Montavilla Saloon — Restaurant in Portland

After driving up from Salem and sitting in the hospital 6 hours, waiting for daughter to go into surgery, my friend and I were starving and having a few hours to spare, decided to see what was around to eat & have a cold beer. We saw this establishment that from the outside appeared that it would have possibly some food and an ice cold beer. We parked and went inside and right away I could tell it was not a bar and grill but more of just like a dive bar which is fine, I have no problem with dive bars, in fact they're the kind of bars I usually like, but in this instance I did not want bar food I wanted something a little more substantial then that. Not wanting to just walk in and walk out and appear rude I decided that we should at least have a beer and figure out what to do next. As I sat down I notice that my friend was asking about food and the bartender was sking him why wouldn't they, like she was insulted, which I thought was a little odd and the more he talked the more she acted like he was offending her which I could not understand because I didn't hear him saying anything that was insulting or anything. So I get a cold beer and my friend is deciding what beer he wants so he picks a beer and it blows ( the keg) so he's trying to find another beer and they keep trying to get him to taste the beer 1st ( The who I assume is the owner was into the mix now and even after a couple seconds he started acting the same way) he was like I'm be fine, but every time he said something they like took offense it was so surreal. So anyway he gets his beer and we sit down and we're just kind of wondering what the hell happened when I notice that there is a girl at the bar who's acting like she has her hands like in her hair but she's actually flipping us off but her hands are like shaking from the force and she's flipping us off over and over, her hands around her head like she is holding her hair up a little but actually flipping us off vehemently! And I look at her in the mirror and I'm just like thinking to myself and she's looking right at me and I'm thinking to myself what the hell did we walk into what is going on you know so anyway we drink our beer the beer is awesome by the way is so cold it was just perfectly refreshing and as we're standing here waiting to pay, the flip the bird girl talking to me and I say yeah you know we were at the hospital all day and what not, my daughters having surgery and the girls talking about her dog that died and she actually says I hope that that doesn't happen to her or something near that sense and then I got the feeling that she wasn't trying to be nice as she was actually being condescending and it was so odd and then as we're leaving the bartender says to me I hope you feel better, I said oh no I'm fine it's my daughter, and I took that opportunity to lean in and tell her you know if we have fended you guys somehow I am really sorry, you know we didn't mean to whatever and she goes oh you're fine, emphasizing the you're...and keeps repeating I just hope you feel better...but in a condescending way. There's more but you get the jest. Now I don't wish to give a bad review to anybody and I know everybody can have their off day but it was so utterly surreal and passive aggressive, that I felt like we had literally walked into an alternate reality or something and it was very uncomfortable! the energy in there as well, is just horrible and I can feel comfortable just about anywhere as I'm just a 49 year old, old hippie girl so yeah and my friend that was with me is a very nice guy. I don't know, I just hope they read this because I'm really sorry that it went down the way it did you know and I'm not gonna give it a bad review , I'll give it a 5050 review just to be nice, but I hope to Goddess nobody else goes through that especially when they've got their daughter on the operating table..obsured. I also sincerely hope those there are happier tomorrow then they were...

I've only been in this place a few times, but had a good experience there. But know that despite having a sign that says "Montavilla Social Club", this is not an actual social club, but rather, a pub. I haven't had their food, so I can't report on that, but this is a good place to relax. They don't have a huge selection of beers, but what they do have is good. The lighting is intentionally dim - a bit on the dark side - which allows your eyes to relax, and in general, makes for an extremely relaxing atmosphere. Staff are friendly, laid back, and very helpful. It's by no means a redneck bar, so if you don't like redneck bars, you won't find any bigoted rednecks in here. All in all, it's a great little pub. I look forward to trying their...

-editing my past review - still really love this bar. I believe it's under new ownership now, and it seems like it's always super crowded now. If you don't mind a crowd is definitely worth checking out! - One of my absolute favorite bars in Portland. It's always super chill and relaxed, a really comfortable bar, great prices. The bartenders are super awesome, really friendly. I live nowhere in the area but still go out of my way to come here whenever possible. Same feel as Momo downtown but usually a lot less crowded. (one of the bartenders told me both momo and montavilla social have the same owner. So if you like one you'll probably like...