Ringlers Annex
Categories: Coffee & Tea, American (Traditional), Pubs [Edit]
Neighborhood: Downtown1223 SW Stark St
Portland, OR 97205 (503) 525-0520
- Hours:
Mon-Wed 4:00 p.m.-12:00 a.m.
Thu 4:00 p.m.-2:30 a.m.
Fri-Sat 4:00 p.m.-2:30 a.m.
Sun 4:00 p.m.-12:00 a.m. - Price Range: $$
- Accepts Credit Cards: Yes
- Parking: Street
- Attire: Casual
- Good for Groups: Yes
- Good for Kids: No
- Takes Reservations: No
- Delivers: No
- Waiter Service: Yes
- Outdoor Seating: No
- Good for: Late Night
- Best Nights: Fri
- Happy Hour: Yes
- Alcohol: Full Bar
- Smoking: Yes
12 Reviews for Ringlers Annex
This place is very quirky! When you first walk in you feel cramped because it's so small looking, but then you realize there is a basement that opens up to a nice cozy feel. Kind of a cool place to sit and chat and have a few drinks.
I would highly recommend the Screwdriver (Vodka and Grapefruit Juice)! I don't even like screwdrivers, but they use fresh squeezed grapefruit juice and it's unbelievable! I think I had a few too many that night though!
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I know it's part of McMenamin's and they totally own PDX but I don't care. This past weekend I took some friends from Seattle down to explore my old hometown of PDX. I already loved this bar but my friends now say that I am a rockin tour guide because I introduced them to the joy that is Ringler's Annex.
The day we went it was 95 degrees and all of us pasty sunphobic Seattleites were a tad bit done with good ol' Mr. Sunshine. I led my gaggle of friends down the steps to the cellar area which we were all delighted to discovered was air conditioned as well.
My friend James has proclaimed that their fresh squeezed whiskey sour is the best he's ever had. Click the useful button because his liver is the size of Omaha and it's mostly due to whiskey, so he knows what he's talking about. I LOVED their coffee drinks which the bartender was more than happy to make iced. I own an espresso stand and do my own roasting and I have to say that the McMenamin's cold brewed coffee over ice with bailey's was the best alchoholic coffee drink I've ever had in a bar. My honey had a couple of their specialty liquor coffee drinks iced and the tastes I had were excellent as well.
Our bartender was friendly and wonderful and gave us table service and kept the drinks and water refills coming. After a few hours respite from the sun we stumbled outside refreshed and much more buzzed than we had been before.
I had some time to kill, some dollars to spend, and a hot dog in my belly waiting to soak up some alcohol....
Let me interrupt this review for a moment to let you know that if you've been laying off alcohol for a few months and your tolerance is really low, and you haven't eaten anything else since lunch, a single hot dog is not going to be enough food to keep you from really getting plastered if you're planning on drinking. You can click "useful" now, glad to be of service.
I was walking along allowing whatever bright shiny signs that caught my eye to guide my way. I meandered from Pioneer Place, keeping an eye out for cool looking pubs--my watch told me it was beer o'clock. My watch doesn't lie.
I noticed this odd looking building, with this odd looking sign... "Ringlers Annex." Huh. Built into the apex of a triangular shaped building due to an odd splitting of streets, I figured this was quirky enough to enjoy a drink in. I followed a 'winding path through tables and glass,' and made my way into the tiny little room in the tip of the triangle. I was immediately surprised at how warm it was, considering one entire wall was open to the elements, and it was chilly outside.
Not a lot of room at said bar to drink. This is an 'order your drink and find a seat' type of establishment. Which I did. Bartender was really friendly, earned himself a nice tip from me. I had a vodka/cran/lime juice, and took a seat.
While I sipped my beverage, I watched on a video screen some really ugly skater guys talking silently to the camera, amidst cuts of assumedly same ugly skater guys doing impossible tricks. All I could think of was, "Wow. Those guys might be able to defy gravity, but not pimples!"
I finished my drink and moved on. I'm curious what was down the stairway, and will explore next time I'm down.
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What a location! Totally randomly stumbled onto the Annex while walking around downtown. I think there are at least two other McMenamin's right around the corner, but this is the one to stop in for a beer.
They have great food to go along with the tasty beers. I recommend trying the soup, its great on a cold day. My finance and I sat on the top floor and had great service. I didn't even know there was a downstairs tell on the way out we checking out the place. Surprising there was a bunch of people down there.
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Nice and cozy haunt. Discovered this bar a couple of years ago during a visit to Portland, and we always seem to make it a mission to stop by whenever in Portland.
Such a cool spot and building. We have only sat down in the basement/cellar. The vibe is generally pretty good. We have only gone on Fridays. Regretfully, we were saddened to not see a DJ when we went there on a recent (3/14/08) visit. It's a small place, but the other times we were there, we liked having a DJ there.
Another questionable experience about a recent visit was the drunk dude at the next table. My back was toward him, but I could hear that he was totally plastered. He was also doing full-on head-butts onto the table. I guess he was trying to get into the pants of the girls who were sitting at the table---I must be so out of what's "in" for the pick-up scene.
Other than that, this is a cool place. They have great drinks (the McMenamin's beers are decent, and the cocktails are nice, too), and it's an out-of-the-ordinary-type place to hit after a dinner or clubbing.
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Cozy basement is a good description like Courtney D. said. It's this laid back, dimly lit atmosphere that I love. The bartender was super friendly, which is always a good sign. The drink list is creative and fun, leaning towards the $7-$9 range, unless you go for the beer. I'm still very much in the beginners stages of trying beers, but I knew I was immediately smitten with the Ruby ale. I was thinking about it all weekend to be precise. It was that good. Being a McMenamin's staple, makes me all too happy that it won't be going away. I can definitely see the draw to this place being an after bar bar because of it's ability to let you wind down. Although if you were looking for a relaxing place from the get-go, this is your place.
-1 star because the Happy Hour doesn't make me all that happy: 3.95 pints and 50 cents off well drinks.
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This place had good beer, good atmosphere, and a good location. I have a feeling that if I lived in Portland this would be a hang out of mine. The basement and tiny second story give this place a cozy feel. I took away a star because the waitress on the ground level ignored us until I went up to the bartop.
This place is quirky in the way we've come to expect all McMenamins joints to be. This is a narrow, slightly cramped, three-level bar. They made me the best freakin' hairy navel I've had in my life (Absolut Mandarin, Peachtree Schnapps and fresh-squeezed orange juice.)
The top level is a great place to hang out with friends and chain-smoke, whereas the bottom is the place to be if you want any semblance of decent service. They serve food, which is excellent for soaking up all the tasty McMenamins beer you'll be downing. And its location, across the street from Powells, grants easy access to downtown and the Pearl.
Don't try to park down here. Take the bloody bus, or hoof it from somewhere more parking-friendly.
Yay for the Annex!
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Pretty chill bar/pub in downtown PDX. The basement is big with a bunch of tables, but it gets a little too smoky. The upstairs is really tiny and open to the sidewalk. As I hear, it used to be closed but they redid it not too long ago. Sitting upstairs isn't bad, although I can't imagine what it's going to be like when the weather gets cold (as the bartender informed us, they are not planning on closing it in the winter... that doesn't sound very economical to me but oh well). I had a spanish coffee ($7), which was disappointing: very little alcohol, and they don't use kalhua (they use their own coffee liquor, which I don't think is quite as good). However they have a pretty good selection of local brews: I had the McMenamins IPA, which I thought was really good (and that's coming from someone who isn't normally a huge fan of IPA... it's sometimes too bitter to my taste). Not a bad place to hang out, but certainly not the best Portland has to offer.
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I still love this place, even though I was once given the "friends" speech there. Don;t worry by the way, I'm fully recovered. Ringlers is the only McMenamin's establishment I can really go for. Something about it's tiny underground, rock poster festooned-ness just gets me. And it's basement temperature makes it an awesome (temporary) refuge from the summer time heat.
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Not to be confused with Ringlers at the crystal ballroom - which is a few blocks up - this place is WAY more hipster than frat (for the better).
Its teeny tiny and you have head down a deep set a stairs to get a McMens beer.
They don't offer the full McMens menu, but they do have sandwhiches and soups and a killer hummus plate. Vegetarians welcome.
They have a handfull of McMens ales on tap and a full espresso bar.
They have a DJ or some sort of music every friday and saturday but there isn't usually a cover.
The last time I was there it packed out fairly quickly, so be prepared to stand if you get there after 11 on a Fri/Sat.
Quiet bar to unwind
Ringler's Annex feels like a cozy basement where you used to go to drink and smoke in your friend's house where no one could see.
It's definitely an after-bar bar, meaning the place you'll finish your night at. It's got good beer on tap when you're too tired to decide what else to drink and some cheap nibbles. It's VERY laid back. So much so that when our food mistakenly went to the table next to us, we simply just joined them and ate as a family. The server eventually surfaced with a quick sorry, but no one seemed to mind.
You won't find any action here but definitely some good conversation. But then again, doesn't everyone sound funny at 2 a.m. when you're tipsy?
Tip: Don't mistake it for the bigger Ringler's up the street. Just look for the stairway that goes underground on Burnside.
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