Portland’s Pause Kitchen and Bar

North Interstate keeps getting better. No longer do you have to brave karaoke and blue curacao to get a drink at a fun place in the area. Lovingly builty by Low Brow alums Mike and Cap and (??), they’ve browed it up a notch here but kept the prices very inviting. High ceilings, a well-stocked bar, and a good menu with not a tot in sight add the material items to a pleasant environment. I took an empty seat at the bar during happy hour (2.50 pints of the good stuff) and beyond being treated well by Jason, quickly got involved in discussions with a number of other friendly and interesting patrons…we talked speed of light, aliens, cooking, and photography. All over the place. Good times.

Hungry, I ordered up the sliders special. Two mini burgers, one with cheddar and the other with bacon and bleu cheese, along with fries and a pint of Flying Dog’s pale for 7 bucks. They were grubbin. Four micro pints and a grubbin light dinner set me back 14.50 plus tip. Holy crap, what decade is this? The other stuff looks good too. It’s like a real menu. Pulled pork, meatloaf, housemade veggie burgers, all sorts of stuff.

So right now they’re doing the eatery+bar thing. So, it’s nonsmoking. That’s fine by me. There’s a canopy out back in the future patio to keep your butt dry if it’s raining. Also, there’re kids. At least during happy hour. That’s cool, they were chill and at the tables. And I’m not afraid. I’m not afraid. People were coming in, bringing their families to eat. It’s a good alternative to hot wings at Fire on the Mountain least one night a week, y’know?

By now you’re no doubt thirsty and hungry for some of those sliders. So they’re at 5101 N Interstate Ave. That is one block north of Alberta on Interstate, on the west side of the street. A tip about getting there though if you’re heading from any direction but south on Interstate (say, from Delta Park or Kenton): don’t go north of Alberta on interstate, you won’t be able to turn left for awhile. Get west of the joint by heading down Alberta an extra block, then loop around. Or I guess you could just walk across Interstate…but I don’t recall the parking situation there. So follow my advice.