East Bank Saloon & Restaurant

Went here a couple of weeks ago, while doing errands with the BF. We looked it up on Unilocal,and decided to give it a try for lunch (and I figured the burgers had to be pretty good).
I was right! My cheeseburger was delicious, and the BF loved his club sandwich with tator tots. Our waitress was really sweet and the food came out quick, because they weren’t busy at all.
It looks like this place has gotten a lot of mixed reviews, but we had a great lunch, so I’d definitely go back.

Love this place. The staff are some of the best in Portland. Amazing bloody Mary’s and maybe the best Mac & cheese in town. It’s a great place to watch the game or hang out in their large patio.

New owners, so the After 5 part of the menu is now invalid. You won’t be able to order a steak.

Slightly overpriced pub grub and really slow food service, but nice atmosphere. Don’t order lunch there if you’re in a hurry or about to drop dead of hunger, it’ll take a while. The waitress was friendly and the place was laid back.

What a horrible place with terrible food and service! I ordered chicken taco salad. 45 minutes later I asked where it was. Waitress and cook have very animated discussion about «what had happened was». 10 min later I am delivered chicken tacos. Oops waiteress says, cook made these instead of a salad, do you want these while he makes salad? I decline. 10 min later taco salad shows up looking very much like nachos made on top of a handful of salad. Waaaaay too much refried beans and why the hell are there refried beans on my salad? Tried to complain to bartender who was an absolute stark raving lunatic with fake red hair (maybe weave too tight)!
I was talking to some other customers about their food too and they all gave it thumbs down. One lady said her cucumber was frozen. Red headed numbskull waitress/​bartender tries to convince her and me that its a new health code because their last health code inspection said cooler wasn’t cold enough. Other lady at same table said her croissant was old and dry. Next time I am forced to show up here for a meeting I will not be spending any money on food or drinks.

To be perfect honest, I only come here for the SundaePDX patio parties that they help host. Those limited experiences give me some perspective on how this place operates. You see, it’s all well and good to rate an establishment on a slow day but when a place is under the pressure of a couple hundred patrons you can see their true colors.
In this respect, the East Bank Saloon has never disappointed me. Sure, the line for drinks can get a little long at times and I would complain about it but they’ve taken steps to remedy the problem. That’s right, they noticed that people were getting upset at a few events and decided to open up a patio bar to help stymie the rush of drunken fools in upcoming parties. Also, if you have cash then there is an express line of sorts at the end of the bar, so getting drinks it really isn’t that painful unless you’re shortsighted and only bring plastic. Lastly, they are considerate enough to set up water coolers for these busy events so you don’t have to stand in line to get re-​hydrated. This is something I really appreciate because a plentiful supply of water is absolutely essential at mid summer parties.
Now as for the venue itself, everything is a little rough around the edges and though give the place some old world charm there is room for improvement. As example of things that don’t work well, the restrooms could use an overhaul and an expansion. I also think they should ditch the video gambling machines sitting near the front entrance. Such efforts would go a long way in classing up the joint.
Overall this place has been fun on the days that I’ve visited and as the SundaePDX parties get more popular they have been prudent in keeping a line at the door and the crowd inside from getting too big. As much as I dislike waiting in line, I appreciate that I am not getting trampled by a horde of people when I just want to listen to some good music. They really should implement a stamp policy though, to help cut down on the confusion of people going in and out.
The short of it is that I’ll keep coming back for events like SundaePDX because I’ve always had a good time but I don’t see myself headed here for anything else. I might if I had heard stellar things about their food but I haven’t so for now this bar is just going to be an occasional fling for me.

This place is great, the old building was charming and had some cool history. The outdoor patio is the best patio I’ve ever been to in portland so far, it has a lot of room, sunshine as well as shade, can accommodate large groups and is quiet. Their happy hour is great, $ 2 PBR, their happy hour food plates were very small but inexpensive, the staff were very easy to talk to with good senses of humor.

This is a great place to hang out this summer! The staff was friendly, and we received great service. the food we ordered was AWESOME, as were the drinks and beers we had. (Perfectly mixed drinks, and great selection of beers on tap.)
We thought that the atmosphere was really cool … an old historic building with exposed brick on the inside … a large spacious interior. (Good location, too, at the east end of the Morrison Bridge.) Lots of neat sports momentos and memorabilia throughout, as well as cool old pics of Oregon loggers, etc. Fun to look around! :)
They also have a nice patio out back that has a «deluxe» fire pit, which was cool!
Will definitely recommend this place to all of our family and friends (and you should, too!!! :)) !!!

Came in Saturday night around 10:30 because dig a pony was too loud and crowded. There was no one in sight. No customers. No employees. A bartender came out when he heard us talking and I ordered a house IPA and headed to the patio out back where the only customers were. Thing is, there were at least as many mice as there were people. They have a serious infestation — dozens of mice running around the patio. Went back and forth between curious and disgusted until we finished our beers and bailed. No thanks, Stuart Little.

Been here for over an hour. Nobody has even stopped by our table to see if we need anything. Bartender wants us to wait for the (one) server to take beet and food orders. Terrible even if they’re understaffed today. Walking down the street to Slowbar.

The food is just fine, and the atmosphere really is perfect for settling in and hanging out. An ancient place that sinks into you if you sit calmly enough to allow it. Big bonus for me was hanging out and watching an NBA game where there was just enough chat, and just enough quiet to balance one another. This is the grand old man of Portland in many ways. Does Pudgy Hunt still own the place? I’ll tell ya this much, sitting at the bar and talking hoops is never better executed than here. You wanna BS with somebody who KNOWS the game? Come here. Cryin’ out loud, I met a guy who knew Slim Wintermute’s first name (Urgel). Beer here? Holy water.

This is a review of a place that I would probably not have gone if it weren’t for the event. A. I don’t eat meat. B. I’m not that into sports, except the kind they don’t have an abundance of here, i.e., major league hockey (and yes, I love the Winterhawks BTW).
But this place reminded me of home (where is home? a large mid/​easterly coast city with LOTS of brick building c. 1800s and fire escapes). So, this place made was very homey to me with the exposed brick walls, wood everywhere, and a big wooden bear at the entrance… I love that sort of thing! The service was excellent. The lovely bartendress last night was very accommodating (there were 2 female wait staff that I could recall, both cute & friendly). I’ve gotten so used to attitude and weirdness via female wait staff in this town that I forgot what it was like to just have normal service from them… Moving on, the back patio was also VERY cool. The view, the fire on broken glass at the table I sat was perfect since last night was a little cool.
If I WAS a meateater, I probably would have said good things about the food because everyone else did. I guess I wish they did have a fewer more vegetarian items on the menu, but it is what it is and I’m not so self-​important as to think everyone should cater to my lifestyle choices. Anyhow, beer is perfectly vegetarian;-) and I was certainly happy with that.

I came here on a Sunday. I didn’t know what to expect. The fiancé asked if I wanted to meet him here. I said sure. It was a nice, sunny day. The house was cleaned up. I had nothing to do. Why not?
I decided to walk to the place from the waterfront. I figured, I’ll chill out on the waterfront, indulge on an iced coffee and a book then head over. Good plan. The walk across the Morrison Bridge was nice. Locating the place was easy. The interior is nice. I like dark woods and panels. There is a sitting/​restaurant area and a bar area. Both are opened to the other and then in the back is an outdoor patio.
For a Sunday, I was surprised at how busy the bar was. Obviously the sweetheart knew what was going on even if I didn’t. Turns out, it was SundaePDX. There was a DJ playing tunes (DJ Wicked was on the line-​up and I haven’t seen him play live in years. I was reminded why I like him so much. The man can drop tunes for sure.)
Service is prompt and efficient. Drinks were cheap and delicious. I love me a refreshing gin and tonic and this place definitely hooks it up. The patio was a lot smaller than I thought or maybe there was just more people than I anticipated, whatever the case, it was full and why not, there was a freakin’ dance off going on. SO MUCH FUN!!!
There were b-​boys and b-​girls doing all sorts of tricks and dance moves. Everyone was having a grand olé time. We had so much fun. It was an all around great time, getting down to some old school hip hop, singing to hits that remind me of high school, and dancing. The food looked good and smelled good. I was going to order some food. I overheard someone comment on how tasty the steak dog was and I spotted another person enjoying a plate of pulled pork tacos. AND they were giving away free sundaes. You can’t beat free icecream on a hot, summer day.

Another sad place we came across in the same week. We were just driving by and wanted a drink and a bite to eat.
Are server was not to bad, but the rest of the experience sucked.
My fiancé ordered the steak sandwich and I ordered the crab mac. The waitress comes back 10 minutes later to say they do not have anymore steak, so he changed it to a Reuben. 15 minutes passes after is second order and the waitress comes back and says they are out of sauerkraut. At this point we are really just over the place. So he gets the crab sandwich and after 15 more minutes we ask for it to go because we’re done.
We get home and I just got a poor excuse for mac and cheese with no crab and he had a mayo sandwich with crab. The crab was swimming in mayo and it had no flavor besides that.
Another loss here, but there are many more places to try. :D

This bar is probably the most average out of all the bars I usually frequent on Grand Ave. It’s never my first choice to visit but I will show up if peeps want to meet up for a drink. The service is pretty mediocore from alright to slow at times. The food will not blow anyone away and probably best just to get drinks here before venturing out. It’s an alright start if one were to do an epic bar crawl alongside Grand Ave as I have participated in the past.

The service was a little slow to start, but after that it was really prompt and pleasant. The burgers were so delicious. I also liked that I could get tator tots rather than fries. Beer on tap and a nice clean atmosphere. I would return for a burger and a beer for sure.

If you want to watch a game during the afternoon and have a burger and a beer in a saloon then this is your place. It was funny, fantastic for food, drink, and the antics of the servers and cooks. The game was good too.

Located in a hysterical (sic) building, constructed in 1896, the location has been home to numerous businesses over the years, prior to the current owners establishing the eatery in 1978. Mrs. Burgerdogboy had scored a Groupon for 2 burgers and 2 beers for $ 15, so after an afternoon of her biz errands, we landed in the bar about 3P, which is, coincidentally, the start of their lengthy and generous happy hour.
Mrs. B scored a couple of IPAs to accompany her «Hawaiian style» burger, a beef patty with bbq sauce and grilled pineapple. I went with the Blue Cheese, which was topped with caramelized, marinaded onions, and opted for a side of deep-​fried tots. Since Mrs. B rarely has a burger, and I rarely drink, it was turnabout day, and I chased my meat with a PBR. Yeah, I know Portlandians might think a PBR doesn’t qualify as a beer, but I went to high school with a Pabst kid, so there ya go.
The joint wasn’t very busy, so service was great, the the server/​bartender was friendly, helpful, and H-​O-​T.
We finished the afternoon with another brew, moving out to the rear outdoor deck (they also have tables on the sidewalk, in front, as well).
Overall, it was a good experience. Always made better when I don’t have to pay!
Lots of TVs and sports memorabilia for those of you interested in that sort of thing. Olympics were on… women’s wrestling. … rrrrrrrrrrr.

Their veggie burger was really really meh. Like the meh-​iest of the mehs. BUT their tater tots were tasty and came with ranch without me having to beg and plead. My drink was serviceable and so was the service.
Atmosphere: ZOMG sports! I could see from my position four different types of sports on television. This is the place to go for the sports-​lover, I tell you what. I am not a sports lover but I was with three of them so the conversation quickly became very boring for me. ANYway, other than that, it was a tad too brightly-​lit for my taste, and there were a few rapscallions wandering about that made me feel ever-​so-​slightly unsafe. Blame it on the sobriety.

This is basically a «you get what you pay for» type of place. Went with the BF the last Saturday, I ordered half a soup and sand (wasn’t too bad but nothing to write home about). BF had the steak he said it was awful and rubbery. I guess what do you expect for 10 bucks? Drinks weren’t too bad though and atmophere was ok. It’s ok for a dive bar. Would go in for drinks only next time.