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Spare Room Restaurant and Lounge
Categories: Nightlife Bars Nightlife Karaoke Restaurants American (Traditional) Bars, Karaoke, American (Traditional) [Edit]
4830 NE 42nd AvePortland, OR 97218
Neighborhoods: Northeast Portland, Cully
(503) 287-5800
- Price Range:
-
$
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Parking:
- Street
- Attire:
- Casual
- Good for Groups:
- Yes
- Good for Kids:
- No
- Takes Reservations:
- No
- Delivery:
- No
- Take-out:
- Yes
- Waiter Service:
- Yes
- Outdoor Seating:
- No
- Good For:
- Dinner
- Music:
- Live
- Best Nights:
- Mon, Fri, Sat
- Happy Hour:
- Yes
- Alcohol:
- Full Bar
- Smoking:
- Outdoor Area/ Patio Only
- Coat Check:
- No
- Caters:
- No
- Wheelchair Accessible:
- Yes
23 reviews for Spare Room Restaurant and Lounge
Review Highlights
"They have a giant light-up Bingo board."
(in 6 reviews)
"...amazing mix of people end up on the dance floor together."
(in 6 reviews)
"...that go by the name of 'Larry and Teri' who are world-class..."
(in 3 reviews)
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23 reviews in English
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Review from rick r.
11/27/2010 1 Check-in Here
The Spare Room has a bit of everything. Fun music of almost any genre, surreal and sometimes awesome karaoke, cheap food, decent food, strong drinks, campy lights and mirrors, sports on TV, and a fireplace.
It's very friendly. The Spare Room is a place for people to come together, people of different backgrounds, views, and age brackets. Notable so, more than other bars I can think of, and in such a way that everyone has a great time.
The place is huge. There's a bar. A dance floor, a seating area, a back bar, with a seating area that is really just the first seating area but it's that big, some couches around a fireplace. And that's before you notice that there's another room for gaming: pool, vids, pinball. And there's a tiny deck out back for the smokers.
They are game to try anything. Hipster rummage sails, World Cup soccer, Bingo, lounge acts (you must see Larry and Teri if you get the chance), Funk/Soul/Jam bands, cover bands. For the most part they're all good, and if they're not, the place is huge, so it doesn't matter. -
Review from Alena C.
Updated - 12/27/2011
I love Love this place.
It has every walk of life here, drinking, mingling, dancing, singing and eating.
It looks like an old lounge singer bar with a big dance floor, high backed booths and round tables, pink and aqua green lights every where.
It's a giant bar. When it's busy they open up the second bar in back, and there is also a seperate pool/game room.
I came here Christmas Eve and the Cool Breeze band was playing..it was awesome! Great dinner, stiff drinks, dancing. Fun!Listed in: Former SE girl living in NE.
1 Previous Review: Show all »
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12/1/2011
Love this place. Walking distance to my house, lots of fancy high backed booths with awesome cheesy… Read more »
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Review from Ana M.
Updated - 12/17/2011 12 Check-ins Here
I braved a veggie burger here once after winning a pass for a free "steak dinner" during Bingo. They we kind enough to let me opt out of the steak. I was pleasantly surprised to find the veggie burger was not half bad! Tator Tots were great but when aren't they?
They have spaghetti dinner night on Mondays for $5. It tastes just like spaghetti from a dive bar should - noodle with ketchup.Listed in: KARAOKE!
1 Previous Review: Show all »
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10/23/2011
B-I-N-G-O!
Every Monday I get together with the blue haired old laddies to play Bingo at the Spare… Read more »
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Review from Rosy D.
Portland, OR
1/28/2012
Huge place, Great service, cheap food, Strong drinks, dance floor, live music! I love it!
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Review from Erika L.
Portland, OR
10/22/2011 1 Check-in Here
Old. Smells like a motel full of wet towels. I love dives and there are better in the area. The staff is stressed at a capacity of maybe 10 customers. All original chairs, decor, everything. I would not trust the food here.
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Review from sue t.
Portland, OR
2/11/2011
I love Ye Olde Spare Room. My friends and I have been coming there for probably about five years now. We usually come for the Monday night BINGO/karaoke combo. (no, they don't do both at the same time)
This past Monday was Kelly's birthday and she decided to have her party there. BINGO starts promptly at 7 and by 7:03 the birthday girl was already yelling BINGO to the dismay of the regulars surrounding our table. That's ok. Those regulars ended up coming out ahead by the end of the night (how do they do it?!).
BINGO ends right about 9 and that's when karaoke takes over. The KJ is a really nice guy who encourages you to sing "off the book" and come up with more original songs. He will even accompany you on saxophone if the song is appropriate.
My only gripe with the Spare Room is the inconsistent service. Some days you go in and the waitstaff is attentive and quick and other times you go in and you have to remind the waitress of your food order multiple times before you see it. The last few times I've gone, I've been really disappointed. Luckily, you can bypass the waitperson and go straight to the bar, which is what I'm going to have to do for now on. -
Review from Michelle H.
Portland, OR
1/25/2010 1 Check-in Here
I still to this day have never been drunk enough to karaoke. I'm just a wuss, an absolute wuss. I reserve my singing for the car and the shower, and pretty much any place that doesn't result in all eyes on me. Sure I was in choir for a few years, but solos? Hell no.
I still go every now and then at the request of friends who -do- like cradling a microphone at their lips. Those places that I've been to generally, how do I say this delicately....suck. Either the environment is lame, the song list is even more lame, the people there to sing are a whole new caliber of horrible, or the drinks are lame.
The Spare Room is pretty awesome as far as karaoke goes, despite being so far out of the way of anything I'd ever normally go to. It's huge. We're talking gigantic. Well, the bar isn't, it's just average, but the adjoining room is. There is a huge dance floor and stage, loads of tables and booths, and a big TV or two. It's really pretty sweet. It's like a perfect adult birthday party.
The drinks were great, and a whole $3.50. They have jello shots. The song book is decent (Rick Astley and Lady Gaga anyone?), and the karaoke participants were sassy.
Awesome. -
Review from Jenn C.
7/11/2010 1 Check-in Here
This place is cool as hell.
It reminded me of an dance bar you'd see on a t.v. show from the 60's. A little bit of bowling alley meets the Fonz. The band that was playing was funk and I gotta say I haven't danced that much in a long, long time. So good!
There was a ton of space, the crowd was chill and yeah this is a place I'd like to come back to get my freak on. -
Review from reed m.
Portland, OR
7/20/2009
This is my go-to neighborhood bar, and I feel blessed that I live within stumbling distance.
It's gargantuan inside, and usually pleasantly dark. I always hang out in a booth, so I forget that there's a whole other room with pool tables and pinball. Now there's even a quaint little living room type area complete with comfy chairs and fake flowers.
The crowd is the most diverse I've ever seen in a Portland bar. Gangstas, oldies, cool kids, gays, punks, and what have yous. All under one roof. It's a real melting pot in there!
The service is always friendly, and usually a stiff pour. The jukebox is kinda lame, but it's turned down real low, so lil wayne and reo speedwagon don't sound that bad.
The rotating bands/jam sesh's are typical roadhouse kind of stuff, and totally tolerable in the cavernous spare room.
I love you Spare Room!!!!Listed in: My Neighborhood
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Review from Davide B.
Seattle, WA
8/18/2010
I can't even begin to describe how much I adore the Spare Room. My brother lives down the block, and I probably spent 4 nights out of 7 down at the Spare Room last time I visited Portland. The staff is awesome, they always seem to remember you, and the drinks are crazy-ass strong. After a night of drinks and karaoke, my tab somehow came to just $10. I tipped heavily and traded winks with the hostess. Raaad!
I almost hope too many people don't discover it, 'cause I'd hate to see such a special bar filled with douches. -
Review from Halle W.
Portland, OR
5/11/2011
Awesome old school neighborhood lounge. Great mix of regulars, seniors, black and white folks, working class folks and young hipsters. Drinks are cheap, nothing special. Bartenders and servers are nice. Danny Chavez and Rockin' Raymond host the best karaoke in town Mon, Tues, and Wed, with live sax, air guitar, and break dancing accompaniment. Late into the night the amazing mix of people end up on the dance floor together. The best of old and new Portland come together at this place which seems to have real community spirit! No pretense yet.
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Review from Paula W.
Portland, OR
6/22/2008
Okay, so the girls and I decided to hit this spot on Saturday night, hearing that it was a good place for dancing and had a live band. First of all the entrance is this wierd little door up a couple of steps off to the side of what looks to be a grand entrance...hmmm.
Anyway, walking into the joint we hear what we assume is karaoke and are all terribly disappointed because we were hoping for a band to dance to. A little stop in the ladies room to freshen up and then on to the area where the music is coming from.
From Lauren's review I can now understand why everything felt really chopped up and the layout was kind of crazy.
Okay, so I digress...we head into the big room where the music is playing and immediately realize it is NOT karaoke but Larry & Teri, the husband and wife team who make up the live music. They were more Captain and Tenille than Ike and Tina - a little too karaoke/bad night club act for me. Plus the only people in the area with the music was this beautiful little couple dancing who were probably pushing their 80's. They looked to have gotten dressed up for the occasion in matching outfits and this has probably been their dancing spot for years. That was actually the highlight of the few minutes we spent in the Spare Room.
Except for a few people playing pool in another room and a few patrons at the bar (in another room), it was absolutely dead. -
Review from Jon R.
Portland, OR
2/3/2009
My favorite bar in Portland, this place is really something else. Just a few blocks away from the main Alberta stretch, it's surprising how awesome and authentic of a roadside-type dive bar this place truly is.
Mostly full of older people, they put the PDX hipsters to shame, as they all do lively ballroom-type dancing to the live band they always have on the weekends. There's this guy who has to be 65, but he has the moves and dances with all the comparatively young ladies in the place (in their late 40's to mid 50's)
And the live bands are just amazing. Once it was this husband and wife duo (I think). They covered the gamut of pop music between 1975 and 1995, and she kind of sings like Stevie Nix (and I don't like Fleetwood Mac but this lady was completely awesome).
The next time was this blues type band, with a big guy singing, again playing some kick-ass covers, although I think he got winded after each song because they kept taking breaks.
The atmosphere is also truly amazing. The place is enormous, like the size of a basketball court, and they have blue and pink rope christmas lights going around the whole place. Dark and oddly no longer smoky, this place reminds me of the bar in the Fear and Loathing movie. However you don't have to be in a Hunter S Thompson mindset to appreciate this one.
The staff was incredible, I'm pretty sure I was being served by three generations of bartenders: Grandmother, Mother and Daughter. They were each individually amazing. Some of the finest people I've come into contact with in this town have been at the Spare Room.
It's just great to head there and out of the ludicrous Portland pretension. There's no shitty art on the walls, nobody is trying to prove how cool they are with their elite taste in death metal on the jukebox. Sure you can still grab a Pabst, but people don't think they're cool when they grab a PBR at the Spare Room.
I was really on the fence about writing this review, because I really don't want any of you to go there (no offense). But I figured I owed it to the place. And besides, I didn't discover this place or anything. Each time I've visited there's been one additional table of hipsters. -
Review from matt l.
12/14/2010
Swung by for some drinks and karaoke - kind of as a joke, but turned out pleasantly surprised. Really nice space, drinkable drinks, and pretty good karaoke setup. It wasn't super crowded, either, which is nice - no hour-long wait to sing your song. I'm going to be keeping them in mind for bar-hopping in the future.
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Review from Gillian W.
Portland, OR
3/8/2011
Another little "divy" kind of place. Love the atmosphere and he food, in my opinion is good. My buddy and I go here after visting our senior lady in the home around the corner. Love that the drinks are strong! Very good deal all the way around. Again- love the atmosphere and all it has to offer. There seems to be a family side and dive bar side. Fun times to be had in this place. Check it out, you may be pleasantly surprised!!
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Review from Noland B.
Portland, OR
3/18/2011 4 Check-ins Here
Friendly, laid-back, old and mostly (thankfully) hipster-free The Spare Room is a bit of the old school dive, thanks mostly to the median age of the patrons. Good breakfast/food selections, decent drinks, and, um, entertaining music?
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Review from Christy h.
Portland, OR
1/13/2011
The reason I love this place is because it has a similar atmosphere to bars in Reno, NV! That may seem weird bit this place is awesome! Great atmosphere! This place has good old German beer for cheap and I like the whiskey! The music though is what I LOOOOVE!!! Always amazing!!! Old school blues bands. Never a cover.
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Review from Kevin V.
Portland, OR
9/2/2011
Stopped in here on a whim about a year ago and quickly became my favorite neighborhood dive. Cheap, strong drinks and economic daily food specials with huge portions ($5 spaghetti dinner on Mondays, 2 tacos for $1 on Thursdays) means you can walk out with a major buzz and a full stomach for less than $10 during happy hour and less than $15 anytime else. Bartenders and wait staff are friendly, attentive and actually remember your name and your drink preferences. Eclectic crowd, pool, wi-fi, and a huge space means you can always find something to entertain you or a private booth if you're looking for a more low key time. Skip the crowds on Alberta and take a three minute drive over to the Spare Room instead.
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Review from Lauren G.
Portland, OR
Oooh, I'm getting that feeling again...that feeling I get when I happen upon a super amazing bar to which I've never been and totally adore. I usually recognize this feeling within 1 minute of being in the establishment. I usually won't shut up about how much I "love this bar, already!" for like, 30 minutes.
But the Spare Room is not just a bar. The Spare Room is a sweet symphony of fun, class, and old-timey goodness. Also fantasy.
What it definitely is is an old bowling alley.
What it feels like is an old roller-skating rink. It's begging to play host to a fantastic party, birthday or otherwise. It's totally big with big tables, and big booths, and a mirrored wall. Seriously, is your birthday coming up? Silver Anniversary? Think about it.
First of all, there's BINGO on Mondays. They have a giant light-up Bingo board. I will undoubtedly be in attendance. How I will play, drink a cocktail, and eat a tuna melt at the same time will be tricky, but I'm sure I'll manage (oh my god, I just had a glimpse into my elderly years...it looks good).
Also, there's karaoke Monday thru Wednesday. By a super nice gal who came up to us after and invited us back next week. There's no pretense, and songbook is not too shabby. There are cordless mics. There's a dance floor. Party.
Allegedly this dance floor also plays host to some crazy-fun-time dancing nights. There's a duo that go by the name of 'Larry and Teri' who are world-class entertainers. I can't vouch personally, but I'm willing to venture that they're classy as the day is long.
Other than that, there's a full menu (you know, of bar food), they open @ 7 for breakfast, the bartender's super nice, and Wednesday is Ladies' Night. I don't know what that got me, but I'm sure I liked it.
This little rascal is the real deal. And she's not apologizing for it.
UPDATE: BINGO is, in fact, amazing. i imagine i'll be there every monday. it's at 7. you should come.Listed in: my dedication to party, Karaoke is not cool, The Tuna Meltiest
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Review from Janet L.
12/16/2009
awesome. awesome. awesome.
3 beers and a coffee, $6.
amazing seafoam green highback booths, dancefloor, discoball, neon, keno, questionable menu, pinball, pool.
unpretentious, a little divey, a lot of fun.
and monday bingo nights! I love this place. -
Review from sarah k.
Austin, TX
3/21/2009
cheap and spacious
ultimate dance floor
seafoam green booths
i will forever miss larry and terri
but the spare room still rules.
can't wait til monday
for bingo!!!! -
Review from Sierra R.
Portland, OR
4/17/2009
Classic old dive bar. The place is huge and has an authentic feeling with real neighborhood people of all ages enjoying the music and cheap drinks. I hope it doesn't change.
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Review from Mikaela S.
Ogden, UT
6/14/2010
dark bar, cheap beer, friendly staff, karaoke, bingo, beehives, 60 year old rockin' grandmas and a slippery dance floor can you ask or anything better? i think i am making this my regular go to bar and i cant wait for bingo night!
