Learn the Classics
Drink at the Bar of the Gods

by Sam Soule, for pdxguide.com

Ode to a Greek-like bar. For nigh on ten years, Bar of the Gods has stood on the peak of upper Southeast Hawthorne Street.

From that vaunted perch, this dark villa of hipsterdom has been a safe haven for immortal-feeling twenty-somethings, those attempting to escape a neighborhood sea of burgeoning gentrification and lingering hippy vibes.

As it is popularly known, the "BOG" -- though no one calls the Federal Bureau of Investigation the "FBOI" -- has always had an air of the quietly Olympian. And, no, that doesn't make easy sense to me either.

Because "quiet" is not really the first word that comes to mind when describing the nightly scene at the BOG. The shaved-head and thick-necked bar staff has always regaled it's mirror reflection patronage with some of the loudest and heaviest punk music around. The place tends to draw a lot of mall-shopping emo fans and riders of Japanese motorcycles.

But running counter to the bleating throng is a comfortably fabricated
rustic vibe, one that wisely shepherds the bacchanal proceedings at hand.

Perhaps, it is more an inward sense of the place, a siren call emanating from the BOG's fully-stocked bar and kitchen of Mediterranean-Style grub. Fake grape vines twined around rough hewn rafters don't hurt. Nor do cheese-ball paintings depicting scenes from Greek myth, or stately mirrors reflecting inky blackness dotted with the glow from slender candle holders. Smart, understated touches, all.

A bit of steady wisdom shines through the BOG's well-conceived floor
plan as well. A central island bar divides the small space into two distinct rooms. In the main room, a longer straight stretch of smooth black bar caters to table seating with a couple of pinball machines in the back. On the other side, the bar makes a subtle half-moon turn to serve a space crowded by a pool table, a few cozy booths and two tabletop video games.

Outside, in the back, a tiny covered patio well-warmed with heat lamps butts against the wall of a neighboring building.

Thus a tightly planned and imaginative scene is set; so follows the nightly orgy.

These days the BOG finds itself situated in the heart of one of
Portland's hottest hotspots, an exciting nexus point of nightlife
activity - the like of which this town hasn't seen in years, if ever.

This upsurge is due directly to Sabalas' Mount Tabor, a major new punk club that opened recently next door. Response has been dramatic; the sky has been virtually raining kids. Keeping this buzz vibrating in the immediate vicinity are bars like the Space Room, Sewickley's and, of course, the Bar of the Gods.

The times have changed: Bar of the Gods has become more of a supporting player these days, less unique in its location. But the Classics never die.

Today the Bar of the Gods is a little bit of Heaven in a rising tide of gleeful Hell.

The opinions expressed within are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of pdxguide.com or The Columbian Publishing Co.