Hunt & Alpine — Restaurant in Portland

This is not intended to be a BAD review, it is an HONEST review about my first and only experience at Portland Hunt and Alpine Club.

My partner and I decided to pop in for a pre-dinner beverage. We were sat right away and decided to both order an Aperol Spritz as they had a happy hour special. Our drinks came out and they most certainly did not look like an Aperol Spritz. The drinks came in an old fashioned glass and were pink with salt and a lime on the rim….We asked a passing worker about these drinks not appearing like an Aperol Spritz thinking they may have brought us someone else’s cocktails and we didn’t want to sip on them. The worker dismissed us by saying “it’s just served in a different glass” without looking at our drinks. We decided to try them and they definitely were not an Aperol Spritz, there was tequila in them. The drinks were actually delicious but since it wasn’t what we ordered we didn’t want to be charged for them. We told the same worker (who ended up being the manager) that these were definitely not Aperol Spritz’s. She told us to hold on and she’d check on what had happened. She came back saying there was a mistake and that they would comp the mismade drinks and still bring us our Aperol spritzes. We were happy about that because hey, 2 free drinks.

All was good and then we asked for the bill. Which we didn’t look at before putting our card down, our mistake. But saw after that they charged us for all 4 drinks. We were already running late for our dinner reservation because of the drink mishap, so we went up to the entrance where the manager was to tell her that there was a mistake with the bill. There was a lot of chaos by the front door as the restaurant doesn’t really have a host stand or a large entrance for going and coming patrons to stand, but we couldn’t sit and wait for someone to stop by so we were standing in the middle of the chaos trying to sort out our bill.

When they gave us the correct check the managers calm disposition was gone, and you could tell she was letting the stress of all the new patrons get to her. We asked if the other incorrect bill was voided and were told yes.

4 days later and that wrong pending charge went through. We called our bank but they told us to call the bar first and see if they could cancel. When we called we explained what happened and the first thing the manger said was “we don’t have a happy hour”. Are you kidding me? Why is all your staff not on the same page about what your restaurant is doing. Regardless, we were charged for in incorrect bill that we were told was voided, so your bar is still in the wrong. Don’t try and come up with false excuses for your mistake. We were told by this other manager that she would contact the manager on for the night we were there and would receive a call back. We never did.

Which is why I am writing this review. Let me just state that I’m too lazy to write reviews, and this is my first time ever doing so because of how poor our experiences was at Portland Hunt and Alpine Club. My advice to the staff: do not dismiss your customers. Also, take a breather and don’t let the stress of more customers cause you to make mistakes and upset your current customers. It’s a shame because the place was cute and the drinks were good, but I won’t...

We did not get to enjoy a cocktail here, and I'm sure they are probably great, but I cannot overstate how poorly the staff treated us, for no discernable reason. My husband and I came in after dinner last night, approached the bar and asked too see a menu. It was slightly crowded, so my husband made his way to a spot at a high top in the back while I waited at the bar to order. Finally someone came over, I requested two drinks, and was told they don't take orders at the bar unless you are seated there. I had been standing there already for nearly 10 minutes at this point. So I walked back to the table and we hung up our coats and waited for someone to come take our orders. There was one waiter circulating in the room, and he studiously ignored us, going to every single table except ours. Until 5 years ago we lived in Brooklyn and have been to our fair share of cool bars, we may not be hip anymore but we are only in our late 30s. I really have no idea why we were treated like we didn't exist, it was a pretty aggressively awful experience. We left and...

My husband and I had a reservation for 4:30 pm on a Friday and were seated immediately upon arrival. We were there for pre-dinner cocktails so we didn't order any food (we'd also had a late lunch). We each had two cocktails, I had the Lavender Collins which had just the right balance of floral and tart flavors and the Big League Chew, which was delightfully perplexing. It was a little sweet, very smoky, and a bit tart and at first I was unsure if I liked it but by the end of the glass, I was hooked! My husband had the White Noise to start, which was something I could easily drink all summer long, and his second cocktail was something that isn't officially on the menu anymore, but they'll still make, which is a rye-based negroni-esque cocktail called In Cold Blood. It wasn't my cup of tea (I'm not a rye lover) but he really enjoyed it! We would definitely go back to enjoy more unexpected flavors and cocktails we've never had...