The Know

My favorite bar. Great (loud) rock and roll, pinball and cheap beer. They have a few solid craft taps too. Shows are over by 11 too, so don’t arrive late

Live music, usually something head-​bang-​y, every night. Cheap and stiff drinks. This is definitely a dive, and I mean that as a compliment. Ignore the pissy reviews. You don’t come here for gourmet food, or for the sparkling bathrooms, or cause you want a private booth in a quiet, «artsy» setting. This is a bar in the truest sense of the word. Not a gastropub, not a craft beer tasting room, not a jazzy, cocktail lounge with kooky shit on the walls. This is a bar for bar people, and PDX is much better for having it.

Met a friend here before grabbing dinner next door, gotta say I’m impressed. Walked in knowing that this place was a bit on the punk rocker/​dive bar side of things. Sat down at the bar next to my friend that had been waiting for me, and right away the cute bartender asks me if I’d like a drink. Since I had just finished working out at the gym, I say water would be nice. Having not been here before, I was unaware that there’s a water cooler to the left of the bar. The bartender was sweet enough to grab a glass for me and I felt horrible not knowing it was easily accessible. I told him I was sorry and he said no worries. Just by this encounter alone, I will be back!

This place is a good venue with a lackluster bar area. If there is a good show going on, definitely come here for that but I don’t recommend going strictly for the bar. The seating layout is uncomfortable and ill-​situated, and I always feel like I am bumping into people or in someone’s way. I do give an extra star for the kick ass N.W.A painting that hangs over the bar area, which I so badly want to own.
The food is a joke since it’s all frozen meals that are reheated. It’s literally Banquet and cheap frozen dinners, but I guess that’s their loophole to be able to serve alcohol. Beer selection is fairly standard, and they do have a couple of decent IPA’s on tap. Music selection is good even when there is no live show going on.
As I said earlier, go here for the shows but that’s it. You’re much better off going to the Alleyway if you want a good dive bar.

Haha joke of a place. Best part was the funky items in the vending machine, like the ‘know your spirit animal’ for $ 2 was a toy giraffe. Pretty cute. The bloody Mary’s were watered down but thankfully came with lots of garnishes, two olives, pickle, salt rim, lime and a lemon wedge.
The ‘bouncer’ is so sad, has this sense of authority and entitlement. When the items we bought from the vending machine didn’t come out and we jiggled the trap door, he told us ‘not to break his ducking vending machine’, then tipped it once or twice, and told us we played at our own risk and too bad but that’s it, we couldn’t get our item out. And looked at us like we were an ex-​con about to get kicked out…
The clientele is artistic to lowlife, but my girlfriends and I don’t let that bum us out, so we sit down and a lady at the bar is so drunk she falls out of her barstool. Straight up, on the floor, stumbling, drooling, drunk.
Only redeeming quality is that they play live music on the stage and are open late.

Very odd layout. You can’t reach the bathroom without having to nudge up against everyone’s tender parts because they are stacked like sardines in front of the bar. The pinball machines are across from the bathrooms which is also very odd, feng shui design. The dance floor /​stage area is small when there are more than 20 people in the space and pitch black (watch where you step). The outdoor area is a sad place where everyone who can’t fit inside sits, defeated, while the bouncer, repeatedly, tells them to put their drink ON THE TABLE. This makes drinking a lot less pleasurable, of course. There are a couple of booths, if you’re lucky, and may have the fun of someone else’s ass shoved in your face because they have nowhere else to stand. The bartenders are overwhelmed, understaffed and underwhelmed by your needs. I give it 1 meh and a few whatevers.
Not my first time at your bar, dear owner. Unless it was before 10pm, the bartenders always seemed overwhelmed. «Timely» is not the adjective I’d use to describe their ability to keep up. Best of luck.

Love it. This place is for real. Great music venue for metal and punk shows.

I can’t believe this place has survived the gentrification of Alberta. It’s not quite a ‘real’ dive bar, but it’s rough enough around the edges to keep out your average tourist.
Beer selection is great; prices are like Portlandia never happened. Oh, and the music is superb, with the music video playing on a screen high above the bar, up near an awesome painting of N.W.A.

This place is awesome! We paid a $ 5 cover fee to see a band that I really wanted to see. The stage and standing area is tiny. The headlining band had to end at 11. The show started at 8:00 and I figured I had time before the headliner started. I arrived at 9:45 at the bar was at capacity. I waited for 15 min and the guy at the door let us in. Get here early if there is a band you really want to see!

Awesome shows! Good service! Reasonably priced! Never had a bad experience!

Because it’s a Sunday. You gotta drink if your hanging in the pdx chill good spot with a elective crowd. Damn Portland is awesome.

This is my first review because I had to share how bad the service was. The short haired girl working tonight was the rudest I’ve ever been treated in a bar.

The sign on the window with Bill Cosby says it all. Cool venue, small but has a large enough bar for the space. The curtain thing is weird when a band is playing though. Attentive barkeep, great selection of bands and $ 2 16oz PBR’s.

Bonus points for having a fun name, but otherwise, nothing much stood out for me about The Know. The bartender was friendly enough, drinks were cheap enough, and the patrons were entertaining enough for some fine people watching over a beer. Not the worst place to check out for a beer or two…

Who doesn’t like to be in The Know? :D
I showed up late on a Thursday night and there was a VJ taking requests for music videos out of this large book. I was flying solo and really feel like there was a good atmosphere for mingling. Enough Pinball machines to keep me happy and a large screen in the other room showing the videos. Décor is pretty awesome too.
Rad divey place that made me feel relaxed. Love it.

Diviest of the Alberta dives. Period. This place is rough. All around rough and tough. The door man reminds me of a DPW worker from burning man but un-​playafied. The bartenders are rock and roll junkies with positive hip attitudes and always into the music they are playing. Very up-​lifting.
They have 5 rocking pin ball machines. Taxi, ACDC, the avengers, sopranos, and old school white water. Most are 50 cents. Some are 75 cents for a game.
There are two TVs. One large and one pretty tiny. They could use a few more in my opinion. If sports are on they usually have playing what you are looking for.
On tap right now they have ninkasi spring beer, angry orchard cider, boneyard IPA, and Good Life pale ale. They have about 25 bottled or canned beers and a full selection of liquor. Everything here is cheap. Period.
They have music every night here. Sometimes it is free or only $ 5. Awesome bands. I dig this place. Been coming here for years.

One of the best dives in Portland. If you like punk or metal, you’ll like the music many nights. The early cut-​off time is a bummer for bands, but you take what you can get.
The drinks a cheap and strong. Like really strong sometimes. They treat bands well. If you get a good amount of people in there, chances are you’ll have a fun show.
It’s hilarious reading the bad reviews about this place. I do not dress or look like the usual clientele by any means, and nobody there has ever been weird to me. Most of the people there just want to drink and listen to heavy music. It isn’t a fashion show. Nobody gives a shit what you are wearing. You are not that important. I swear to god, half of the bad reviews I see on Unilocal are from people with cripplingly low amounts of self-​esteem.
ANYWAY, if you want to go to a bar with stiff drinks and heavy music, this is your place. If you are terrified that people might not like what you’re wearing, you are probably a huge baby who should be in bed by now.

For what it is (cheap dive bar), it’s awesome. Cheap, stiff drinks and a great supply of tasty ciders. Great, efficient service. The bathrooms are… well, bar bathrooms, but they have two and I did not have to wait long even on a Saturday night.
I love the live music section. They have made some changes so that now you can go into the bar while a show is going on, but you do not have a pay the cover unless you want to physically see the band (the bar is divided by a large curtain).
What with The Nest of of commission for the foreseeable future, I am pretty sure this will be the go to place for a stiff drink in a casual bar on Alberta — and I, of course, will definitely be coming by (The Know) more often.

Hidden away on Alberta Street. You almost feel you need to be a club member to come in… initially.
Friendly staff. Nice regulars.
Anarchist/​Punk rock type feel upon my first entry back in 2008.
Rotating taps.
Nice selection of bottled/​canned beer. One of the top PABST Tall Boy sellers.
Has live music almost every night.
It’s comfortable to sit outside at their tables.
Pinball. No food. Warm nuts, though.

$ 1 white castle burgers
$ 0.25 pinball machine
Occidental Kolsch on tap
Need I say more!!!