loved going here, but probably won’t be returning for a while.

I foresee a lot of cold, slushy nights at Bridgeport Ale House. Mac n cheese was meh to me but maybe I’d like it more with the cold weather?
$ 3 IMPERIAL pints during happy hour (3−6pm).
Good stuff. Solid.

I came here again with my friends because we couldn’t resist the $ 2.75 a pint all Sunday Happy Hour deal and also to have lunch.
I ordered a ½ pound burger with white cheddar cheese and it came with an option of soup or potato chips. I asked if they made the chips fresh and they said no. They get them made locally elsewhere, so I got the tomato coconut soup instead. I thought that the soup was good. The burger itself was good and tasty, but the only bad thing is that we waited for a long time for our food, which means lots of drinking. I had a slight buzz by the time our food arrived.
My friend’s friend brought a beer growler to his birthday party with some of his favorite beer and we thought that was pretty cool, so we asked our waitress if they fill beer growlers. They do and sell them as well. She brought one out to show us and it fills 2 liters of beer. It also has a cool handle for easy carrying. I bought one ($ 16) as a souvenir and asked if the beer (additonal $ 11.25) can be poured in a pitcher instead of the growler because I was concerned about not having enough room in my check-​in luggage. Oh my! Finishing 2 pints and that pitcher of Ropewalk made me slightly drunk before my flight home.
What got me the most was two girls outdrank 3 guys!

I am soooo not a bar person but this place does soooo not feel like a bar. I liked it the minute I walked through the door. Actually, the bar is the center of attention. It’s rectangular and in the middle of the place with tables all around it. Someday, I’m gonna get one of those booths along the wall and stay there until they throw me out. I might even be tempted to have a beer.
I really love a place where all I see when I look around is wood. the floor, the bar, it’s everywhere. I dunno, there’s something about being surrounded by it that I find very stimulating. It’s kind of like the feel of mahogany in a lawyers office :)
My table mate/​boyfriend had a black bean burger which I tasted and it was very good. It was a stretch for him because he’s not a vegetarian. I had the grilled smoked tofu on quinoa that was awesome.
If anybody ever wants to go with me, I’m there :)