Duckett’s Public House

Typical dive bar. Nice locals who will chat if you start up a conversation.
Good juke box, there is a pool table and pinball games — nice.
The outside area is private and open — good on the hot sunny days.
Drinks are cheap and served with a Portland snarl — al least when I’ve been there (maybe it’s me?!) I don’t mind a bit of a ‘tude, especially coming from a bearded tattooed young man — kind of expected right?
This place is a generally a bit tacky to the touch — but that comes with the dive bar territory — and hey, there are $ 1 jello shots!

Got here on Tuesday, and the bartender was a lady. She’s very friendly and she makes THE BEST WHITE RUSSIAN ever! I bar hopped in Hawthorne & Sellwood to try every bars’ White Russian, and honestly, the lady from Duckett’s White Russian is
!!
Also, the price of their drinks are very affordable :)
The place is cool, and the jukebox is cool too (I’m not sure, but I think it is cool, just go there and check it) :P
Enjoy!

Extra greasy hairy bartender for cheapskate Sundays. Clean your beverage containers with spit and offer to share found canned food products with you, the discerning patron. Endless parade of psychotics supplementing their empty medicine cabinets with cheap booze.

Duckett’s Public House is my favorite neighborhood bar. With a diverse clientel, just like the neighborhood it’s in, it offers a little bit for anyone. Friendly staff, good drinks.
My favorite thing though is the little known food. I see most people get Chicken Strips and Poppers, a good fried menu, but they also have a very good burger. I was seriously surprised by the burger I had there last week. Where Jalepeno poppers wasn’t cutting it, I added a bacon burger and it was delicious. Far better than I expected, and great for getting in some calories before I started cramming for my next test.

Managing expectations is the name of the game with dive bars, and Duckett’s is no different. It’s dark and dingy, but it has a pool table, pinball, and an arcade game or two. Service is good, prices are fine, and the crowd is an odd mix.
A couple of the regulars seemed blissfully unaware that their behavior was making a number of other patrons a bit uncomfortable, but when is that not the case on a Friday night at the local dive?
Overall it was a good — and cheap — experience and I will visit again. I’d just like to see them add some Young Turks to their karaōke selection.

Not my crowd at ALL. Came here with a band. Bartenders were ok, but the place was dive gone very wrong. I knew immediately I would need to get as drunk as possible as fast as I could. There was a hole in the women’s bathroom so the men could look in and see. Mostly rude bearded white guys who gave the impression of a tea party rally. Not a female friendly place. People had no sense of humor. I felt over dressed in jeans. Only saving grace to this place was the smoking patio. There was no separate room for the bands… and no stage. I will not be going back. I still feel kind of dirty and creeped out writing this.

Awesome food, good music, nice people, cold beer, friendly service, big buck hunter, a pool table, the only thing missing are coat hooks underneath the bar.

I absolutely LOVE that this bar is a block from my house. The pool table, occasional live music, and the enthusiasm for Keno games are making me like it more and more every day. I’m also a fan of the random cartoons – and the bartender’s music choices are awesome! Bacon cheeseburger is also tasty and inexpensive!

Nasty! Scary! Gross!
I don’t know exactly what was going on here last Sunday afternoon but it wasn’t anything good.
We rolled in and my girlfriend asked the bartender what the Hopworks beer on tap was. The tendress didn’t understand what she meant until she said «the HUB tap.» We finally found out it was lager and promptly ordered something else– Manny’s pale on draft. A guy at the bar who was drinking a tall boy felt the need to comment on our order by calling Manny’s «highfalutin’.» I don’t feel like I should have to explain the superiority of a draft beer to a fellow Portlander but um. this place was full of people that I didn’t know existed here. Commenting on someone else’s beer choice… Nasty!
There was a dude in the corner playing pool alone, not drinking and mean mugging us hard and long. Another single man next to us who kept running outside and frantically looking up the street or down at his phone, chewing on his cheeks and laughing to himself like a straight up tweeker… Scary!
We sat there trying to pound our beers as fast as we could; doing our best not to make eye contact with the freaks when we turned our attention to the bartender. She was behind the bar stroking, twirling and outright massaging her very long hair. Pulling out long strands every so often and letting them drop to the floor… Gross!
We paid our tab and literally ran to our car parked a couple blocks away.

Ok, this place isnt fancy, clean or shiney new. In fact. from the outside it almost looks ghetto.
Then we went inside on a Saturday around 12am.
This place was quirky, and I loved it. It had Adult Swim on one tv, and comedy central on the other. There was a very cute and nice bartender manning the entire bar all by herself. They had a pool table, some pinball machines and then lottery in the back hallway, and something else further back but we preferred to stay in the front for our safety. The crowd is diverse and extremely casual. However, I have to admit. the lottery playing people looked a bit shady, thus the staying in the front portion of the bar!
Then we noticed the drink prices. This place has very good cheap drinks. We played pool, listened to some good music, watched some animé, ate tater tots and got plastered.
It was an extreme amount of fun. This is the bar to go with your friends when you wanna chill.

Duckett’s is a cool place to go down and hang out if you’re bored. The patrons are an eccletic mix and while the bar has an overall hard rock or metal atmosphere you never know what kind of people you will encounter there. The staff is pretty friendly and they aren’t conservative on pouring. Good, affordable hang out spot.

I hear it sucks to live right behind duckett’s with the loud shitty conversations and what not. Inside the place is decent with a few pinball tables and big buck hunter. The pitchers are cheap too. During the day you will find mostly video poker zombies. The menu is mostly fired food, with one or two questionably vegan options…

It’s a diverse bar. I’m a regular, and it never feels like a regular night there. It’s always different. Most clientele are friendly and I often end up in an unexpected conversation. I like the Pandora radio metal and 70’s classics. I like the rotating taps… Especially the Foxbarrel blackberry pear cider right now. Sunday karaōke with Bettie Mayhem is always a good time. She’s got to be one of the best KJ’s in town.

Wow! Had a blast on a Sunday thanks to Bettie Mayhem running the karaōke. Good vibes. The crowd is a big mixture of people. The bartender is cute & sweet, serving up cheap but good drinks.

I love Duckett’s because my friends go there and it is never super busy even on weekends. The shows are fun, drinks are cheap: this is a dive. If you feel uncomfortable with crusty kids and the homeless do not enter. This is definitely a place for drinking and not eating. To be honest, the bartender can be a little bit of a bastard if you try to order food. I suggest you stick to drinking and do not be tempted by the Mac and Cheese Bites!
The general vibe is a punk bar though I see all types enter this establishment. Regulars abound and thrive in the dark corners of the patio and for a being in the college neighborhood; most of the annoying kids seem to stay away.
I usually find myself entering Duckett’s after a long night of going to other places and wanting to end up somewhere I know. If you are not a regular bar-​going type Duckett’s might not be for you, and to be honest, they don’t want armatures there anyway.

Yuppies: Do Not Enter.
This bar is strictly for the DIY, indie, and crazy/​homeless community. Basically the only people that can stomach dives. Shows are always free and tend to be awesome. Drinks are CHEAP. We talkin strong $ 3 wells and $ 5 PBR pitchers. The bathrooms offer endless entertainment– bring a sharpie to join in the fun! Last night there was a sweet Onyx Blackman sticker on the mirror.
My favorite bar in Portland? Perhaps.

I used to live in this area a year or so ago, and would always drive by this place, as it was between the freeway off-​ramp and my house. It looked pretty cool from the outside, and I was intrigued. However, going to my usual hangout would always trump going to a new spot in the neighborhood.
Lately, my pals have been testing the waters of the North Portland scene, and are stoked on it. In turn, I’m curious to see what the deal is with my old ‘hood, since I neglected to check it out when I lived there. My first subject in the syllabus of NoPo 101 was Ducketts.
I really like it!
I arrived right before some live music was about to begin, so the line at the bar was a bit disarranged. When my time came to order, I got myself a man-​pint of beer for a whole $ 5. At that point, I’m already sold on this place. The bartender was very friendly, despite appearing to be the only one working on a busy night.
The ambience is good. I like live music, and while most of what I heard really isn’t what I’m into, I still dig watching people play. They’ve got the HDTV thing going on, too. ESPN was on one tv, while the other had Travel Channel, which seemed like a good compromise for anyone sitting at the bar watching the tube. (With $ 1 tall boys from 4[?]-Midnight on Mondays, this might be –the– place to watch Monday Night Football next season.).
The seating arrangement in Ducketts isn’t too bad. The bar is shaped like an «S,» with (as you walk in) the stage and seats to your left, bar to the right, and the video lottery/​Big Buck Hunter game/​bathrooms down the hall after the S-​turn. The only downside to the live music is the group of people who chose to stand close to the band kind of clusters up the seating section. While it’s not as bottled-​up as, say, Tube, it could definately become a daunting task to maneuver around the rock-​a-​billies who aren’t so stoked on having to move for you while the music is going on.
Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed my visit here — 4 ¼ stars. It was nice to see some new surroundings. Nice to hear live music, instead of someone’s iPod. Nice to get a deal on beer that doesn’t involve an employee discount. While I’m not in the «friend’s zone» with this place yet (coming here by myself), I’ll definately be voting «yay» on this place for the crew to meet up.

The sign «No time for love Dr. Jones!» drew me in. It sounded like a place that could tell a joke. I walked in and the bartender approached me and stared expressionless at me. I ordered some food and he didn’t move. After a few seconds I also ordered a beer. He remained stock still for another second or two and then went to pour my beer. There were a couple regulars there that he chatted with amiably. Me, he ignored entirely. Right then I knew I’d never come back. Am I not the right class of customer?
The old alkie on the corner stool named George was quite friendly and odd. I liked him. He seemed to enjoy life. If he drank at another bar he might be an added bonus to swing by from time to time. You could never predict what he’d say next.
There are far better and friendlier places in Portland.

Duckett’s was exactly what I needed yesterday. Hoofing it up Killingsworth, it was high time for some pinball, drinks, and a coupla chairs to warm up in. Score on all fronts. Dirty as hell? Nah. Andrew C’s being prissy on that front. It ain’t that bad, and in fact, they could really dirty it up even more if they want to make that punk bar title official.
Oh, hello wall of pinball. Nice to meet you and thank you for making my day. Those two replays in a row warmed me up almost as much as my Bulleit on the rocks did. In addition to the usual booze, beer, and a few specials, they have some food, too! We only had tots, so I can’t speak for the other offerings but they had burgers, a few wraps, and some basic fried bar snacks.
The best part about my visit to Duckett’s? A little handmade booklet I picked up called, «What in the FUCK are you doing at Duckett’s Public House?» YES! I love it. It holds the live music schedule through the month and all of the (humorously illustrated) reasons you should really check it out:
$ 5 PBR pitchers
4 pinball machines
Big Buck Hunter
$ 1 Jell-​O shots («there’s always room for vodka!»)
sing-​a-​longs
video lotto («non-​habit-​forming, state-​sponsored happy fun times»)
sexy bartenders («tip well and we won’t kill you»)
cheeseburgers (drawing of the Hamburglar)
What more do you need?
Oh, and totally sweet back patio that is going to RULE when the weather warms up.

After two visits to Duckett’s I still don’t have much to say about it. It’s just one of those unmemorable bars. There’s nothing wrong or bad, it’s just not the type of place you go out of your way to go to. If it was my neighborhood bar, that’d probably be a different story. They’ve got a decent selection of tap beers, along with an extensive liquor selection. It looks like they may have live music sometimes, but who knows who or when as I’ve never seen anything advertised. The enclosed back patio is cool for the smokers, and has an outdoor pool table (though even with a cover I’m not sure how they keep it dry)! I doubt I’ll be back for another visit unless they step it up and make the place a bit more interesting.