I'm pretty disappointed in Decibel. When we arrived, the first thing I noticed was their JJ 323 tube stereo receiver and record collection, yet they were playing music through a streaming service. After settling in, I was curious if they had nights where they played any of their records. At this point, it was not busy and the bartenders were flipping limes or playing some sort of game to entertain themselves, so I thought it was a perfect time to ask. Before I could finish the beginning of my question, he blurted, "we don't take requests if that's what you're asking, we just kinda go with the vibe of the room." That wasn't what I was asking, but that set the tone for our visit. Also, what comes first, the music or the vibe?

We got a Scorpion bowl. It was tasty. $23 bucks for two people. It arrived quickly and on fire. Super cool presentation.

Our dip got stuck in the kitchen for a long time as our appetizer was ordered during a mini rush. It wasn't very busy, but they may have been short staffed. I had sent the picture of the JJ 323 the moment we placed the order and it took about 35m. Just chronicling our unfortunate experiences at this point.

The sad part is that we had been wanting to check this place out for a while and the morning after, we had allowed ourselves to cool off, the disappointment remained and was real enough that I allowed Google's reminder to leave a review.

Sadly, I am sure that if you pass their "vibe" check, you will probably have a better time. I guess a couple of actual dorky humans get the snicklefritz service at Decible; it happens from time to time in the modern Portland metro.

Here are the 10's because the place does have value and appeal. Ambience The JJ 323 stereo (it's $3K and if you haven't seen one in person, it's cool even though they won't spin a record on it unless their vibe light is on) The one drink we had was quality