Caldera Public House

Was looking for a private room to celebrate the demise of a dynamic department in the wake of an organizational «redesign» at a local business. Caldera offered us the upstairs room — for free — to mourn the end of our jobs and celebrate ourselves & there are a lot of us. The venue was absolutely perfect, the staff outstanding, individual tabs were well organized (impressive!), and the drinks menu delicious, reasonably priced, & met all our individual preferences. I knocked one star off cause I thought the food was a bit lackluster (though I don’t think any of us cared that much). Thank you, Caldera!

Cool, hip atmosphere, decent service, beautiful patio but the food. the food was shockingly bad. Fish tacos? Try a piece of fried fish, placed on a cold tortilla and a bed of… errr, a spoonful of nasty, out of the cisco container cole slaw. That’s it! Horrible! I’m sure they have better food on the menu but this was so bad I’m not sure I want to chance it to find out…

I sooooo wish this place had better food! The atmosphere is great, but I agree with another reviewer, if the food was better, we’d be here ALL THE TIME. As it is, the kids talk us into it because they love the tots but I always regret paying $ for mediocre food in this town.

Our group comes for the Tuesday night live music. It’s a jam, and apparently depends on who shows up… always fun. Tonight, guess not enough folks showed up to play, but we were all enjoying the delicious gyros and curried pumpkin soup so much, we forgot to be disappointed. The wait staff has always been gracious and attentive. The place is «old world» warm and friendly. Prices are reasonable. Wish I could drop by more often!
A couple of friends saw a google map notation that Caldera was closed. we are relieved to say it is still OPEN. Whew!

I really wanted to like this place! Its a lovely patio, great service. I got a ginger cocktail. It wasn’t strained so I was picking out hairy chunks of ginger from each sip. Gross. My dinner companions did love their burgers though. Worth a try but skip any cocktail with ginger involved.

We were looking for a place with character and we found it. The back patio on a warm evening was heavenly. Service was fantastic and comfortable. This is why I love neighborhood joints.

I only give this 2 stars because it deserves one star for service and ambiance… otherwise, the food is shockingly bad. It appears to all be frozen food that’s reheated – the burger, the vege burger, the french fries, the tater tots – all look right out of the freezer. The tomato on my vege burger had no color in it… nothing tasted like food. But the back patio is gorgeous, the musicians playing were charming, the service was friendly. Too bad, if someone who could really cook took this place over it would be a find. I think this food was worse than McMennamin’s actually.

Food: depends on what u get, some good some ok. Skip calamari, I like Cajun fries or tots but they’re on salty side. Best is Indie burger. Perfectly prepared vegi sandwich. My fav is Chris’ famous Marionberry drop. Although all her cocktails r fantastic. This is me, booze hound in Vegas talking. Been to many cities in the country, including snubby Cali & they think they’re artist mixologists Vegas, PDX still make some of the best cocktails. Fresh, genuine, unpretentious. Most impressively, three servers including the bartender, handles the in & outside tables at ease (by the look of it) during busiest hours. I am thoroughly impressed & awed by their perfect synch.
Attn the owner of the pub. Don’t lose ur workers. U will never find anyone better. In skills or rhythm w coworkers. I promise u. Ur business will fail on that day. I can find good tasty restaurants/​bars anywhere. Good customer service is like trying to find a needle in the hay!!!

This dependable local joint never let’s us down. Consistently good pub fare. Great place for a date. Excellent outdoor seating in secluded tree shaded patio. I had the cheeseburger and a mcguiness milk stout — heavenly!

Despite the nice patio and the beautiful wooden accoutrements in the bar, the mediocre food and the meh beer list brought me down. There are already too many pubs serving pretty good beer and fried food in many forms in Portland; Caldera doesn’t make things better. I’d rather head east to Montavilla or west on Belmont. Live music was nice, but disorganized and a bit hit-​or-​miss.

The ambiance in this place is fantastic. It feels like an old Irish pub inside and the back patio is really nice. Good selection of drinks and the service was great. I’d rate the ambiance a 5 and service a 4.
The food is definitely better in both quality and creatively than your standard Mcmenamins but that’s more a reflection on how shitty Mcmenamins is. As said more articulately below, the food could use an overhaul. We ordered the calamari which was pretty decent. The ribs were baked with a fairly bland sauce. The chips portion of the fish and chips were good but the fish could use some help. That said, the burgers we saw at some other tables looked very good. Overall I’d rate the food at a 3.
Even with mediocre food this is still a very solid «pub» option as the good far outweighs the bad.

When I think of classic period piece pub, this is the place for me. It puts horse brass to shame. Good pizza, drafts, and a 40 on ice! Heck yeah!

They advertise happy hour 4 – 6 yet they Dont open until 5pm. Very irritating especially when its raining and the only other option is the coffee House up the street…

I really want to love this place — we’ve lived nearby for years and it would be so great if we just loved this place. But — we don’t. It’s ok — good enough to go to once a year, but if it were better we would be there ALL THE TIME.
We moved to the neighborhood in 2008 and since then the menu has stayed pretty static. We’ve never had anything awful, we’ve just never had anything that memorable. The other day my husband got the Bayou Burger and I got the fish tacos. We both got tots on the side — with cajun. His burger was ok — not quite as good as McMenamins which is not saying a lot. The tots weren’t nearly as good as McMenamins — they were more salty than cajuney. My fish tacos were ok. The flour tortillas were a miss. They also needed a kick. I added a bunch of the hot sauce from the bar, but even with that they were pretty forgetful. I’m pretty sure it’s the same fish as the fish and chips — I may have liked it more without the cold flour tortilla.
The service was fabulous. The server and the bartender were very attentive. They paid attention to low water cups and made sure we had what we needed.
There was also live music which isn’t advertised on Sundays — that was a nice surprise.
I think a big menu overhaul, and maybe some consulting with one of Portland’s many chefs could have a big impact. The prices here are the same as many small Portlandly places, the atmosphere is great, but the food is just a little sad every time.

In a city full of outstanding food, I’d come here for the atmosphere and the beer list. I’m a bit on the fence about the service, I’ve experience better in comparison. My first and only experience with the food (beef stroganoff), was simply «ok». And yes, they do have a lovely deck & patio area out back.

This is a cool space and the staff are great but the food is overpriced costco fare and the hours seem strange. An afternoon drink on the deck would be great sometimes but they’re only open evenings.
I’ve given it a try two or three times now but I doubt we’ll be back. If I’m going to eat out I want it to feel it’s worth the money and this place definitely isn’t.

We were staying with friends, we needed dinner and there was no way were doing anymore driving that day. Our host said the one place we could walk to was Caldera. It was just what we needed.
So much so, we went back a few nights later too. We only sat outside on the patio (best place to enjoy a summer heatwave) but I’m sure their bar and tables inside are good too. The night we needed beef, they had plenty of options. I suggest the «alternative» which comes with mozzarella and avocado.
The night we needed something lighter, a shared salad and small pizza was just the perfect portions. Wet your whistle alcoholic or not, my beer-​minded companion had plenty to choose from.

You can’t go wrong here, but your socks won’t be blown off, either.
We had the fish tacos, the coconut shrimp appetizer and the fish and chips.
The clear winner was the fish and chips.
Skip the coconut shrimp — these babies are far from homemade.
The fish tacos were edible, but either I didn’t notice they came on flour tortillas, or the menu didn’t say. Being a taco connoisseur, I hate to see a good taco ruined by switching the traditional corn tortilla for a flour tortilla. Not a dinner killer, but definitely a star killer. The texture of the flour tortilla doesn’t do any favors for the texture of the fish — they all get pretty lost together, and tend to be on the mushy side.
That being said, the ambiance, patio, beer selection and service were great. A special nod to the purple-​haired server — she was awesome.
We will be back, but we will be trying other entrees.

It’s tough finding a spot that can accommodate a group of 7 on a Friday night. Unfortunately Caldera was full up inside, but it wasn’t too cold so we sat outside on their lovely patio with the promise that we would be moved once something opened up.
Our server was fun and checked on us often, and everyone that was working seemed on their shit. The patio and old house that is Caldera is pretty adorable. They have a great selection of beer. We didn’t really eat but I did try a tot– it was a quality tot.
This place is pretty far out, but a perfect place to hang and have a beer if you’re in the area. Plenty of parking on the street, and the patio will be perfect come summer.

Tots tots tots tots! So good. Nice and fluffy, pippin’ hot, straight out of the fryer.
I got the bacon cheeseburger – classic. Tillamook cheese, bacon, meat. I was excited! Service was fast, food came out quick. Burger was very good. Meat was nicely season, cheese was melted. All around, very good burger. Tots were even better. Tots definitely stole the meal. And they gave you a lot.
Service was nice and fast, she was super helpful. The building and outside is very neat. Good place to hang out and chill. Definitely fits the Portland vibe. Would come again, and get more tots! Never enough tots!