Rivalries

Rivalries is a quintessential sports bar. Tons of screens upstairs and down… all the sports packages… always games on.
The food is decent… not great. The chili barbecue tenders are a staple and are good. The burgers are also pretty good, as the get a seared crust on the outside, put I have difficulty getting a burger here cooked rare or medium rare… always ask, but it seems to always come out medium, which is a bit of a turn off for me.
Good beer selection, service is always good for the large crowds that they have… overall, solid 3 ½ stars… one warning… I’ve gotten my share of parking tickets on cotton street in my day. Beware.

I went to Rivalries to attempt to watch the Packer game. I went in expecting it to be busy as the Pats were playing at the same time, but I stood at the bar waiting to he acknowleged by the bartender as they served at least 2 couples that walked in before me. I was alone and assessed the bar situation to see if there might be room for me to scoot a chair in. I asked two gentleman if they would be willing to move closer to eachother so I might fit in, and they had no problem moving closer to them. After they obliged, I offered to buy them a beer for their help. I then asked permission of the hostesses if I found an extra stool, if it would be okay for me to move it to the bar. They said it was fine. I then found a couple at a table that were willing to give up an extra stool for me. I then went to pull the stool up and was told by a server that I could not pull a stool up because an older «gentleman» started trippin out speaking to me and the server in a very disrespectful way telling me I could not move to the bar because him and his girlfriend were standing there… but there had not been standing space for both of them until the two gentlemen had moved over.
Instead of fighting with the overtly rude gentleman and the server who clearly wanted to make the person happy who was making a throwing a bigger fit over the situation, I left. I have lived in Portland in the downtown area since February and have never experienced such horrible customer service or people that were so incapable of doing the right thing if only saying «I am sorry,» before not being able to work with a potentially good paying (and great tipping) customer.
I should have left after I waited too long for a drink, but I wanted to give the establishment the benefit of the doubt as it was suggested to me by a good resource. I won’t do that again.

Couple of things going on here. First my server was great. Friendly and helpful. However the food was not prepared well. Had fish and chips. Fish was wet and obvious from frozen. However the Guinness was awful. It smelled bad even to my server. I’ve lived in Ireland and know what a pint of Guinness is supposed to taste like. I sent the Guinness back. The tacky thing was is they still charged me for it saying that, «he drank half of it.» whatever… I try and convince myself that it is me and sip at a rancid pint for an hour and I get the shaft. I will not be going back and I will be telling others about my experience there and it’s tacky management.

A sports bar with two levels and countless TVs but unwilling to show 40% of the televised NFL games? An employee thought it was dumb too and sent me to Binga’s which has Every game and is rated better anyhow.

Cool spot. Plenty of menu options and a cool downtown location. Food came out timely and tasted good. I’m not so into sports but if I were this would be the place I’d come to watch the game. Our servers name was Jen and she was very attentive and nice.

Exactly what I want it to be and nothing more.

Spacious, two-​level sports bar with plenty of tables, clean floor, and decent food. They have sooo many tv’s. I was even able to watch the 49er game. The drinks were moderately strong, and the food was fair. I guess its like, two-​notches above a tgi fridays.
I also liked how people weren’t screaming, yelling, and cursing. The crowd seemed refreshingly older, which was great.

First, I have to say that four stars might be a little generous for Rivalries, but because it’s one of the only decent spots in the city where you can watch all the NFL games and because they’ve always been willing to put the Ravens on for me, I’m going up a star.
I found Rivalries on the recommendation of a friend and I have to say that I feel a little misled. Rivalries is a perfectly nice, respectable sports bar — so not at all what I was expecting. There aren’t a lot of rowdy fans, on game day, only about half of the patrons wear NFL jerseys. There are no painted faces. Everyone is seated politely at tables. There’s no swearing (except for me). To most people, this would sound terrific, but I would love to see a little more rivalry at Rivalries. Get up out of your seats, people (so I don’t have to be the only one)!!
Servers are super friendly and attentive and the menu is above average for a sports bar. There are TV’s everywhere plus a projection TV upstairs that usually has the feed from all the games on one giant screen. The bar area is small but there’s usually table seating on Sundays if you get there early.
Sunday football at Rivalries would be perfect if they would add a few brunch items to their menu. Maybe a nice omelette or BLT? They’d go nicely with the mimosa special!
The only negative comment I can make about Rivalries is based on an experience that a friend had one Sunday. She and her husband arrived about 5 minutes into the second quarter and they were seated upstairs. They asked if management could put the Steelers game on one of the TV’s near where they were sitting and management refused, saying that no one else wanted to see that game and they should have arrived earlier if they wanted it put on. I get it, you want to put on the most popular game, but there are a million TV’s at Rivalries — it seems like one per table. I think that management could easily have asked the other patrons around them if they would mind switching one of the TV’s (I doubt anyone would have said no) but that was never offered. Next time, maybe just ask. You never know, that Patriots fan might have Big Ben as his fantasy QB!

Two words: Raw wings. Seriously… my husband bit into a sweet chili wing only to spit out frozen raw meat. Gross. The waitress didn’t even apologize when we told her. And nothing was removed from the check. Bad food + unacceptable service to compensate = we will not be returning.

We came here to watch the UGA/​USC game on a Saturday. The big screens were great and had our game on. While the wine selection was a bit sparse (including a «Mangria» from Adam Corolla), the beer was delicious. We also ordered wings — we got the thai flavored wings instead of the buffalo wings — that were super good. I’d highly recommend this spot for watching a game.

Went recently to watch a hockey game. Service was good, especially considering we had a large table, but the food was terrible. My personal pizza was disgusting. The crust was clearly frozen, making it a soggy piece of cardboard with cheese. Literally, the crust was WET. Oh and only one style of wings. I’ll be going to Bingas next time for sure.

Ryan Flaherty, who grew up in Portland, was starting today for the Orioles in the ALDS, in a game where the Orioles could take the series. 30 minutes before game time and Rivalries is unable to commit to putting the game on at all. not for a clinching game in post season baseball. not even to support a local boy.
Disappointed as we were trying to go to a sports bar and see something that should matter to Portland. Instead, football games thousands of miles away played by no one from Portland took precedence.
the food is sports bar food. better than average I guess. Just zero home town pride.

Food is good, decent beer special for football games, but how does a sports bar have only one toilet in the men’s room?
$ 5.50 for a mini picture of Bud Light. Wings are good.

Rivalries is a nice sports bar with outside patio. I went during lunch so it wasn’t very busy. The place isn’t large so I imagine it gets packed in the evenings. The food was good and the staff were friendly.
I wouldn’t say there is anything special that stands out about this place but it seems like a good hang out spot to watch a game and have some food.

Rivalries is just about the best place you could ask for in a spot to watch a Sunday football game.
Rivalries is located in a spacious, two-​story building with tons of natural light, owing to a big skylight that bathes the room in sunshine on a bright day — offers a much better mood than some dank basement. Service is quick and cheerful, and throughout our stay, we wanted for nothing. The first floor has a short bar and several high-​tops, where we posted up.
Pitcher specials and wings are de rigeur, and their wings do not disappoint — a tangy chili bbq sauce is spicy and sweet, and quenching the fire with a Roundabout ale is just the thing.
Did I mention football? Because: football. There’s a big Buffalo Bills contingency here, cheering their home team, but the Patriots game will always be on the big screen. Nevertheless, whatever your game, you can find a screen for it here.
The second floor has larger tables, and most of the TVs are tuned to the home game, but you can still catch any action you need.
Were I a richer man, I’d stay for the late games too! We needed a hand truck to roll my fat ass out of there after the 1pm games as it was. Definitely will be back to Portland, and we’ll definitely stop by here.

This is a good, solid sports bar. Nothing too special — but a good option for a spot to watch the game and grab so bar food & a beer.
The menu is pretty extensive, and the food is good — again, not excellent, but good and is aligned with what I would expect at a sports bar. We all shared the nachos, wings & potato skins and each had a few beers.
I do with that they had more draft options as well as some good specialty drinks — don’t get me wrong, I love me some beer and greasy food… but a girl has to have some options.
I also was hoping for a better crowd and vibe — we can in on Sunday for the games and the scene was pretty dead and quiet. There were people watching the games but they all seemed to be pretty subdued. Part of the fun of watching a game at a sports bar is the crowd cheering and getting into the games and it just wasn’t here. Maybe it was an off day?
Anyway…we will probably be back to give it a second chance. Parking was easy and the service was friendly & fast so hopefully next time it will be a better vibe!

Rivalries is a nice sports bar. Plenty of seating, above-​average bar food, drink specials, and many televisions. I think this is my 5^th time there and probably not the last!
My wife and I stopped in to catch the last quarter of the 1pm NFL games on Sunday. No problem finding a table and they turned the tv to our game of choice. Had our first fall beer of the season, a chicken tender salad, and a bowl of chili. All very tasty!
The chicken is advertised as «sweet chili,» but I actually prefer the regular buffalo sauce. This is abnormal, so be quite specific if you also prefer it… as it doesn’t seem like anyone else does!
The chili had some nice flavor and comes with a few sprigs of cheese on it. I recommend adding sour cream.
Total price for everything was about $ 25…not bad for a two person lunch! Definitely worth grabbing a bite or beer if you are in the area and want to catch you game.

Sports Bars are usually a dime a dozen in the cities that I have been to with only a few of them really standing out. The ones that popped were ones with a TON of taps for draft beer and really good and fresh food in general and then to top it all off the best bars are ones with lots of TV’s to watch sports and hang out with friends.
Rivalries has a few of these wrapped up. 1. The TV selection is a little deceiving with there only being 2 TV’s or so above the bar downstairs but once you can meander upstairs, you will find a plethora of televisions including a large screen viewer. The upstairs also has picnic table type seating and a lot of room to spread out with larger groups.
2. They have a pretty good selection of beers but with the amount of local breweries and brewhauses around the area, you would think that there would be a ton of different types of beers on tap or on the ready.
3. The only item of food that is really worth anything here are the chicken wings (boneless or bone in) with the sweet chili sauce where you can get some sweet with a kick of hot to them also.
Our most recent visit to this establishment the place was super packed due to a playoff game going on so we were waiting for a very long time but the hospitality was there and the beer was cold and refreshing while waiting in line.
The food is where is lost it’s luster this evening after waiting for so long. We got the calamari with rhode island style peppers that were rubbery and really not that good and were all rings and no actual squid like a lot of other establishments serve in the area. We then got the bone in sweet chili wings and they were very good. At the table there was an order for a bacon cheeseburger that was both dry and not as hearty as the price would have you believe that is was going to be.
There is an outside deck for the warmer months that you can eat at and you can also reserve the upstairs area whenever you have a larger party which is a very nice touch. I also enjoyed the fact that they are very attentive to the emails that are sent through the website making reservations and answering any questions that I had with speed and thoroughness (don’t even know if that is a word)
So, to sum this review up, we have never had a BAD experience and since it is one of the only sports bars that I would go to watch the game before heading out to the meat market in South Portland with Buffalo Wild Wings or the difficult parking at Binga Stadium.
So, clean sports bar, caters to big parties, and average food and an ok selection of beers on tap, I would not get expectations extremely high but would say. give it a try!

1. Draft beer.
2. Televisions everywhere.
3. Sports, lots of sports.
If graded on these things alone, Rivalries would get an A+. The service on this particular visit was uncharacteristically good (I’ve been here in the past and it takes over an hour to get lunch– not particularly convenient during the work day). The standard pub food is comparable to your local Applebee’s, barely. Eat somewhere else and then come here.

Great place for easy pub food and watching multiple screens of sports :) It usually has a lively crowd, but nothing too obnoxious or out of control.
The food was fine, nothing that will draw TV Cameras and celebrities. I do love the way they cook the chicken wings. Tender and crispy :) My favorite was the sweet chili. It was sweet with a little heat.
Service was fast and pleasant.
Downstairs for smaller parties and the ability to accommodate larger parties upstairs. They take reservations, which is nice, even during Pats games.
They had a decent selection of beers, draft and bottle. Local drafts on tap usually have me coming back.
Another place that makes me wish I lived in Portland.