Langano Lounge

Tonight is their FINAL night open! They are retiring. I’m so sad over this since I’ve been going there for 30 yrs. It has been the best Ethiopian food in town. I wish them the best since they have worked hard over the years providing us with the best of food! JARRA’S YOU WILL BE MISSED!

Felt like I was hanging out in my living room when I walked in. VHS on the tv, Sexy bartender…
Tried some food. Got some kind of chili chicken i think or something. It was pretty good, but I wasn’t too fond of the soggy bread stuff, but it was just different… the plate came with a cucumber-​y salad, cottage cheese, a hard boiled egg, and the soggy bread and the chicken. Great chicken!
seems like the place could use another table or two on the inside, but its a dive bar, so i guess you cant expect that. I like it there tho.

What do I expect out of a good dive bar?
–Nice bartenders
They got em. They are more than wiling to
make you anything from a plain ol shot or
whatever Applebee’s type concoction you
can dream up. All with a little
conversation thrown in.
–Atmosphere
I love the TV playing random, weird
films. I love the graffiti and stickers
covering the walls. I love the outdoor
patio tables where you can chose to
have a smoke and a sip of your drink
If you so desire. It smells like yummy
exotic Ethiopian food from the restaurant
upstairs and I think it adds charm to the ol
joint.
–Good shows and music
They book great performers here. The
sound is great and if there isn’t a
performance the bartenders know how
to play just the right stuff on their iPods,
computers, etc. And if you’re lucky enough
to be a performer here these guys treat
you with respect and are very helpful to
the artists.
–Nice crowd
This is sort of a haunt for local
folk. And service industry veterans who
know how to sit and have a cocktail
without getting all weird and drunk and
amateur.
All in all, I say, LangaYES!

So I have been to Langano lounge a number of times as I just live a block away. But I have never eaten the food that comes from Jarras upstairs! And the other night, I did, and could not believe that I probably have set foot in the bar a dozen times, but have never once ordered a dish. It was rather simple really. Beans, salad, Ethiopian bread, and I feel like it came with something else. It escapes me now, but it was spicy and delicious! And reasonably priced, only $ 6 for the whole dish! I am going back to the main restaurant one of these days to get the whole atmosphere of it.

This review is for Langano Lounge, which is underneath Jarras.
Probably one of my favorite dives ever. It’s definitely got a cozy feel to it, despite the slight griminess.
Megan, Scotty, and Johnny are great bartenders. Not too familiar with the other bartenders, though.
Good times.

Pickle shots? Yes please and have Meghan, my favorite bartender, make them for you. Always great DJ’s, outside tables for people watching and super convenient location.

I went to Langano last Tuesday to see a comedy show. Throughout the first half of of the show, the audience was distracted by a customer sitting at the bar who was being loud and inconsiderate. One of the comedians approached the man and asked him to keep it down and he flipped his lid, yelled at the top of his lungs and threatened to beat his face in which interrupted the entire show so the entire audience was looking at the altercation. Later, another comic confronted the rude customer and told him that he was out of line. At that point, the customer and his friend both stood up and started screaming death threats. The bar manager stepped in and demanded that all the comics as well as the many patrons who came to see the show needed to leave. So everybody was kicked except for the angry customer at the bar and his friend who was also screaming death threats. I found out later that these two men are regulars at that bar which is why the bar manager decided to kick out everybody but them. I can understand wanting to retain regulars, but when people are disturbing a show and furthermore, screaming death threats at the performers and their audience, I think a bar manager needs to be reasonable enough to handle the situation like a professional. None of the performers were rude or threatening in any way, not to mention the majority of profits that night came from the people who came to see the show. A certain level of conduct should be expected in any bar. And it is my opinion that the audience as well as the performers were treated very unfairly. Never coming back again with such negative staff and regulars.

A chicken and egg dish is just wrong. Langano has one: a chicken drumstick and a hardboiled egg in spicy berbere sauce. And it is good, but it it still wrong. And I like to eat it from time to time.
This spot can be crowded with a lively crowd and DJ’s or dead. It is a great spot to organize an event and invite all your friends. The walls and bathrooms are a little graffitied. It’s a dive. The drinks are competent and there are a few tall boy specials.
What is unique about this spot is a choice of inexpensive Ethiopian dinners served late. They are relatively healthy and relatively spicy. At the late hour, the injera is not the moistest, but it’s A-​OK.

Great bar are band is here from san Diego and the people here are great and vary friendly if I’m ever back in Portland agen this is my first stop

It seriously doesn’t get any better than Langano.
DIVE HEAVEN.
I’ve come here on various days of the week and I’ve only seen it not packed once. The drinks are stiff and cheap. The bartenders are always nice and cool. There’s one girl in particular that is sweet as pie and always makes you feel welcome. Last time I was there, she was peddling these «pickle shots» that she made up. Vodka with some pickle juice and a baby pickle spear. Sounds vomit-​inducing but I had two, I loved it!
Mostly the 21 – 35 crowd here — your basic inner SE mix: hipsters, Rockabilly couples, nerdy kids, and neighborhood weirdos.
The «grandma’s basement» description isn’t inaccurate but I wouldn’t have it any other way. It’s comfy and you never feel underdressed. There’s usually someone there spinning their personal record collection and the tunes are mostly awesome. They got a couple pinball machines plus Big Buck Hunter for all you hip children of the lumberjack variety.
They also serve Ethiopian food from upstairs until close but I’m never really in the mood for that kind of stuff late at night when I’m drinking.
So basically, if you’re looking for funky music, strong drinks and a loud, kind of «weekend» vibe, then Langano would be a good choice.

Probably my favorite dive-​y bar in Portland. Friendly, great music, great staff; just awesome times all around.

I can’t believe I have never reviewed Langano!
This place is such a shit hole and I love it so much. It has the feel of your parents’ semi-​finished basement that they let you and your siblings occupy, complete with the cheap-​to-​free Craigslist furniture finds and stacks of boardgames where not a single one includes everything needed to play.
The bartenders are totally rad. They may look like the unattached hipsters you find all over this hood, but they’re friendly, easy to talk to kids that pour a stiff, reasonably priced cocktail. Beer selection is decent as well (Obsidian Stout!). They also have awesome food in the $ 5 – 8 range.
It’s definitely a neighborhood bar and not something you’re going to drive from NoPo to hit, but that works. I love having a place a stone’s throw from my house to grab a drink and talk, kill time when you lock yourself out of the house, grab a later dinner and beer, whiskey sours and pinball, whatever.

Langano Lounge is totally quirky, totally fun and super friendly. The food is awesome as is the basement atmosphere. Great local bands play there regularly, and if there is no band in the house, you can count on a rad DJ.

I stumbled into this place while in town on business checking out the Hawthorne area for new restaurants. I had a great time here, there was a band rehearsing with a woman singing the lyrics to old metal like «ACDC’s Dirty Deeds» and the music was remixed on the computer with an old Moog accompaniment to sound like 90’s gay disco. Oh, and the food. But before that. The beer was an IPA, and good, of course this is Portland, which has the best beer in the world. You PDXers are way too lucky. But, one bottle labeled «mystery-​shot $ 2» caught my eye, I didn’t investigate. I ordered the veg plate. It was $ 7 and worth probably $ 5. Only gave me a half of a piece of injeera, and the mixed vegetables was mostly broth. It was OK, but the idea of getting Ethiopian bar food is amazing, I hope Langano reads this and turns up the food a couple notches and make this place 5 star.

I started going here because it was near the 12^th and Hawthorne food carts, and kept on going because it was just kind of a weird place, which amuses me. It smells like lentils, which makes you kind of hungry, though I really don’t recommend ordering food here. Once I bought an Ethopian Chili Dog (vegan variety) and it was pretty funny but not something I would do again. But it’s cozy and there is outside seating and cheap booze and yes, a $ 2 mystery shot. My old roommate bought it once and I’m pretty sure she regrets it, but hey, if you’re broke…

Great little hole in the wall with kick ass bartenders and regulars! When I want to drink and not break my bank this is the place to go!

This is my girlfriend’s least favorite bar in Portland, but I like the place. It’s dumpy and smells strongly of Ethiopian food, but it’s familiar and comfortable and there is always some decent Portland-​alternative eye candy.

How come nobody has ever told me about this place? I feel like I’ve been missing out on a delightful chunk of Portland.
Located underneath Jarra’s Ethiopian Restaurant, Langano Lounge is a loud-​but-​not-​too-​loud and smokey-​but-​not-​too-​smokey hole in the wall.
There was a guy in a raccoon hat (who I believe bartends there occasionally), good music, and lots of shots of whiskey.
I will come back. Many many times.

The Langano Lounge is my granny’s basement in Chicago recreated in Portland, if you switch out my Uncle John and Aunt Peggy for the occasional bands and DJs, and trade in Gran’s pierogis and golabki for delightful plates of Ethiopian food. So my Gran doesn’t have a mural of the Serengeti in her basement, but there is a certain cozy comfortable feeling I am delighted to have found at the Langano Lounge that makes me want to bring Gran in with me to shotgun a coupla Old Milwaukees .
There was a hullaballoo a while back regarding this place changing ownership or management (I am iffy on reliable details), and I was worried it would lose the magical feeling, but I went recently and was so happy to find all the charm and good music and inventive drinks and pinball and DJ night and nice bartenders and Ethiopian food (served as plates for 1, HELL OF spicy. The chicken dish comes with a hard-​boiled egg on your plate, which really really freaks me out, but you can make lots of chicken and egg/​what came first jokes, right?) and board games and Serengeti mural intact. Be my basement, darling Langano.
I would like to now take this opportunity to point out one last cosmic connection between the Langano Lounge and Gran: LL serves a crrrazy concoction called the Ethiopian Chili Dog, which consists of a POLISH SAUSAGE (my grandma is the QUEEN OF POLISH SAUSAGE. She used to mail us Polish sausage wrapped in newspaper from Chicago to California because she was certain we couldn’t find decent Kielbasa anywhere on the West Coast) flooded with spicy spicy lentils and a dollop of cottage cheese. I am not brave enough to try it, but sources tell me it’s radical. Note to self: send one Ethiopian chili dog wrapped in newspaper via post to Granny in Chicago.

Some coworkers and I wanted to try something new, so we stopped in here for a couple of drinks on a Saturday night.
Langano had a very relaxed atmosphere. Although it was a Saturday, there were never more than 10 – 12 people here.
We sat in the back room, which also contained some Oregon Lottery machines, and played Boggle. Any place that has board games is OK with me.
Someone in the front room was playing cover songs on an acoustic guitar. The artist was talented and the volume wasn’t too loud which made for unobtrusive background music.
The bar serves local beers, big brand beers and has a full liquor cabinet. One of the liquor bottles had a cover on it that said «Mystery Shot $ 2»; although when my friends asked for it the bartender talked them out of the decision. Mysterious!
I didn’t try any of the food, but the good smells filled the bar.
Service was fast and friendly, however the bartender charged me for the wrong number of beverages and then didn’t know how to reverse the charge to my card. He said if I came in again while he was on shift he would buy me two beers. I appreciate the attempt, but I would have rather had my money back.
If I lived closer to this bar I might stop by once in a while as I appreciate a relaxed atmosphere and local beers, but there are plenty of other bars closer to my apartment that fill this niche.