Happy Landing

Being the seasoned dive bar aficionados that we are, it has become rare these days that a place gives us pause – until we ventured to visit The Happy Landing. Standing awkwardly in the parking lot, taking note of the stream of rough characters in and out of the encampment next door, we debated – should we or shouldn’t we go in? Curiosity and bravado eventually won and we opened the beat-up door.

Imagine our surprise when we found one of the cutest, cleanest, and coziest dive bars inside! Merrily decorated for Christmas at the time of our visit, every surface festooned with tinsel and ribbon, we felt like kids on Christmas rubbing our eyes at the wonder of seeing Santa Claus come down the chimney – this was NOT AT ALL what we were expecting!

Bellying up to the neat and tidy bar, Chantal was on duty and kept us in stitches with her wit and infectious smile. 5 poker machines, one pool table with a personalized light overhead and a fantastic old map on the wall showing the neighborhood circa 1956. Who knew that Happy Landing was referring to the fact that there used to be a small airport (Troh’s Airport) on this very spot of land? How crazy is that?

There are 7 taps, 5 crap, 1 craft and a cider. We couldn’t quite get a straight answer from Chantal about the food situation – sounds like sometimes they have daily specials like sub sandwiches or something, but nothing definite or in writing, as in a menu. It’s a better bar for drinking anyway.

Address: 520 SE 148th Ave [Google Map]

Quadrant: Southeast

Happy Hours: 7-11am AND 5-7 pm every day!

Full Kitchen: Yes, sort of

Jalapeno Poppers: No

Breakfast: No

Outdoor Seating: No

Distinguishing Features: The geode of Portland dive bars (Arthur deserves credit for coming up with that gem of a phrase!)

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

Photos by Steven Shomler

Website Wizardry by Arthur Breur