The Green Dragon was bought out by
Rogue a few years back and there was a pretty big hoopla and a fair amount of community backlash. Sorry to disappoint, but I have absolutely no insider information on this deal as it happened after my brief tenure at Rogue and everything I learned about it was from this interview (
here and
here) but after reading it I think I actually understand less. So I figured, what the hell, I might as well check this place out. I have no idea what this place was like before Rogue bought it so all my impressions are fresh and virgin. Let's check it out:
The exterior is standard industrial which fits with the neighborhood (SE 9th & SE Belmont) and I am pretty sure they have one of those huge glass garage doors that are all the freaking rage nowadays. Is there some Portland zoning law that says no new building can be built in hipster neighborhoods unless it has a fucking glass garage door? You can't really see it in the picture but that neon light is pretty badass. They also share the building with
Integrity Spirits but I don't think the business are intertwined at all.
The one thing that really impressed me about this place was their tap list. I mean, seriously, check that fucker out. Overall the list was very well developed and well thought out. I can only assume it rotates regularly so if you are reading this in May of 2010, it is likely that none of those beers are being poured there currently. Rogue is also in the makings of brewing beer on site (much like the
Eugene City Brewery and the
Issaquah Brewhouse) and you can watch them brew the beer while you drink yours. Everyone knows there is nothing more exciting than watching people brew beer, except watching fucking paint dry.
The ambiance of the place fucking sucks balls. It is a yuppie-hipster-trendy-industrial-empty void of a space. If you live in Portland you know what the fuck I am talking about. I know it is intended to be that way but it sure as fuck does not have the cozy bar feeling I embrace. It feels like you are drinking in an industrial warehouse, because you are. So I thought to myself, if I were standing on the corner of SE 7th and SE Morrison and I wanted to get a beer where would I go? If I wanted to go to a chill ass cozy bar, I would head to the
Speakeasy or the
Basement Pub. If I wanted to go to a brewery, I would make the short walk to
Roots Organic Brewing Company. If I wanted to go somewhere famous, I would go to the
East Bank Saloon (they were on
Elimidate). If I wanted a killer tap list, I would go up the road to
The Horse Brass. At no point would I think
Green Dragon. Don't waste your unemployment check here.
The exterior is standard industrial which fits with the neighborhood (SE 9th & SE Belmont) and I am pretty sure they have one of those huge glass garage doors that are all the freaking rage nowadays. Is there some Portland zoning law that says no new building can be built in hipster neighborhoods unless it has a fucking glass garage door? You can't really see it in the picture but that neon light is pretty badass. They also share the building with Integrity Spirits but I don't think the business are intertwined at all.
The one thing that really impressed me about this place was their tap list. I mean, seriously, check that fucker out. Overall the list was very well developed and well thought out. I can only assume it rotates regularly so if you are reading this in May of 2010, it is likely that none of those beers are being poured there currently. Rogue is also in the makings of brewing beer on site (much like the Eugene City Brewery and the Issaquah Brewhouse) and you can watch them brew the beer while you drink yours. Everyone knows there is nothing more exciting than watching people brew beer, except watching fucking paint dry.
The ambiance of the place fucking sucks balls. It is a yuppie-hipster-trendy-industrial-empty void of a space. If you live in Portland you know what the fuck I am talking about. I know it is intended to be that way but it sure as fuck does not have the cozy bar feeling I embrace. It feels like you are drinking in an industrial warehouse, because you are. So I thought to myself, if I were standing on the corner of SE 7th and SE Morrison and I wanted to get a beer where would I go? If I wanted to go to a chill ass cozy bar, I would head to the Speakeasy or the Basement Pub. If I wanted to go to a brewery, I would make the short walk to Roots Organic Brewing Company. If I wanted to go somewhere famous, I would go to the East Bank Saloon (they were on Elimidate). If I wanted a killer tap list, I would go up the road to The Horse Brass. At no point would I think Green Dragon. Don't waste your unemployment check here.
5 comments:
Glass garage doors. eh? sounds pretty damn hipster. We are not up to date in Michigan so I will have to use the Internets to check that shit out. We are still in the using fucking spinner wheels here.
I have a set of those on my beat up Honda hatchback. Cool shit.
I felt the same way. Not sure why they do picked that place for Beer and Blog every week.
Why are brewpubs always so boring? With boring food and boring yuppies? If it wasn't for the lure of beer, I might not go to another one.
Viva la Speakeasy!
Amnesia is fucking awesome! Go there!
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