Space Room Lounge — Restaurant in Portland

Better than you’d think!

Portland has high standards when it comes to bar food, especially fried bar food. This place has it covered because the amount of fried dishes is very impressive.

The atmosphere is quirky since it’s obviously a themed bar. There’s a lot of outdoor seating (with limited heaters) and the indoor area is on the smaller side. Tables cleared up pretty regularly though so it wasn’t a big deal to find seating.

The service was good and the line to order moved fairly quickly. it was a busy night so we were waiting a bit longer than usual for the food, but it was nice that they gave us an estimated wait time.

The chicken fingers were high quality and juicy with really good seasoning levels. It was slightly, just a little bit soggy. Maybe it could have used 1 min or so more in the fryer. But it was trivia night (pretty packed) so I’ll give them a pass and I’m looking forward to trying it again. The fries and tots that you can choose with the dish were perfect though, no notes.

Mac and cheese was classic tasting and I very much appreciate that the macaroni was the perfect doneness. I’d recommend you eat it before any of the fried food though since the fried stuff was more salty and made the mac n cheese taste a bit more bland, but that’s an illusion due to the previous saltiness.

The wedge salad was fine! Honestly nothing to write home about. It was the necessary fresh, veggie dish to balance the crispy goodness.

I was skeptical about the fried Uncrustable since I’m not really a fan of a regular one. But the fried version makes it 10x better, as any fried food does naturally. We got it topped with the ice cream which definitely was the move because it helped temper the extreme gooey richness of the uncrustable.

The space balls were fun, not only in name but also taste. It’s flavor packed smoky and cheesiness and on the richer side, so it’s a good appetizer dish to split with the table.

The nachos were my least favorite but I also don’t like nachos so I don’t feel it’s fair for me to review them.

Overall, it Space Room Lounge serves great bar food and I’m looking forward to...

“Accidentally Had a Religious Experience at Dive Bar” ✨🛸🚀🖖🏼🤘

Space Room. Same dim light, same peeling galaxies. The bartender already had my two-dollar beer in hand before I sat down—routine. But tonight I stopped him.

“Not that,” I said. “Reach for the gin.”

He froze. “Whoa. Didn’t expect that.”

I nodded. “Yep. It’s my grandmother’s drink. She’d be proud of me today.”

That’s all I said, and it was enough for the five of us, myself included, to be just a little enchanted and moved by what was unfolding. The barflies leaned in, waiting for more, but silence carried it. The tonic hissed, ice cracked, and I raised the glass:

“To Ruth.”

They echoed it back. Glasses lifted. And just like that, Space Room got warmer—like someone else had pulled up a chair. Someone only us in this small moment could see.

I closed the night with the usual two-dollar beer. But I left knowing this place can hold both the ridiculous (see patio sign: “the medical term is diarrhea, guys”) and the sacred.

Five stars? No. All the stars...

My gal pulled up the menu on her phone and wow it looked great!! We decided to walk on over for lunch. Choices included these highlights: -French Dip with onions, a unique mixture of tasty cheeses and great quality thin cut ribeye. Chicken Fried Steak with a load of hash browns, gravy (mushroom or sausage) and two eggs. several cheeseburgers. Italian Beef sandwich with au jus, homemade giardinera peppers (!) with the tasty thin sliced ribeye. Biscuits and Gravy Wedge Salad… It was hard to choose but we headed in and split a cheesesteak with fries and hit a side of their giardinera peppers. It had plenty of melted cheese, chopped ribeye and caramelized onions. Very tasty! $16 and two kinda hungry folks can split it. Side of peppers… were about a dollar. Well worth it. I think next time we’ll split the chicken fried steak....