Old Market Pub & Brewery

2008! Read a number of reviews from 2004 or so and was discouraged. But went tonight in 2008 and we had great service! Hostess seating us went and got our drinks right away! Lots of attention from our server. Had a picky order put in and it came out just perfect! Good food! No wait, no problem, and this was a SATURDAY night! No problem! more

Having my office in my car I am always eating out. The Old Market Pub has the best lunch menu I have found. There lunch special menu has bottomless soda along with your meal. When ever I can I plan my day to be near them for lunch. Pros: lots of choices more

There were a couple of days this month where thier glycol pump stopped working and led to some foamy warm, and consequently flat beers...However it was fixed quickly. And the beers are usually excellent. I like their hamburgers...""The Blue Lou"" is a favorite...and their salads are good. The ruben is giant and packed with their own saurkraut. Good stuff. \r \r As fot their beer, the brewers told me they have recently switched to organic grains and they were changing some of the recipes. Personally, I liked the old IPA recipe, the amber color...it was a bit more malty. The new IPA is like a severly hopped golden ale. But very tasty nonetheless. \r \r Their new Witbier is excellent. crisp, dry, slightly tart with a hint of the chamomile and coriander. Their stout and porter are a little too similiar to eachother...Id like to see the porter lightened up....However they are very good! Heavy chocolate and coffee flavors without being too sweet. yum! I miss the Vanilla Maple Stout! I wish they would bring it back...it was one of my favorite beers ever!\r \r Overall its a nice place, lots of nooks and crannies to find...good big TV's for games, kid and pet friendly and the beer is great. Sure everything is a little pricy...but the cost of all commodities are rising...if you want to have cheap food and bland beer go buy a Big Mac and pick up a sixer of Coors. But if you want craftbrews in a unique place with a Portland feel...go somewhere like this. Pros: Great Beer...Fun people Cons: long waits sometimes... more

Their pulled pork sandwich is good, but not a good value at $8.95. Then again there are very few places I do consider a good value. I didn't like any of the beers they brew, but I don't like 90% of all beers anyway. I'll go back, just not often, and not for the beer. Pros: Good food at standard prices. Good ambiance. Cons: Bad beer, and it was warm. more

A cold beer on a hot day with our dog on the outside deck in the sun. Can it get any better? Sam (our dog) and I can eat & drink, too bad Sam can't go inside. The waitress always brings Sam a bowl of water, without me asking. Sam doesn't like beer, but this is our favorite for Portland breweries with pubs. Our friends (people, not dogs) like it too. more

I eat at Old Market Pub at least once a week, and I have never been disappointed. The service has never let me down; my drinks are always full and the server always asks how my food tastes. The pub makes the best BBQ pulled pork sandwich that I have ever tasted and makes an excellent beer out of granny smith apples. The beer battered fries are my husband's favorite. The prices are decent and the selection of beers is great. Pros: great food, beer, and service Cons: can be very busy at peak times more

Ive seen the reviews here slamming the service; but I have to disagree. Every time I have been there, the servers are working hard, and this place gets really busy. The beer is one of the best kept secrets in Portland. Clear, clean ales and a fantastic Vanilla Maple Stout. The Wiezen is really good too. \r \r The food selection is huge. The pizzas and calzones are excellent. They treat you right with the portions. Also, if you go there on a Friday or Saturday night, you should expect to wait for food. The place gets really slammed. I've gone there for beers and shuffleboard some busy nights. \r \r Ive only been there for dinner during the weeknights and service has been great. Ive met the owner and his wife. They are very friendly people. Ive met the brewers; they are very cool and were happy to chat a little about beers, even though I could tell they were really busy. It must be a huge challenge to keep all those styles on tap. I counted 12 different styles. I dont know any other brewpub that keeps such diversity on tap. \r \r I'd have to say the place has McMenamins feel with a much nicer brewery, better beer and a better food selection. I'mm sure the service could be faster when its busy, but just relax and have another IPA, you are at a neighborhood pub after all. more

I come here all the time. The kids like it, my husband loves it, and it's a good place for me & my girlfriends to get together without the ""boys"". The beers are made on site, my favorite is the IPA. Try it you'll like it. The only problem can be the crowds at night, but there's always room for us no matter how busy it is. more

Here's the truth kids - this bar has all the potential in the world to be outstanding: good location, great beer, and pretty tasty food. Hell, there's even pool and shuffle board. It's good times (potentially). But let's keep it real - the service is atrocious, and good service is what ensures not only customer satisfaction, but customer loyalty. I doubt this place has either. \r \r Every visit to the Old Market Pub has left me feeling annoyed, frustrated, or downright angry. If the service isn't horrid, it's mediocure at best. My most recent experience was a total disaster. I was with two other people and all of our orders were messed up in one way or the other - food arrived late (and cold), refills were asked for instead of automatically brought to the table, and it took about 15 minutes to hunt down a bottle of mustard. I mean...\r \r Finally, when enough was enough, I voiced my discontent with our waitress who proceeded to send her manager to my table (this, too, took at least 5-10 minutes before she even showed up), then I had the pleasure of having to repeat myself to the not-so-sympathetic manager. I explained the problems with the food and the service as she tried, desperately, to show concern. I was very nice about it, but clearly frustrated as well. I told her that I live close to the pub and I like its atmosphere, so I continue to give it a chance depsite the pattern of poor service encountered each and every time. When all was properly and politely explained she asks me what she could do to fix the problem - as if it was MY RESPONSIBILITY to resolve the issue with HER RESTAURANT. That set me over the top. My boyfriend mentioned comping the meal, which she did, and that was it. No sympathy, no ""customer-first"" attitude, no respect. It was extremely disappointing - as usual. Oh, did I mention this all took place around 4:00 on a quiet Sunday afternoon? Pathetic. I think I've learned my lesson once and for all - it's not worth it! more

the one redeeming quality of this place, even if the service is lacking and the food is average, at least a lot of the chick servers are cute! more

I rate this place a 3. With better service (maybe go for lunch on a week day) it could be a 4+.\r This was your typical kind of sportsbar atmosphere. The food looked like really good pub food! Friday night. Pretty noisy... medium crowded. Me and Carnivorous_Pretzel (c_p) ordered a beer sampler. My personal taste was for the Berry, Vanilla, Maple stout...starts sweet, to very citrusy, bitter and complex. The lighter the beer, the more shallow and acid the taste. I didn't really like most of them...\r c_p had the halibut fish and chips which was pub delicious! I had their pulled pork sandwich w/ the sauce on the side. I enjoyed the sandwich... It was a little lacking in flavor, and the sauce was a more sweet than smokey variety. The Berry krisp was to die for!! Hot, real berry flavorful, good icecream, krisp topping a lot like a toasty granola! YUMMY!\r Comfy and accomodating seating - hi-back booths. There was outdoor seating as well. We did not have a great service experience: we had to wait over 20 minutes for the dessert... they told us 3X it was coming right up, then we were finally told there was a glitch in the computer order or something... Pros: lively, good food Cons: bad service more

we started with the taster tray - $9.00 for samples of 8 different beers. they have tons of beer; it's obvious that this place is a brewpub. we also ordered the beer battered french fries, which was a huge appetizer platter's worth, and they were served hot. on the downside - they charge you for a side of ranch dressing! in addition to the beer and fries, i ordered the halibut fish and chips ($12.95), and shmackyrelish had the pulled pork sandwich. the service was terrible, and it took over forever to get our food. once we finally did get it, it was...okay. my halibut was an excellent choice, the fish was crispy outside and firm inside. the tartar sauce was fabulous, and is pub-made. shmack's pork was okay - she asked for the sauce on the side, and without the sauce, the pork was kind of tasteless. but the sauce itself was too sweet for my taste, and it was served cold to boot. we ordered dessert - a berry crisp for $5.95, which turned out to mostly taste like breakfast cereal with ice cream on top to me. also, receiving our dessert took over 20 minutes, which our waiter eventually blamed on a kitchen printer malfunction. my personal feeling was that, since we were told three times that ""it'll be right up,"" somebody should have noticed the printer malfunctioning way before they did. but our complaint did prompt them to offer us a free pint of ROOT BEER, which they brew in addition to alcoholic beer, and it was outstanding! i'd like to visit them one more time, and sit on the patio outside. it looked pet-friendly and smoker-friendly out there. Pros: good fries, good halibut, many beer varieties Cons: terrible service, pub atmosphere more

People who say they have had poor service need to be reminded that this restaurant is HUGE and very busy with people seating inside/outside. That being said I have been here 3-4 times during the dinner rush and never been dissapointed with the service. Great food, some good drink deals if you go on the right day (HUGE margaritas) and nice atmosphere, you almost forget that it's a bar! Better than most mcmenamins definetly! Pros: Pizza, large restaurant Cons: Too many people mistake it for a 'family' restaurant and then let their kids run wild while they drink. more

food was not at right temp when i recevied it nor was it worth what i payed for it i've also tried there new pub on broadway and found the food there to basically the same with no real flavor or any real style!!!!!!!!!!!!! more

This place has some amazing beers! The food is pretty decent. Portions are very large. It's a place that's attentive but not pushy. I've hung out and just read the paper, played games with friends, had a full dinner, just sat and talked over beers...whatever the mood is. The place is huge, with air hockey and games in the back. Great hang out overall without a ""pick up bar"" feeling. Pros: beer, value, games Cons: crowded, usual "pub grub" done well more

We went for dessert and beer only, but the place had a good ambiance. Had it been a bit warmer, we would've sat on the patio and enjoyed our microbrews. The brownie dessert was gooey and yummy, just a bit small.\r Our server was very nice and attentive, but left us alone to talk. No qualms here with the service.\r The food menu looked good and I will go back to try some of their yummy-sounding entrees and sandwiches. Pros: Good microbrews, cool patio more

Market pub has great beer (especially the Black Magic on Nitro), but the food has always been inconsistant- especially for the value. While the gyro and burgers are decent, they only serve chips with their burgers (no fries) and charge $8 for an order of onion rings! The pasta we had a few months back was almost inedible. Service depends on what time of day you go, and who you get as your server. But their alone brew is well worth the trip to the market!!! :) Pros: BEER!!, Some nice wait staff Cons: Food Not Good Value, Food Inconsistant more

I lived near this pub but moved away 4 years ago. I just found myself in the area and made a special trip for dinner. Service was friendly, atmosphere terrific, and the food and beer beat anything on my side of town. I highly recommend the (obviously homemade) soups and chili. I also love the variety of foods to choose from. I wish I had a Mr. Toad's beer right now! Pros: Atmosphere, Food, Beer Cons: So busy--parking, Noise more

Just moved to the neighborhood, went in for a quick bite, loved it. It's a big place, bigger than it looks from the outside, I thought I was going into a tavern, but this is a busy restaurant. Warning: the chili dogs aren't available at dinner unless you ask, I took the rest home and ate all weekend. I'll go again. Pros: Lots Of Food, Great Beers, Friendly Cons: Busy, Lots Of Kids more

A friend invited me, I balked over reviews. But a pleasant surprise it was. Very good service, friendly staff, good location, good parking, great beers and good food for a just above average price. I will go again gladly! Pros: Location, Atmosphere, Beer Cons: Small menu, Table arrangements more