Pacific Standard — Restaurant in Portland

Atmosphere should be its middle name. (Side point: playlist could not be beat. It should be published on Spotify under the bar name.) Left after happy hour...but came down later with a book -- because the music was that good.

The cocktails were v. good. Whiskey sour turned out amazingly refreshing and delicious, and so well-balanced. It was an honest "Wow." Though they couldn't source the fresh oysters because of the weather -- there was an ice storm at play -- they did have mussels and clams that were delicious with the fresh chopped garlic and herbs. The broth was tart and savory in all the right ways: simply wonderful to the last drop.

Fries were an extremely pleasant and generous portion. Hope they keep it that way. I was able to share with some new friends at the bar.

The Dungeness crab toast was well-loaded with crab meat, and liked the brioches bread...but salty for my taste.

Really loved the portion, price, and taste of the deviled eggs. Chives garnished everything.

The ambience is great. Chairs are super comfortable without feeling claustrophobic. You can sit almost anywhere and have your own introvert time as well as enjoy the extrovert vibe. Locals are very friendly and one can make friends readily. Kind of great community building space.

Updating to add: Typically wouldn't order zero proof at a solid cocktail bar but this visit involved a Work deadline, and I prefer writing with a clear mind...so zero proof it was, and the Wandering Path was a worthy detour from the Whiskey Sour. Utilized my favorite Pathfinder -- hemp based -- to create something really refreshing (citrus from lemon, grapefruit) without being cloyingly sweet...plus the egg whites that I like so much.

And, the Caesar was meaningfully substantive and really, really tasty. Maybe it was so good because of all the salad pitfalls it managed to side step effortlessly. The whole leaf approach was ideal and the lettuce so fresh and turgid; the dressing was flavorful without being sloppy or drowning down the crunch; there was a layer shaved Parmesan that meant business and tied the subtle flavors together beautifully. I really loved eating this salad, every bite....

I should start by saying I'm no expert. I don't go to a ton of bars, more of a brewery/pub person. However, I've been to a few and Pacific Standard stands above them all! This place is incredible. From the atmosphere which is cool, chill and vibey to the different seating areas. The furniture, lighting is all top notch. Even the music works to pull it all together and create just a great space. And not one of those stuffy "upscale" environments either. It's more of a classy, comfortable, sit back and enjoy type of spot. Of course the reason you go to a bar is for the drinks! Let me tell you, we had some of the best cocktails we've ever had anywhere. Our bartender was Nick and he was awesome! You can tell he has a lot of confidence in his abilities and it was not misplaced. The dude is very good at what he does. That said, I don't know if I offended him! Lol. Our first drinks were an Old Fashioned and my wife had an Amaretto Sour. Both drinks were stupendous! My wife loves Amaretto and the drink, while perfectly balanced, had great Amaretto flavor and she absolutely loved it. For her second drink we asked for Nicks opinion on which drink to follow up the Amaretto sour. He suggested the Stone Fruit Sour from the menu. The drink was delicious and my wife loved it. However, she loved the Amaretto even more! Lol. My wife then decided to ask about her most favorite cocktail which we first discovered in Galveston, TX a year ago, the El Diablo. Nick knew what it was and confidently set off to make it for her. Again, he made a perfectly balanced and delicious cocktail, however it was not spicy. We assumed it was supposed to be as that's the way we had it in TX and have been making at home ever since. Nick informed us that it's not inherently a spicy drink, but to next time order it spicy. It was still great, but I could tell Nick takes great pride in blowing his customers minds and I appreciated this about him. We will be back and soon! Thanks for...

We came over the weekend with a small group for Portland Weiner week to try their fondue corn dog. My one positive is the atmosphere here is amazing! However, the service was not. Some of us got there early so we were looking for the rest of our group. The hostess walked past us 3 times watching us look around and never came up to help. We finally walked to the bar and asked if they may be up on the rooftop. His response was “it’s February… it’s OBVIOUSLY not open”. Which is fair but the attitude was not needed. We later asked the bartender about their opinion on the crab item on the menu. He shook his head and said don’t bother ordering it. Not even 20 minutes later we overheard someone else asking their opinion and he answered “I don’t like crab but it’s very popular on the menu and people love it”. We thought it was odd to not recommend something and not tell the person its only because you personally don’t eat crab! While ordering my drink he basically yelled at me “SPEAK UP” because he misheard me. This is the type of bartender that should be at a dive bar, not a cocktail lounge. The corn dog on top of that was sub par but that’s not my point. We would have stayed longer because the atmosphere was beautiful and the drinks were tasty but since the staff were so unwelcoming we decided to not order another...