Loyal Legion — Restaurant in Portland

One of the best beer spots on the inner eastside - out of many. Not a brewery but featuring 100 taps of Oregon and Washington-centric breweries with the occasional import on hand (think Oktoberfest authentic), there is sure to be something on tap for every beer drinker at LL. I can't say enough good things about the place, since they opened they've grown into a solid operation that sdees the space full on a weekend night. If you can find parking nearby, on a Friday night you may end up standing elbow-to-elbow with a slightly older crowd, say semi-professionals in their 30's. The somewhat small but deep selection of whiskeys on hand attract a certain kind of crowd as well, with beer pairings and daily shot specials. The 'public beer hall' theme is carried through on the food menu, with a focus on bratwurst that's been prepared with the beer that gets cleaned out of the tap lines every day. They take the beer presentation seriously at LL, with their walk-in keg cooler located directly underneath the tap island, which occupies the length of the middle of the room. A long rectangular bar runs the length of both sides of the tap island, right down the middle, with booths lining both sides and big open windows on the west side. Outdoor tables provide additional seating in nice weather as well. This is a well-developed place with darker tones and softer lighting, defintely a good place for a date or casual get together with close friends. Some larger booths along the back wall accomodate groups but you might want to call ahead if you've got a crowd joining you, at least on the weekends.

As for the service, well...it's been hit or miss on occasssion. I have quite literally walked out after being ignored for more than 5 minutes while seated at the bar. Admittedly I go beering solo so sometimes I'm under the radar but, well...if you leave a customer sitting at your bar with no glass and no greeting, I mean...clearly my business was not wanted that day, and they were not very busy. On other occassions the service was stellar - the bartenders were engaged with their customers, they clearly spend time learning the beers, and I didn't have to wait for my first pint to be empty before they asked me if I wanted another

If there were an option to give this place a zero star on here I would. ZERO stars.

A few weeks ago, I was set to have my rehearsal dinner for my wedding at Loyal Legion. I know what you're thinking, a bar? Why? Well we needed something quick that could accommodate our 25 guest party and when I reached out to Loyal Legion ONE MONTH prior, I was guaranteed with enthusiasm that they were more than happy to help and could definitely house my group.

The communications between me and Adam Keefe (the GM) were pretty thorough. He emailed back and fourth with me 4 times and spoke to me on the phone twice. He told me he would set aside a couple of large booths, we talked about if we could bring kids (we have a 3 year old), we went into detail about how we were planning on paying for our guests meals but have them set up a separate bar tab for drinks. DETAILED communication.

Now let's fast forward to the night before my wedding. We all show up to Loyal Legion and it is packed. My mother in law has a concerned look on her face as she talks to a gentleman who ended up being Adam Keefe. I walk up and am told by this SAME man that had scheduled my WEDDING REHEARSAL dinner with that Loyal Legion never does reservations. He then goes on to say that no one would have or could have promised me that they could accommodate a party of our size on this night.

I literally pull up my emails and communications with him to show him that HE is the person who scheduled this reservation for us. He tries to go back and forth and say that he doesn't know how that happened but refuses to apologize. He says we can wait around and try to separate our party up to be seated faster but there's nothing he can do. I get to the point where I'm pretty visibly upset and then he very begrudgingly offers us a $50 gift card to come back at another time. Calculate this... a party of 25 adults, for my Wedding Rehearsal Dinner, would have easily totaled 400-500 dollars with drinks. insert middle finger emoji

Loyal Legion, I actually really liked you before. I thought your food was good and the atmosphere of your restaurant was great. I used to recommend you to out of towners but legit I will never be back and I'll tell anyone and everyone how poorly you treat...

I made a reservation directly with the GM to hold a bachelor party 3 weeks ahead of time. I confirmed the week of the event. When we arrived for our reservation, our table was given away 15 minutes prior to the reservation time. I had 11 people with me who all visited from out of town. It was extremely crowded and no tables were available. So we just kind of stood around a tiny booth shared with another party. When I described my frustration to the staff, they made no attempt to resolve the problem or contact the GM (who was away at the new Beaverton location). Instead, some snarky floor manager proceeded to blame me for not knowing the correct reservation time. When I made contact with the GM days later, he offered an apology and a refund. The problem is that you cannot resolve a botched organized event for 11 out of town visitors that was planned weeks in advanced by simply offering a refund. The reason for the 1 star review is that Loyal Legion staff could have done something to resolve the issue that night. But they chose to shrug their shoulders and do nothing. Why? Because what difference does one unhappy party make when you have a bar full of happy customers. It's not worth the time or energy. The epitome of entitled, pretentious "New Portland". I don't know about you, but as a proud, native Portlander, this is a cultural and value driven paradigm shift that I want nothing to do with. So, after being a regular patron and supporter of Loyal Legion since day 1, I will...