- Restaurants |
- Nightlife |
- Shopping |
- Movies |
- All
- Price Range:
-
$
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Parking:
- Street
- Good for Groups:
- Yes
- Wheelchair Accessible:
- Yes
- Outdoor Seating:
- Yes
- Music:
- Juke Box
- Best Nights:
- Thu, Fri, Sun
- Happy Hour:
- Yes
- Alcohol:
- Full Bar
- Smoking:
- Yes
- Coat Check:
- No
29 reviews for Nest Lounge
I like dive bars, I like juke boxes with good tunes, I like cheap drinks served with a smile, I also like playing horseshoes, therefore I like the Nest.
This place is super divey, but that is the point. If you want to go somewhere clean and be treated like a prince(ss) than please, by all means, go to the Radio Room or NW. I'm sure you will get someone to kiss your ass for a higher drink price.
In advance, I warn you that this is a somewhat-PBR laden review. Keep that in mind, and know that PBR makes me honest.
My friend loves to go to the Nest to play ping-pong. So I have met him there a few times... in fact tonight, I did just that. I hadn't had dinner yet, so I figured I would order something off their small bar menu (the usual, quesadilla, nachos, rice and beans fare, nothing that takes long to prepare). I should have learned from Experience, however. Experience tells me that I shouldn't order food from the Nest. Experience tells me that the bartenders will always complain and act like their lives are ending when you order food from the Nest. "But, Experience, the other times I ordered food, you know they were really busy! So I mean, I guess I could understand... this time it will be different!" Ohhh I should have listened to Experience, that wise one. Because she was RIGHT.
Tonight, I hadn't had dinner by the time I got to the Nest, and I was planning a PBR, right? Duh. So I figured I would order some grub too, despite my past experiences. It's a Tuesday night, they weren't any busier than any other bar in Portland, maybe even less so. Yeah there were quite a few people out on the patio comparing tattoos and cussing, but not ordering. So after the bartender ignored me the first two times, I got to order. When I said I wanted rice and beans, she gave me the look of death. "Umm that's going to take at least 15 minutes... I've been cooking all day and it takes awhile so if you want to wait..." Me: "Okay, I can wait." I hand her my credit card, and she says the minimum is $5 for cards. I was prepared for that and ask if I can put $1 tip on there too (not that she deserves it). Nope, she tells me, not allowed. Whether it was the low blood sugar or the bad service, I had had it. I told her to forget it and walked back onto the porch.
I am eating dinner at home right now, and I must say the service is awesome. No lip.
Okay, I get it, the service at the Nest is supposed to be all hip and emo and they are to act like they could care less, that's the "thing" they have going. They bitch and complain about their jobs and throw dirty looks at the patrons. Charming. I can buy my $2 PBRs elsewhere, thank you very much.
The nest sucks. Go to the know instead. Everyone in here has gone so far past caring what people think about them, that they in turn really don't care and they come across as sleazy jerk bags. wha??
Just take my word for it.
Went out again with friends and I've been converted. Maybe it was just the company, but I had a great time. We got served quickly (including me solo at the counter), the drinks were strong, we finally figured out the pool table sign-up system . . . and the people-watching here can't be beat. The crowd is so mixed and interesting.
The bathrooms still leave something to be desired, but well what can you do.
1 Previous Review: Show all »
-
5/11/2009
This bar is ok. That is about the best that can be said about it. In all of the times I have went… Read more »
Love you guys!! Thanks for having the perfect neighborhood dive. Indoors: board games (Trivial Pursuit, Battleship, checkers etc.), pool, pinball, trivia machine, bingo. Outside: covered and heated tables, ping pong, horseshoes. Totally awesome.
I neglected this place for other Alberta haunts for way too long.
After being ignored at another douchester joint up the street (bye bye!) we left with our middle fingers waving to find the service prompt, the hipturds thinned out, and real people having a good time.
When I went up to get our second round, I immediately wound up chatting with other patrons attached to the bar while the barkeep mixed us 3 solid cocktails.
I got back to the booth and my friend tried hers and asked what it was, I said whiskey sour, just like you asked, and she said, wow - much stronger!
Glad I'd decided to tip generously, cause they kept coming that way until we had to wander off home.
The byebye and radio room have driven me out of that end of Alberta for good!
I hate the Nest. There. I said it. I realize my street cred may be ruined by hating the most ironically un-hip bar on Alberta, but I'm willing to run the risk. Granted, I haven't been in there since the smoking ban and the cloud of cheap cigarette smoke was one of my biggest gripes about this hole. But it goes deep. Oh, so much deeper than that.
There are far more entertaining places where I can perch myself on cracked and strangely sticky vinyl booths and surround myself with the key players in The PDX Scene [TM], and they're usually places where I can hear what the person next to me is saying.
Most people I've come in contact with in this bar are rude, obnoxious, white-belted, and more-hip-than-thou. There's ONE pool table (good luck trying to get a chance to play a game), the music is too loud, and the entire venue is generally irredeemable as far as I'm concerned.
No, no, no. FAIL.
People only seem to be able to drag me into this bar when I've downed at least four mixed drinks (often at the Bye and Bye) and am at my most vulnerable. I guess there have been some good nights which have partially taken place at the Nest, but those are the nights that lead to blinding-headache/crawling-on-all-fours/nothing-lo uder-than-the-closing-of-a-door mornings.
I'd rather go to the Radio Room, and that's an astonishingly awful statement for me to make. Then again, would *you* take your bar recommendations from someone whose second home is the Concordia Ale House? (I would.)
I am always intrigued by the combination of places that one can end up visiting during this little Arctic Holiday.
Sure, maybe it's all proximity based. Or maybe it's the fact that my friends tend to have stronger drive to frequent places I couldn't care less about. Maybe it's something else all together. Whatever it is, it sucks when you find yourself leaving a nice little establishment, full of nice people and nice drinks and subsequently find yourself at the Nest.
I agree with the other Yelpers that noted that it takes a month and half to get a drink in this bar. Because it does. and you're going to get it with attitude. and you're going to feel like you don't even deserve your drink, once it's handed to you.
Other general Chloë W. qualms with the Nest:
1. Man, those are the worst nachos I have ever had in my entire life. I don't know what prompted my friends to order them, or what enticed me to try one (oh wait, yes I do, it was the booze), but they were fun-kyyyy. I am still reeling, hours later from that nacho atrocity.
2. Actually being able to HEAR other [hipster] patrons whining about "all the g-d hipsters in this bar"... you guys, get over it, they're saying the same thing about you.
3. Risking bodily pool cue-induced injury while waiting for the bathroom.
Hipster HH stop 2:
Ping pong monopolized by Tweedle Plaid and Tweedle Hat in a large open back area. More like my college rentals' dirt yard than a patio.
Smokey divey inside, very quick service with lots of babe-honey-sweetie. I'm OK with that. It makes me feel pretty. Interesting mix of folk, I got the scoop on Joe's Place.. and saw some of the old timer patrons.
I like dive more than look, you know what I mean? Or dive more than concerted effort.. Does that make sense? Harumph.
I kinda wish I could come here without knowing it used to be Joe's Place. I find it depressing and then I have to have this huge inner dialogue about gentrification that I've been through a zillion times. boring. true.
Still, it seems the crowds have mixed which is pretty cool.
Also, it's always damn crowded when I'm there. Until closing.
It's really smoky.
But it's okay. It's a bar's bar!
An unremarkable bar that is quite comfortable in its own shell. They're not trying to impress anyone and rather transparent about that. I'll grab a drink here every blue moon, but if I'm looking for an Alberta dive to hole up in, you'll find me at The Know.
kinda musty and sticky but there is free pool and clean bathrooms. movies shown in the back provide the atmosphere for drunken cuddling. ladies do not go alone as the guy to girl ratio is way off and they are like sharks. . . .well, unless you like that sorta thing.
"Meet us a the Nest", or "Hey, you should go to the Nest it's a pretty cool bar". I say, if you hear that disregard it.
I went on Last Thursday and maybe that was a mistake, but for my main complaint it doesn't matter, and seems other's had a similar experience. You always hear that male bartender's are better about serving women than women bartender's are about serving women, and vice versa. Never have I noticed so much as at the Nest.
We walk in and it is PACKED, back patio? PACKED. My friend has to piss and there is a major line. I decide to go to the bar and grab us two drinks for our line wait since I completely assumed I would have time. I was within handshake distance away from the bleached bartender the whole 20 minutes I stood their waiting with my $10 bill held out. To be safe, I'm gonna say 8 men were served and I THINK 1 woman while I waited at the very lease. She was busting her ass off but WOULD NOT help me, or the two girls next to me, or even say sorry one minute. "What can I get ya hun?" flirtaciously and perky to each man assisted. Completely snubbed us like we didn't exist. Friend had waited in a 15 person bar piss line and pissed and then got to me before we ever were helped. Walked straight out and went to the next bar to get awesome service. Don't plan on going back.
My friend described Nest as "the hottest bar on Alberta." I'm not sure what he meant by that, but Nest does succeed in offering comfortable neighborhood bar atmosphere, enhanced by horshoes, an awesome patio space, and good prices.
Sometimes in the summer they project movies in the patio, too.
I have passed by the Nest a million times, and on the 1,000,001st time, I finally went in and had one of the best times at a Portland bar than I can remember!
When we opened the door to get in, the door-man was standing right in the entrance, as if trying to block our way, which was kind of surprising to me. This was not the case by any means, everyone in my group (of 4) were greeted with a huge smile and giant hug from this doorman; by a long-shot the most welcoming bar arrival I have ever had! I don't know if this is typical or will ever happen again, but I will be back.
For a Thursday night this place was packed. Luckily, we found a table and after ten minutes of searching, we had 4 chairs as well. As crowded as it was it was not so noisy where we couldn't chat and joke around with each other; it was really smoky, but really comfortable.
The bartender I think must have been a bit stressed out because she seemed to be having a bad night. She was complaining at miscellaneous things and yelling at the other employees to do certain things, "GOD DAMN IT IS SMOKY IN HER! OPEN THE F*CKING DOOR!" I heard her yell this several times. We are all entitled to having these days. She was never rude to me, slow to serve, but never rude.
Despite the smokiness of the bar, and the abrasive bartender, the warm entrance (an cheerful exit from the same guy), awesome company, and good music made this experience top-notch!
my last visit to pdx, i somehow ended up meeting some friends at the Nest before hitting a bbq in the neighborhood, and we stayed there for a spell, drank some pbrs and played...
HORSESHOES!
"CLANG"
"CLANG"
"THUD"
WOOHOO! 2 outta 3! not bad!
now if they had a bar w/ croquet, i'd be in heaven...
For reasons I can't put my finger on, I'd been studiously avoiding the Nest since it opened last year on Alberta Street. But yesterday afternoon I was wandering in search of quick, cheap eats, liquid refreshment and WiFi, and discovered The Nest offers two of the three. That was good enough, so I checked it out.
The Nest is pretty divey, and smokier than some might like it (but as I like to say, hello, people, it's a BAR). As it always exuded a strange hipper-than-thou vibe from the outside, I was rather surprised by the friendliness with which the bartender greeted and served me. Moreover, it was happy hour (weekdays from 3 to 7). The food wasn't fantastic, but it was cheap and filling ($3 for chips and salsa, $3 for a bowl of black beans and rice), and well, they had me at $1 PBRs. And table service. Pinball and pool players can get their fix here as well -- and there's horseshoes in the courtyard, so I may have to bring a crew here when the weather is a little nicer.
Finally, I forgot to mentiont he raddest thing about The Nest: the back wall features a framed poster print of Johnny Cash flipping the bird. Awesome.
Very diverse and very affordable. I got a $4 Jack and Ginger. Wow.
I attended the same bars as my gal pal Miss Chloe W. on that same arctic evening and I had a much different experience I must say. Perhaps my bias for anything walking distance away from my home affects my experiences, but we simply must disagree. For starters, I'm a nacho eater and I thought the nachos were gooey and tasty! They were better the last time I had ordered them, but still tasty drunken bar food. I'll concede that the (indoor) seating is not conducive to either big groups or mingling. But I've never had any trouble with service at all- not one complaint from me.
Much closer to a dive bar than a lounge, the Nest pours a mean cocktail.
They've got 2 pool tables, pin ball machines, horseshoes out back, one of the coolest pictures of Johnny Cash I've ever seen, rotating local's artwork on display, Buttercup, the super sweet bartender, the latest Portland Mercury to pick up, movies on the wall during the summer (on Wednesdays, I think), and the best location during Last Thursday.
The Nest is small, so it can get smoky and/or crowded quickly and oftentimes the live music has to volume too loud for this venue. And they serve food, although I always drink my dinner when I'm there.
Get your skinny jeans outta my face, and go shave that moustache. Be prepared to say that, like, a thousand times. To many, many people..under your breath. Well, atleast there weren't many trucker hats.
Really shitty bar. I shy away from the hipster quibbles, but this place embodies it. There's nothing to recommend about this place, save for relatively cheap beer. Pool table sucks, juke box sucks, clientele are all insipid wastoids with little interesting to say... then again, finding a good Portland bar is quite a chore.
yes this lounge is smoky as hell
and there's no where to sit
and maybe,
if you're a stranger,
you won't get served right away
but fuck that.
when you drink there twice
your drink is remembered
the tenders are sweet
and give you hugs.
they know us.
i only give them 4 stars
because i don't smoke.
and neither will they
this new year.
hahahahahahhahahhaha
Really, it's just another bar. The outside area is really nice when the weather's better. The jukebox is decent. It can get packed and nasty. The bar staff is usually decent if you're nice to them (hint: be nice to your bar staff). The only thing that I'll say makes this place stand out and pulls me in occasionally is the Indian food. I love going in there at like 2 pm and downing a couple Pabsts with a dish of palaak paneer and nan bread. Delish!
Yeah, it's a dive. But it was a dive when it was Joe's place and I went there then, too. Not for everyone. Basic, smoky, dirty. The crowd is usually in their 20s-30s, with lots of hipster, thrift-store dressed, or bike types, but I feel comfortable here no matter what I am wearing or how I look. Service is good. I've had some of the bar food, and it wasn't bad. The patio/yard is lacking in ambience, but is an OK place to sit when it's sunny and the patios are packed every where else. They do have horseshoes.
I am still scarred from the night I went to the Nest. I have never in my life encountered a meaner bartender. I was up on Portland visiting over Labor Day weekend and offered to buy my friends some drinks. I asked the bartender for 4 beers and handed her my card. She took it away and turned around not to come back down to my end for 10 minutes. Then she came back and rudely asked, "WHAT?". I told her I wanted my card back because I thought she was ringing up my drinks. She said "uh... I don't usually close tabs after one round". The thing was she didn't even ask me if I wanted to start a tab, I had just bought 4 beers for christ sake, usually enough for a full tab anyway.
Then later, we're standing in line for the bathroom and the same bartender comes up and starts banging on the door of the bathroom and cut in front of everyone else. My friend happened to be in the bathroom and comes and apologizes that she was just washing her hands. The bartender looks at her condescendingly and says "you're not the only one in the world who exists, honey"
To top it off, all the employees came to the back yard to yell at everyone to "Get the f**k out" like it was a high school party or something.
Definitely the worst bar experience of the 4 years I lived in Portland.
I was pretty hesitant to check out the nest especially after Joe's closed down. For years Alberta street has been transforming into a super hip, and rich neighborhood. Its weird and depressing altho I will admit the changes look nice but theres some weird tension between people. have spent many nights at the nest. I liked it , aside from the know Its one of my better bar experiences in portland. Bartenders are friendly, and it has a more neighborhood vibe. Lots of regulars pile in at all hours and people always seem to have fun and relax. My only complaint is its too smokey, and sometimes there's some pretty terrible live music. I would recommend it tho, its definately worth checking out and the prices are pretty cheap.
great jukebox, friendly bartenders, movie nights and DIVEEEE!
i was in the northeast with a friend and we kind of motored around for a bit looking for a bar and we ended up going here cause they said they had been there before. it was a weekend, and the place was crowded as hell. they had some band that only played johnny cash covers or original songs that sounded like bad johnny cash. it was loud and even the usual yelling like conversation was near impossible from the back of the bar. they had the door open near where we were sitting and while i dont mind the cold, i could noticeably see my breath. out of nowhere some guy threw a pint at the bartender before storming out and it smashed up a ton of stuff and knocked over all these candles they have on the bar. probably the most violence ive seen at a bar in this city. it took us forever to get drinks because there were a lot of half drank orders sitting on the bar still and i think they assumed that we were drinking them. the first bartender asked us if we were from reed college, which would be fighting words in some of the neighborhoods ive lived in. even after we got a couple drinks in they still were missing orders and disappearing forever. the reason they get four stars, and i would never believe this without having experienced it myself, is because unbelievably the assailed bartender just showed up after being gone a good while and forgetting our order to present me with the largest makers and soda in the world, on the house. i dont think ive ever received any manner of above and beyond customer service from a bar in my lifetime and this bartender offers me this drink after having broken glass and fire thrown in her face. i had never planned on returning even prior to entering, but after that whole experience, id be a fool not to.
