McMenamins Kennedy School

The joy of a burger, a fireplace and a quiet comfortable place to sip brown whiskey. It's not cutting edge and it doesn't need to be. Kennedy School is clubby yet accessible, one of the bigger and more impressive McMenamins reclamation projects. Need someplace to take your parents while they visit. Food, movie, wandering around indoors, this is the place. more

One of the more impressive of the McMenamins spots, it's worth the visit just to explore and experience the courtyard in the summertime. The food, as always, is a disappointment. more

have been here several times, and never had a bad experience. McMenamin's food isn't horrible, but it's not a 5 start restaurant either-nor does it pretend to be. They have good bar food, and a fun atmosphere. My husband and I have been here on a chill date night many times and have experienced both the theater and outdoor seating. It's a fun, relaxing, economical date option. more

Believe what you hear about their mediocre food and not so great service....it's generally true. This place, however, still has my heart. I love the idea of taking an old school and making it a hot spot again. It's a beautiful space and a great place to see a cheap movie with your kids or hang out with some friends (either at one of the bars, enjoying the courtyard seating at the restaurant, or by the fire out front when the weather is decent) have some good beer and chill. more

My date wanted to come here because she had never been. I was hesitant because I know how they are here and their food is usually horrible, but she wanted to go and I wanted my date to have fun. It started off as typical McMenamins fashion, rude servers or hosts and bar tenders and a creepy somewhat dirty establishment. The employees always have an attitude before one word is even spoken. It doesn't matter which city you visit, with McMenamins it is always the same. I put in my name in with the host to get a table at their restaurant, Courtyard. He told me 30-45 min. just to get seated and the restaurant was only maybe half full. There were empty tables and no one else in line. Did they have a server on break or what? Geez! So he gave me the pager and I said OK we'll be waiting at the bar. We were sitting there for at least 45 min. and another couple that came in way after us (I know this because they came in the bar looking for a seat and they weren't waiting at the front when I put my name in). What happens next is why I hate McMenamins and will never go back to this place. The host walks up to the bar tender and starts talking to him maybe 10 feet from us and at the same time the couple who came in after us is getting seated in the booth we should have gotten. Now I was pissed. I held up the pager toward the host and said we are still here. He said oh I guess it didn't go off, we are having trouble with a couple of the pagers what number is it? I wanted to say are you kidding me was it too far to walk to the bar and get us in person?! Jackass! So now we get seated in a huge booth (that by the way was vacant when we got there 45+ mins. before). Now we have to sit so far across the huge booth that we can't even talk to each other. The food was surprisingly decent, it's usually very bland or greasy. I've heard from people who have worked for the McMenamin brothers that they work you to the bone with minimum pay. I did tip the waitress 20% because she actually did a great job, but for the business establishments and most employees they get a D- on customer service and overall experience. more

Good place to take out of town visitors to. more

This old school has been converted into a McMenamin's Hotel where you can go and drink all you want and then stay the night at the hotel keeping you from having to drive under the influence. While this is always a good idea this is much more exciting than your normal hotel and bar. This place has both a movie theater and a hot pool on site, as well as rooms with chalkboards you can spend hours decorating. There is also a restaurant and multiple bars with exciting names like detention and the boiler room. Best of all McMenamin's has great food and beer. I personally enjoy the Ruby Red. There are multiple McMenamin's locations and I hope to check out more of them in the future. Best of all its completely a reasonable price and many packages even come with food and beer. Pros: hot pool, movie theater, multiple bars more

We were visiting from California and heard about McMenamins. We passed by this one so we dropped in for a light dinner. Great place! Old school turned restaurant/pub/theater/gathering place. We settled into an old classroom turned bar. I had a good raspberry beer and we ordered several appetizers which were all very tasty. I was surprised how good the food was, better than your typical pub food! Fun to explore the hallways, the art on the walls and the different areas of the school-turned-restaurant/brewery. Pros: Big place, with intimate areas more

I am so glad they rescued this history! We come for movies, food, and beer but did originally stay the night here. The rooms are the old classrooms lined in chalkboards and our stay was very fun. more

If you know McMenamins, then you don't need to read about their menu, though there are some nice additions to it here. What I love is the unique atmosphere. The downstairs boiler room pub is just too cool. Once again they did a great job of converting a very mundane part of an old building into a special room The main floor courtyard is wonderful on any evening it isn't raining. Worth a trip. Pros: Seasonal beers done right Cons: Distance from my home! more

I'm fron Southern California, and it's been difficult finding good eats in Beaverton. I went out to this restaurant/bar/movie theater and was pleasantly surprised! After we got through the long wait, Friday night, ended up ordering dinner from the bar, and having it delivered to us at their theater located in the same building (you can imagine how big this place must be). I even had wine while I was having dinner. Not the coziest seating, but definitely different from California. Love it! Can't wait to take my friends who'll visit soon. Pros: movie theater and restaurant all in one Cons: crowded on weekends more

If you pop on in to the Boiler Room on any given Friday or Saturday night be sure to bring a patio lounger! I swear to God and all creation, McMenamins must mean ""neat places with horrible staffing and boring food"" in the Irish dictionary. This place is not only under-staffed, but the help they do have seems more interested in their second-hand-store fashion than getting things out quickly with a smile.\r \r And for the record, the french fries at ANY McMenanmins are the most horrible tasting potato products you will ever put in your mouth. The fascinating thing is that they've always been that way. Always. And the rest of the food is so sub-par as to be considered filler. Surely a public taste-test would reveal what everyone already knows: that no one goes to McMenamins for the food. \r \r People go to McMenamins because they either want to show an out-of-towner ""how cool"" it is, or because their establishments are usually crowed and so want to feel their group is part of something bigger going on.\r \r Come for the beer and decor, but do not expect more.\r \r Pros: Decent Beer, Neat Building Cons: Long Waits, Lackluster Food more

Stayed for a night with my wife both had a real great time. What could be greater than a fun afternoon of playing games going here going out to dinner then watching a movie followed by a stroll. I know getting to not have to drive home plastered and staying right there were it all went down. Pros: Everything you need is right there Cons: A little noisy more

The service was great, the waitress took our jokes with a wonderful spirit, was very professional, the food was great (complements to the chefs), the drink was great and the sweets were amazing, the whole atmosphere was very nice and encouraging, we were there on Cico de Mayo, the only things if they would just have longer happy hours until 7:00 or even 8:00 because by the time we leave our offices and drive there the happy hour will end so help us out here guys, we love your place but we also love the Happy hour ;) it was a great experience and I loved it, for sure I am going back there with my friends, family, everybody and his dog, it fit for all. Pros: Wonderful and fast service the waitress was just great. Cons: The happy hours are too short. more

I usually eat in the Courtyard Restaurant. The menu has lots to choose from. The quality of food is consistently good. Service is always attentive. The drinks are wonderful, my favorites are the Ruby beer or their Lemon Drops. The atmosphere is extremely appealing. There is something for everyone here. I've gone for drinks with adults, movies with friends, dinner with the family (including little kids). This place is good for small and large groups. The desserts look good, but I'm always too full to try them. Pros: Everything Cons: Sometimes busy and hard to find seating right away. more

People who live in Portland have no idea how amazing a place like McMenamin's is. The fact that you can watch a movie AND get a beer for under $10 is amazing. Every time I visit Portland, I go to a McMenamin's and catch a movie. Also, while on my soap box, Portlanders also take for granted they are spoiled with some of the best beer in the country, no sales tax and a climate that is way better than people say (I still tell people I meet that it rains every day in Portland so they won't move there and make the traffic worse). Portlanders, drink an amazing micro-brew for me! \r \r Your jealous friend in San Diego. more

I have eaten at the restaurant a few times and it is just ok, but I really love watching movies here! Couches+beer+good movie = fun more

User pancakesthebunny's review is exactly spot on. I usually like to go into more detail but I'm not sure I could do a better job. In summary, the food is miserable. Our breakfast was barely warm at best and quite terrible. The coffee took forever to arrive and sat empty for quite some time once it was poured. Please tell me how you can screw up breakfast? Is there an easier meal to make than scrambled eggs and sausage? It seems to me McMenamin's is resting on their reputation and letting complacency take the lead. Very cool building and theme but huge disappointment in the restaurant. Pros: Neat building, tasteful restoration, cool amenities Cons: deplorable food, lacking service more

McMenamin's pubs enjoy more popularity than they should. The buildings are fascinating - especially the Kennedy School, which is almost like a freaky haunted house. The soak tub is a neat feature, but it closes at 10pm. And the movie theatre is affordable, comfortable (with couches!) and usually has good movies, especially the movie afternoon for moms with kids.\r \r However, the food at the Kennedy School is severely lacking. I can't stress that enough. The salsa is like flavorless ketchup - how do you mess up salsa? The only decent menu item is the tater tots. It should be noted that the McMeniman's at Edgefield has equally bad food - serving overcooked (possibly previously frozen?) shrimp and cold chicken at $20 a plate. Drinks are interesting but overpriced, and the bartenders I've had there couldn't mix a decent mojito even with my explicit (but friendly) instructions. \r \r Overall, it's a great place to go once or to take your tourist friends, but the food, drinks and prices make it a one-time thing. It's ""cool"" and ""trendy"" but every time I hear someone say that it's ""the way to get to know Portland and Portlanders,"" I cringe. Pros: very interesting building Cons: bad food, bad mixed drinks, high prices more

My husband and I often choose Kennedy School for low key evenings out. As many others have mentioned, the food is not particularly stellar, (burgers are rather cardboard, but toppings are lush and tasty), but you can't beat the funky, homey ambiance. We arrive early, and wander through the fun, art filled halls, checking out all the murals, mosaics and frivolous artistic flourishes that can be found everywhere, along with copious amounts of school memorabilia. McMenamins employed local artisans, and the witty Portland aesthetic pervades the building, which is just a beautiful elegant structure to begin with. We order food at the restaurant and bring it into the gym to settle into a comfy couch for the film. Very homey, with fun and no cooking or cleanup. A great cheap date. We always seem to get lucky with street parking Pros: bursting with silly creativity Cons: wish the food were a little better more