We arrived in Portland around midnight on a Thursday. Our friend immediately took us to the Blue Moon, a bar/restaurant located in a historic building in the "trendy area" downtown. Blue Moon is owned by the McMenamin family and has recently reopened after a fire destroyed much of the inside two years ago. The McMenamin family owns numerous pubs, breweries, music venues, historic hotels, and theater pubs throughout Oregon and Washington. All of them are unique and located in historical locales. The family is known to buy out old factories and buildings and convert them into entertainment districts or restaurants. Each McMenamin's brews its own beer.
Blue Moon's recent remodeling includes the red neon that edges the roof outside and large picture windows that open out onto the street. We arrived at the bar about midnight, after paying $3 to park in a lot across the street. The bar was fairly crowded with young 20- and 30-somethings, although the menu did tout that it was a "family friendly" place. Almost everyone was wearing jeans and dressed "trendy casual." The drink of choice is beer, since Blue Moon brews their own. I'm not a big beer person, but we had some kind of bitter ale with a twist of lemon that I didn't think was very good. But, the beer-drinkers in the group enjoyed their dark stout beers.
Blue Moon is pretty large and mainly a sit down bar, with plenty of tables and barstools. In the back are a few pool tables and dart boards. The decor is wood, and you can tell the place has been around a while, but is well cared for. The bar is located in the back left, and the entire place is dimly lit, making it easy to see everything.
The menu mainly consisted of sandwiches, burgers, salads, and appetizers. We were hungry after our long flight, so we ordered the spinach-artichoke dip. It came with delicious tortilla chips, which lasted longer than the small bowl of dip. Our friend, who frequents the place, tells us that the burgers and fish-and-chips are especially good.
We were only there for about an hour or two, but I can tell this is a popular place and I would probably go back if I were in Portland again.
For more information, visit their website.