Bathed in the holy light of stained glass, the four of us managed to completely pack Portland's smallest bar as our pontiff Bradley Dawson poured soul quenching tonics and the kitchen of David Siegel issued forth our cheeseburger communion. Belly Timber shows equal devotion to diverse seasonal dishes as well as craft cocktails from it's cloistered Victorian on SE 32nd & Hawthorne. My penance on this outing would be a few cocktails, a burger, and a bit of marrow.
We walked into Carlyle the moment it opened on Portland's hottest day in over 25 years. A sweaty motley bunch of food nerds, we basked in what little cool the AC could muster against the 108ยบ onslaught and spread ourselves haphazardly amidst the classy cherry wood bar. We looked out of place, but with nobody else in the joint (and this being casual-everywhere Portland) we didn't give a damn. Class would soon be found however in the exquisite cocktails and one hell of a burger.
The truffle fries at Ten 01 are a happy hour legend. The $1 oysters are a screaming good value. But I'm not going to talk about either of those things today. In this installment of the goodist's quest for the best burger and cocktail I'm simply going to extoll one of the best ways to spend $15 between 3 and 6pm.
Clyde Common inaugurates a series of articles exploring Portland's best cocktail bars and the hamburgers that inhabit them.
Gazing out the window, cocktail in hand, I realized that Clyde Common may be Portland's best bar for people watching. Hip out of towners from the attached Ace Hotel milled about the sidewalk as the ubercool bike set and delightfully trashy Stark St folk passed by - every Portland cliche well represented. The soundtrack isn't bad either. Behind me at the large busy bar were the rants of local cooks packing their chef's knives and touring musicians attempting to brag their way into bed with dolled up ladies. But I had trouble paying attention, my drink was just too interesting and there was a burger on the way.
