Tryst

Came here for 2018 burger week, and I waited waaaay too long. Not worth. Happy hour fries were soo salty. Oof.

This review is only for their happy hour (4-7pm Thursday-Sunday; 5-7pm Tuesday-Wednesday) which consists of $1 off draft beer, wine, well drinks, and cocktails.

As usual I flipped through the menu of different drinks nothing really stood out to me. I ordered the cherry whiskey sour and the papercraft which were both just okay.

I also ordered their lumpia which was very crispy. I love the different variety of Asian inspired foods like katsu chicken sandwich, Asian chicken tenders, and furikake fries. I think the food outshines some of the drinks so if I were to come back I'd want to try some of these.

This burger was amazing!!! Had so much flavor and one of my favorites for burger week! I had never had a juicy Lucy before. Very impressed. Looked pretty close to presentation of what it was. Bun choice was solid as well. And we came close to closing but they still had burgers.

The decor is nothing crazy inside. Dark dive bar.

She said a few minutes more a couple times but it ended up being over 20. Fine to wait but just would have been nice for her to say that. She was a sweetie though. My friend said she made a really good version of the drink she got.

Popped in for a post dinner cocktail and had the loveliest time.

Service was friendly and helpful even though she was all alone and slammed. My cocktail was the right combo of boozy and tasty. The space is sexy AF and would be a perfect date spot! The menu looked delicious but I was on a liquid only diet this time.

This was a somewhat odd experience. We came in for Burger Week. We were met at the door by someone we assumed worked there, although we honestly weren't sure. The people ahead of us didn't have their IDs so he asked their birthdays and then let them in, even though it was before 7 pm and apparently minors are allowed in before that time, per Burger Week info. Anyways, we step up and hold out our IDs which he dismisses without looking at and then asks what year we were born. We reply. He then ask what state we're from. We reply. He then begins to ask us even more questions. I reply: why don't you just look at our IDs? He then starts laughing and tells us to come in, but to make sure we tell the bartender that he already ID'd us.

So, to order you have to stand in line at the bar. This took 20 minutes. It was hot and standing around in a crowd for 20 minutes was not pleasant. The bartenders were both friendly though. I appreciated that. There were a lot of people in there and they were working hard. Actually, the guy IDing us and the bartenders were the only staff I saw all evening. I assume there's someone in the back cooking burgers, but maybe only one person, since they warned us it would be 40 minutes for our burger to come out. I really think they could use at least one other person for Burger Week. It was a little chaotic.

I was asked for my ID at the bar again. When I mentioned I had already been ID'd at the bar, she was like 'oh, nevermind then'. But...there was nothing to prove that I had been ID'd at the door. No stamp. Nothing. I could have just made that up. So weird.

Sure enough, the burger took almost exactly 40 minutes to arrive. They had an odd system where they handed you an unmarked piece of paper upon ordering and somehow this was connected to picking up your burger. In actuality, they just called your name and the paper wasn't needed at all. While waiting for the burger we sipped on a drink called the Brown Derby. It was only ok. Nothing special. Not worth $8.

The burger was good. Better than a lot of Burger Week burgers. Not the best. I probably won't come back here. The whole experience was stressful and odd.

Came in Friday for no cover and the DJ spinning some old school hip hop n R&B. It was not too crowded at 11pm. Feeling like the 90's I was w/it till I tried to order my drink. No Jameson on a Friday night before midnight?!! Oh hell no. Bartender gave me something else that tasted like unfiltered charcoal and then my quick tryst w/tryst was over.

Do: Check out a bunch of bars in the surrounding area.

Parking: Uber, walk, parkings a bust.

Went here for Portland Burger Week, stood in line for 25 minutes and received a less than mediocre burger. Not a great first experience, but going anywhere that is participating in burger week is typically a total CF.

However, I had a lovely juniper berry and gin and tonic! I would go back to try other drinks and food, just definitely not during burger week.

This is an awesome spot to grab a bite for happy hour and to quench your thirst with a well poured drink. My favorite is the fried eggplant.

There's lots of room to find a table and it's very spacious inside so you'll never feel crowded.

The friendly bartenders keep me coming back too.

2017 - Review # 6

A cool funky spot! We ended up here at night after the 4th of July Bluesfest closeby. So full disclosure, I did not try any of the food, just came for drinks.

The bartender was quick and on top of it despite seeming to be the only bartender working. Made our drinks right away. Cocktails are very good here! The vibe is kind of dark at night so really feels more like a cocktail bar than a place that serves food but other reviews make it sound amazing, wish we would have snacked on something.

The area has a few other bars around if you feel like hopping. Of course Voodoo is nearby too. We stuck here because it was the perfect balance of busy and quiet since we were catching up with friends and wanted to be able to hear.

Nice service, good drinks.

Sometimes finding good late night food downtown that isn't fried can be tough, but thankfully Tryst always pulls through. Their Filipino food menu is amazing and I've tried things here I had never even heard of. Every try banana ketchup? It's amazing! The chicken adobo is a must try and the cheese lumpia makes a nice appetizer. This is a solid spot with photo booths and a good selection of beers on tap.