East Burn

On Tuesday, Pub Night was at East Burn, a relatively new bar/restaurant at 18th and East Burnside, in the former Nocturnal location. It's been open a few months already, but it was the first visit for a lot of us. The enticement that finally lured me in there was Tuesday's special: $2 pints.

The 20 or so beer taps rotate pretty frequently -- follow @eastburn on Twitter to get updates. The selection seemed just right to me, lots of good choices from around the region. Some of the beers that came to our table were: Cascade Imperial Red, Walking Man Homo Erectus, Bear Republic Red Rocket, and Double Mountain Irish Stout. Did someone have the Mia and Pia's IPA? On top of that, they were pouring Schwindel Alt from Vertigo Brewing, a brewery that just started a couple months ago in Hillsboro. Vertigo is beginning to be seen around town -- Bailey's Taproom has had a couple kegs -- but I'm awarding community service points to East Burn since it was my first chance to sample Vertigo's wares. (The alt was a little homebrewy, and didn't have the right bitter finish, but let's give Vertigo some time to get their feet on the ground.)

In the basement is the "tap room", laid out with tall bar tables and a couple of sofas. It was a little too loud in there for our purposes, owing to the Skee-Ball(!), pinball machines, and music blaring out of a giant speaker attached to the ceiling. We did better in the restaurant area on the ground floor (top picture) -- though somehow we got off on the wrong foot with our waitress and she was all rolling eyes and exasperation with each round of beer we ordered. The ground floor has its own bar area -- the taps are split about evenly between upstairs and down -- and there is also a heated outdoor patio where smoking is allowed. At three of the indoor tables for two, the seats are wicker swings hanging from the ceiling; some of the patio seats are porch swings.

East Burn is a welcome addition to the neighborhood. An interesting tap list, funky setting, and good prices -- especially on Tuesday -- will continue to draw a crowd.