The 1905 — Restaurant in Portland

I was taken here for my birthday. The great part: It's an intimate setting with the performers physically near the audience. Acoustics were better than I anticipated based on how the place was laid out. You can really hear the individual instruments being played. Enough so, it didn't require a whole lot of amplification. Because it wasn't as deafly amplified, the music was not overwhelmingly loud. I was able to carry on small conversations without significantly increasing the volume of my voice. On that, it's probably not very courteous to talk much at this venue as it will disrupt other audience's listening pleasure. Especially since most of the audience is literally an ear-shot from you. Yeah. You will walk out of this place with your hearing and throat intact. When I went, the band playing was of high quality entertainment, composition and arrangement-wise. All I remember was it was an awesome "jam session" that made it seem as if time flew by way too quick. I was impressed with their decent whiskey selection (e.g., Lagavulin 16-year, Old Rip Van Winkle-10 year, Nikka From the Barrel and etc.) Although many items on the menu weren't available, the dish I got was very good and in appropriately proportioned.

Some frustrations: We had reservations for seating at 7pm, we got there at 6:50pm, but didn't get seated until nearly 20 minutes later. It's quite intimate in that you're literally almost shoulder-to-shoulder with other audiences sitting next to you. I'm athletically built and trim, but I probably wouldn't suggest this seating arrangement to horizontally larger patrons. The band played for what felt like less than an hour. Although time did seem to fly while we were there, it was indeed literally also a bit short. Ever been to a jazz bar and just hung out for a few hours drinking old fashions and listening to one session after another. This felt more like a preview and rushed. They have you rotated so the next group comes in and the band (or another band) can play a session while you snack. It just seemed like "speed jazz bar" instead of lounging and enjoying your time. When we went, they ran out of many of the menu items. It's a Friday at 7pm and they ran out of menu items already? I don't think I've ever been to a non-family diner/fast food restaurant anywhere in the Portland metro that ran out of menu items by 7pm on a Friday night when the whole restaurant was at maybe 2/3 max capacity (and less when we first got there) without a long wait line. I'd understand if the service was slow due to the lack of workers (there were only 2 workers working the floor all the time and one guy helping out with the menu app. Yes. They needed someone to help you out with the menu app, which should tell you something about the app), but having sold out food items is kind of unusual from my experience. I'm not a fan of reading a menu opened up through a QR code. Although using an app to view a menu is a great idea, it really depends on the app and the flexibility of that-app. In many ways I still like reading printed menus, because I can use my phone to magnify words if I forget my reading glasses if the font is too small for me to read. When I tried opening up their menu via QR code, it wanted me to download an app (I avoid downloading apps that I don't use often like these QR code-activated menu viewing apps); it simply wouldn't open the menu for me without downloading an app. It also limits those who don't have cell/network connectivity available. So, I had my wife open it up on her small iPhone and she read the items for me; if you wear reading glasses and/or did not bring a phone/tablet with a large display, the menu is not legible and you can't even increase the size of the font or magnify the menu by...

I really want to love this place. They support music and musicians which is awesome. The drinks are great. As far as food goes, I've only tried the pizza -- and only without cheese as I don't do dairy and normally don't bother with vegan cheeses. It's okay. I think it would probably be much better with cheese. I've seen some of the other food and it looks great. I'll definitely have to try more. The two times I've been in, it's been pretty loud and crowded, so the bar has been busy. The first time, I waited patiently, following all of the "rules" I've heard and read for not annoying the bartender. I waited and I waited for my turn to arrive. Finally, the people in front of me were served and it was my turn. A woman rushed up to the bar and barked her order. The bartender, who had seen me waiting, helped her. Younger and prettier? Sure, but I'll bet that I'm the better tipper. The second time I went, I was served much quicker, but paying was kind of a mess. I had ordered one large pizza and two manhattans (for which I had drink tickets as I was at an event). My bill was $49. I asked the bartender -- $49 for my pizza, really? He said, "You had two manhattans, too, right?" I said, "Yes, but I had drink tickets for those." He took brought me a new bill for $71. Again, I said, "$71 for a pizza?" He said, "Yes, they're a bit spendy." Finally, after explaining, ad nauseum, the situation, I got my $27 bill (for just the pizza). What the bar lacks in the area of clues, the kitchen makes up for. The kitchen staff is fantastic. Both times I've been there, I've received apologies for my pizza taking so long. Neither time did I notice it was taking too long (I was enjoying my drink and the music). The second time, the kitchen manager bought me a drink for my wait. The owner seems really great, too. I highly recommend this place, but urge some patience as they fine-tune...

Not even sure where to start....the night started off great we had some drinks and enjoyed the music. Yeah service was slow but thats fine, looked like they only had one bartender. The issue was with the food. We ordered food and noticed a family get seated and then receive their food before us. We waited another 20 minutes before we finally said anything and were told it would be another 10 or so minutes. I honestly think they didn't put the order in and didn't wanna tell us. We had already been there over 2 hours and said no please close the tab we have to go. At that point another waiter(male, long curly hair) arrived with some other drinks we had ordered a while ago. We told him we did not want the drinks and just wanted to close out since we weren't getting our food anytime soon. He said sorry the kitchen is super backed up. We said we understood and gave him more details about the family that received their food way before us but he apparently didn't wanna hear it. Yes we were hangry. Never did we raise our voice but the male waiter immediately said well this is how it is here and tried to justify why we had waited over an hour for our food in a sarcastic tone, and my bf said are you really going to argue with me? And the waiter said "yes I guess I am". My bf asked his name and the waiter said "Thomas....Thomas the tank engine" claimed to be the manager and told us we are no longer welcome back. How professional. There's various ways to de-escalate a situation or maybe take a drink off the tab for the inconvenience. I think we had every reason to be frustrated after how long we waited and were trying to express that but he got offended I guess. I think the "manager" needs some training in...