Blue Bird Tavern

We hit this spot at the tail end of an extensive research day in St John’s. Every and I mean EVERY bartender in the area knew the Blue Bird Tavern and either looked at us askance or made comments to the effect of “good luck with that” when we mentioned it was on our hit list for the day.

Completely intrigued, we sashayed on in to the now legendary (to us anyway) Blue Bird Tavern for a look-see. First thing to note – there are dogs everywhere! On leash, off leash, camping on the couches, cruising around the space, so don’t go if Fido is not your friend.

Our bartendress for the day was Vicki who displayed a sort of angry, teenaged older sister vibe, like she’s pissed off that she has to miss the kegger in order to take care of her idiot younger siblings while the parents go out to party.

Definitely a familial ambiance to the place with hard-edged banter between the regulars and our girl Vicki. The space inside Blue Bird Tavern is a long shotgun-style room spanning from the big parking lot out back, through a video poker and arcade game area, past the trippy-topped bar to the sidewalk facing Lombard Street.

There is a small seating area with armchairs and couches bearing pooches and a bizarrely placed old school hairdryer. 10 taps, 3 ciders, the rest craft. Food on offer consists of packaged chips and a supermarket style plastic container filled with sliced cheese and sweaty salami.

Despite being touched by many hands of questionable hygiene, one of our members who shall remain nameless could not resist a sample. We will report back with health updates related to his risky behavior.

Address: 8734 N Lombard St – [Google Maps]

Quadrant: North Portland

Happy Hours: 2-6pm Monday-Friday

Full kitchen: Ha Ha! No.

Jalapeno Poppers: Nope

Breakfast: Not a chance

Outdoor Seating: Picnic tables on the sidewalk

Distinguishing features: Dogs appear to run the place

Words by KC Shomler Author of Falling Out of Love With My Career

Photos by Steven Shomler

Website Wizardry by Arthur Breur