Come discover the first McMenamins. Hear the Grateful Dead, see the signature decor, and eat a pound of Cajun tots. This location is special due to its history. In 1983, a northwest institution was born. McMenamins brews beer and spirits, serves good pub grub, and sources their meats ethically. They have gluten free options, and label their menu vegan, gluten free, etc. They make great cocktails and have interesting "working beverages". Their apple cider is AMAZING. They have some outdoor seating and modular walls creating hybrid seating. read more

McMenamins Barley Mill Pub - Quirky decor. - American Near Me - Portland, Oregon

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Went for a late lunch today like we had done tons of times before with my wife and her Grandmother around 3:30 and there were a few tables as usual not too busy, which is totally cool. We ordered as soon as we got our drinks that's when it all went down hill. For food we ordered a cup of chowder, two hamburgers and the chicken sandwich special so not a lot of food. We started noticing other tables coming in and sitting down which is great. After 45 minutes waiting for our food three other tables that sat down after us got their food before us as our server never came to our table to check in on us. We had to ask the staff working behind the bar if they can check in on our food with no help other than we are looking into it. We saw our food sitting in the kitchen window for over 25 minutes before it was brought out cold. Cold tots, cold cup of clam chowder, burgers and the chicken sandwich were all cold. After an hour of no real communication from the staff till our cold food arrived was by far the worst experience I've had in a restaurant in a long time. We ended up just leaving because of the experience. I would recommend maybe getting the manager to help their team when their staff can't keep up. I blame the management not the couple of staff members trying to keep that place open. Hire more people if you are going to change $20 on average for an entree. Do better Mcmenamins do better. read more

Grateful Dead themed McMenamins on Hawthorne. I like that they have a TV that shows sports. The sliders are great. read more

McMenamins Barley Mill Pub - Sliders - American Near Me - Portland, Oregon

Quiet, small, but fun and always some parking spots. It's a local chain, but from what I can tell and I've been to many Mcminamins, the service here is top notch. Very attentive table service and the pub food you expect at these places. Burgers are fresh and hot, soups are rotating and made well. The only down I would say is, like many places, and not unique, the prices have gone up significantly, in my opinion. $16+ for a sandwich, (chips as a side), etc. so if doing it big on a budget, hit up for happy hour, or late night and go after 8 pm for the deals. read more

McMenamins Barley Mill Pub - Salad - American Near Me - Portland, Oregon

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This Mcmenamins is the Grateful Dead Mcmenamins. Also where the Purple Haze Drink originated. We stopped by for some beer flights. They had two pinball machines. I had fun playing on one of them. This pub had a lot of cool Grateful Dead memorabilia. And others intricate painting and art works. They had an open garage door seating where you can sit and enjoy in nice summer months. This pub has lots to see and check out on the walls and ceilings. Very easy going bartenders and servers. Thank you for a wonderful end to our evening. read more

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A nostalgic favorite! Huge space for groups with diverse seating, indoor and out. Disco ball in the bathroom with party music. Pinball machines. Delicious food, beer and friendly servers. read more

McMenamins Barley Mill Pub - Seasoned Cajun Tots - American Near Me - Portland, Oregon

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This place has a real classic rock kitsch vibe with a couple pinball machines a nice variety of quiet nooks and lots of dense decor for your visual exploration. This review is for the happy hour deals and service. On a Thursday afternoon this place is a great escape from the heat and has yummy tuna and dill sliders. I ordered the HH dilly sliders and HH Edgefield blackberry cider and loved the food, drink and overall deal. I would recommend the HH menu for the service environment and value. Servers are very nice and helpful. Super comfy place to eat and relax after a long work day. read more

The food here was great. I ordered a bacon cheeseburger with tots and my friend ordered a tuna sandwich with fries. My burger was juicy and had great flavor. However I cannot say the same about the service. There were maybe 2 other tables when we arrived and someone didn't come take our order for almost 15 minutes. When she finally came by, we ordered 2 waters, a cocktail and a shirley temple. We did not see the waitress again. Our food came out and she hadn't even brought us water. A couple next to us that arrived and ordered like 20 minutes after us received their ciders before us. The waitress did not bring utensils or sauces so I had to go up to the bar and ask. Thankfully the man at the bar was very kind and helpful. So if you have the time to wait, the food if definitely good enough to overlook that. Pick your battles I guess. read more

Classic cozy Mcmenamins vibe. I like how the open all doors for the fresh air to come in on a warm summer day. Staffs were friendly. All day happ hour on Mondays for students and facultys! I enjoyed the Dilly Tuna Slider Trio. The tuna salad ws tasty and the buns were soft. They also give you a lot. The Hummus Plate was also nice. Loved the pickled veggies. Pita was well-toasted too. All around decent!! The tap at Mcmenamins is always great. read more

I have to admit, I might be biased. My wife & I had dinner here during our very first date back in 2004. However, I have always found the food tasty, the beers yummy, the service good, and the environment fun & pleasant. read more

I'm still a regular for cards, but the more experience I have here the less happy I am with the food and drink. Twice I've gotten an off beer - something is wrong with their lines. And the food is highly mediocre. Really could use an upgrade. read more

I do love the McMenamins brand and all of their locations I have been to. This pub is Grateful Dead themed. Service is spot on. Prices are reasonable, beer is cold, food is hot, all of the decor is funky and appealing. I would recommend to anyone in the area. read more

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Burger was cold to the touch. Cook gave us attitude from the kitchen when we mentioned it. The burger must have been sitting out for at least 15 minutes before it got to us, it was that cold. When we walked in, only 1 table wasn't covered in old dishes and food. Not food related, but this location is Grateful Dead themed. They played GD music, but the cook started blaring rap on his personal speaker right behind us. Needless to say both speakers playing wasn't pleasant. read more

Service and food is always great. Great atmosphere. I would highly recommend it. Give it a try.

I really enjoyed this meal. We stopped in for a quick lunch. I was surprised there was no one here... the food is good. We all had burgers. They were cooked well and the toppings tasted fresh. The seasoned fries are always a hit. The interior of the Barley Mill Pub is fun and funky. The service was a little slow, I think the guys had a good conversation going back in the kitchen. Even with that, I'll definitely come back. read more

McMenamins Barley Mill Pub - Burger - American Near Me - Portland, Oregon

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It's great to be back to McMenamin's - first time at Grateful dead themed Barley location. Walking distance from a friends house with an outdoor seating and heater, so very cozy. Waiter promptly took our orders - starting with Ruby my staple, and Captain Neon, as I'm craving blue cheese as of late... and bacon is a must. There's plant friendly options as well which I may try next time. read more

McMenamins Barley Mill Pub - Sweet potato fries, blue cheese burger, and red - American Near Me - Portland, Oregon

Stumbled in out of the rain, this place is a chain but doesnt feel like it. Get the blackberry cider! Its sweet but great. We went to a few other locations but this one is very cool. Highly recommend read more

We had the Cajun tots and Thai peanut power bowl. The tots were super good and we highly recommend them. There was only one server and he even made the drinks, man was working super hard and we appreciated his efforts! read more

McMenamins Barley Mill Pub - Cajun tater tots Thai peanut power bowl - American Near Me - Portland, Oregon

Ok, I get that this is a Grateful Dead themed place which I honestly did not realize until I came in because I just thought brew pub. BUT, seriously playing the same Grateful Dead song the entirety of our visit earns the two star...because we were nearly homicidal after the hour we were there to enjoy a meal. We would have sat outside but three tables in a row had dog owners. I adore dogs but not when I am trying to eat and nothing at all against those kind folks who were lucky enough to have sweet pups to dine with instead of Jerry Garcia. The meal itself was grand - we happened to hit happy hour so $3 for a giant basket of tots is alright indeed. I ordered the Dungeon burger which was a proper medium rare and loaded up for me. I am also always amazed at how awesome RC tastes when I am at McMenamins to wash everything down. We split their newly added seasonal desert when we heard about it. Passionfruit tarte - who can resist that?! As you shouldn't - it was delicious. The staff was amazing also. So thank you for everything except the music. read more

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I like coming here, always a pleasant experience. Their beer is somewhat pedestrian, but they have a nice diverse food menu. We had some great junk food at the location on Hawthorne last night: too many scooby snacks and onion rings. The latter are pretty wonderful - the onions are actually cooked through enough where they don't pull out of the batter when you bite into them, they kinda melt in your mouth. The scooby snacks are a great way of consuming way too many grease calories in a short period of time. We sat outside and the service was pretty horrible. Hardly saw our waiter, and we ordered some salad wraps to cap off the evening and they managed to omit the hummus and pita chips :-( The outdoor seating is wonderful late in the day because it's on the East side of the building so it gets good shade and you aren't deafened by road noise. They seem to put the rookie waiters over there though. read more

McMenamins Barley Mill Pub - Best onion rings ever - American Near Me - Portland, Oregon

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My brother and sister-in-law visited this weekend. We ate at this pub on Sunday about 2:00. We have always liked your establishments in the past. This time it was only so-so. My brother and his wife had a fair meal. Mine was a disaster. Ordered the traditional gyros. Received a cold wrap, meat, a little chopped lettuce and very very very little tzatziki sauce. Very disappointing. NO onion or tomato. Very little lettuce and a slight hint of tzatziki sauce. As I have a disability and do not drive, you will not have to be concerned about me ever coming back. I WILL NOT PLACE AN ORDER FOR DELIVERY IF THIS IS WHAT YOU NOW SERVE AS "GREAT FOOD". read more

The service was fast, the food was fantastic, the beer was good. We got the burger and Cajun tots and added bacon. The tots dipped in that chipotle ranch hit the spot. That chipotle ranch could (should?) be bottled and sold tbh. The burger was juicy and overall just delicious. I'm happy I visited this spot while traveling through Portland. read more

McMenamins Barley Mill Pub - Cheeseburger with bacon and Cajun tots - American Near Me - Portland, Oregon

From our 10-year-old: "Sleepier than Sleepy Joe." From me: "The Waiting Room for Purgatory." Trigger alert: if you're precious about the Grateful Dead, please forgive me. I have a feeling they've been playing the same Dead bootleg on a loop since Mike and Brian opened the place back in '83. The soundtrack of the waiting room for purgatory At 5 PM, it took about 15 minutes to get menus, 20 minutes to order, another half hour to get our food. Once you do, it's an analog of a McMenamins experience, so no complaints there. I had the audacity to ask "what red or brown ales do you have?" "We don't." "What about what that fellow's drinking right over there?" "That's Hammerhead." ("Our classic Northwest Pale Ale is a rich chestnut-colored gem."--If I had to pick a color between red and brown, it would be chestnut.) If you have spare hours to kill and you know every note of every Jerry's noodle, you'll be in heaven here. Otherwise, go anywhere else in the McMenamins empire for a more enjoyable experience. I love you! read more

After much procrastination we've finally set off on the quest to become Cosmic Tripsters and purchased McMenamin's passports. This currently means that whenever we need to eat we think, "Should we go to McMenamin's? I see what you did here, McMenamen's. We all see... Anyways, we're had a great experience with the passports so far. We're been to the Barley Mill Pub before, but this time we wanted our stamp, which meant we had to find "Champagne for Lunch". We did this and then learned about the history behind it and it was all good fun. We also ended up splitting a burger and each having a wine flight in order to complete our Wine Flight activity stamp. The service here was friendly and pretty fast, which we appreciated as we needed to make it to a play. Passport or not, worth the visit. read more

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Best Bartender ever works here!! ordered BLT with friend egg paired with tomato bisque as suggested by our bartender. margarita of the day was strawberry with rim of sugar and cinnamon. friendly conversation with local recommendations. i wish i lived closer. thanks for the hospitality. read more

McMenamins Barley Mill Pub - BLT and friend egg paired with tomato bisque - American Near Me - Portland, Oregon

Nice little spot cool ambience good food . Nice spot to take your girl or wife . Not too loud waiters come by often which is good . Lots of cool pictures and art on the walls . read more

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Great food! Great vibe! Great people! Did I mention NICK, our great waiter? DID I MENTION NICK THE WAITER IN ALL HIS AWESOMENESS??? NICK! You are a great addition to the McMenamins family! N I C K ! read more

I would give 0 stars. No one at the bar to take an order. Have to wait for 15 min to get a beer. Ridiculous

I've been coming to the barley mill for several years. I've always really enjoyed the service, the drinks are always delicious. I have noticed as of late a difference in the service and the staff. Always enjoyed the company of Ray, he was always a fun spirit. But recently I noticed Gregory has been missing from being the bar. Always a great bartender, fast to get to the refill, making sure to order food and never didn't feel welcome when he was there. He always seemed to know about the music, and the menu. read more

wow. horrible food, poor service, very unclean. Second visit for poor reasons. just as bad as first. Our burgers were bloody raw (she didn't ask how we wanted them, we had to call her back to ask for medium well), the waitstaff was surly, tables sticky, bathroom was nightmare inducing. I was up all night with a sick stomach - and that was mostly from the fries. read more

Waited for an hour and then left. Service was trash will not return. Wasn't even busy.

Great chill place to hang out with friends and grab some drinks. Food is always delicious and I love the lighting in the restroom. Only complaint would be that they can take a long time to bring you your check after you are done eating. I am ready to leave and can't find someone to bring me my check. read more

If you like sweet ciders, the blackberry cider is a perfect choice! It's a chill ambiance. Came for happy hour specials- decent prices read more

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Pros: not too smoky, nice ambiance. Cons: Everything is McMenanmins crappy... the food, the service, and the beer. It's so f'n crazy that these places have done so well. They're the ones that make "location, location, location" something that people keep shouting when it comes to where you eat and live. I mean, really... all of them that I have been to are the same... and I keep hoping that they will change up the menu, or bring in some good beer... but I am continually disappointed. Will I ever learn? Most likely not, but at least I accept that about myself. I WILL say that I enjoyed hanging out with a rather large group of friends on a Saturday night and was able to breath and talk to the person across, and next to me. That gives it the 3 rather than 1 or 2 star McMinimums (misspelling intentional) usual rating. Oh, and parking can be a bit of a bitch... so just beware. read more

This is a classic McMenamins. Nothing fancy, thin style micros, rustic furniture. They have established a jam band-friendly atmosphere. My interest is their Thursday ground nut soup. Ground nuts are peanuts. Ground nut soup or stew is a West African specialty. Unfortunately everywhere I traveled where it was on the menu, they were out! The recipe varies, but includes peanuts, tomatoes, onions, sweet potatoes, peppers, carrots and spices. Cayenne, of course, plus some mix of garlic, cinnamon, cloves, cumin, ginger, and spices we don't have here! So I'm always on the lookout for ground nut stew. The Barley Mill one is primarily peanut butter, no whole peanuts, mildly spicy, a few pieces of fresh tomato and chicken. People come on Thursdays just for this dish. I think they could improve the recipe, but you can decide for yourself. read more

Very mediocre food and service, but it's still worth a visit to check out the beers they have on tap. They have good cocktails as well! I just wasn't sold on this place, and was expecting so much more after reading the great reviews. Also, for the quality and amount of food you're served, it's SO overpriced! For some reason, I got a very tourist trap vibe from this place. If I lived in Portland, I certainly would not frequent this place as a local. Come for the beer, skip the overpriced mediocre food. read more

We were served by Ray tonight and they were fantastic! Great attitude and sense of humor, we are so grateful for the rare drink out, and to be so well taken care of. Thanks Ray! read more

I want to preface this with two things, I have never written a yelp review before. I believe 99% of them are harmful and not useful for either party. Secondly, my girlfriend has been a server for five years, and I am a district manager for a restaurant chain; and have been in restaurant management for five years. With this being said, when we came in we knew it was going to be a wait, either for a table or for food. It was busy and there was only two servers, both that were taking turns running the bar while running food/taking orders. We sat and ordered drinks, girlfriend got wine I got coffee. She got her wine immediately and I had to wait on my coffee. (This is normal because fresh coffee takes 5-10 minutes to brew and it was late night). 35 minutes later I get my coffee after reminding our server, they say they will take it off the bill, no problem. About an hour after arriving we notice the table that got sat 15-20 minutes after us received their food, we know that this can only mean two things; server forgot to put in our food, or kitchen messed up the order. Either way it didn't matter much to us, we know how it is. The issue is, we were never told there was a problem. An hour and a half after arriving we get our food, no apologies for the wait, no excuses or reasoning. At this point we know our server is thinking one of two things, we're stupid enough to think it takes 1.5 hours to get dinner for two, or they really just don't care. We ask for the bill a little after we got our food (we just wanted to go home at this point), the coffee was taken off the bill as promised, but surprisingly no additional percent was taken off for the in total two hour experience. Again, after receiving the bill no apologies for the wait, just business as usual I guess. I left names and dates off of this on purpose, as I believe no one should be fired over what hopefully was a bad night. read more

Sorry to see you guys closing up for a few weeks will be waiting for you to open again. When you were open y'all were super careful to serve up your really great food in a safe manner with lots of distance between tables. The open air seats with heatersWas also well done. You were the first restaurant we trusted when we decided we could go out and eat again and you were the last restaurant we ate in on the last day before the mandated close. Thanks again for a great food and great serviceWe're looking forward to your re-open read more

So nice to get back to one our favorite Portland restaurants! They made us feel safe and comfortable. The food was exceptionally delicious. Scooby Snacks - Yes! Love their burgers & the gyros was (fantastikós). Thanks again for the excellent service and another great experience at the Barley Mill Pub! We look forward to our next visit. read more