Goose Hollow Inn sits at 1927 SW Jefferson Street and has been the tavern of record for the Goose Hollow neighbourhood since 1967. It was founded by Bud Clark, who later served as mayor of Portland from 1985 to 1992, and it still runs on the same low-key formula.
The pitch is a Reuben, a pint and a porch. This is a neighbourhood tavern, not a cocktail destination, and the draw is the sandwich, the beer list and the shaded patio. Anyone after a craft cocktail or a designed room should look elsewhere, because the appeal here is the lack of pretension.
The room is a wood-lined tavern with a covered deck that catches the afternoon, a short walk from Providence Park and the MAX line at Goose Hollow station. Wikipedia records the bar's founding by Bud Clark and its standing as a Portland institution, and Travel Oregon lists it among the city's enduring neighbourhood pubs. The deck is the seat regulars ask for on a dry day.
Order the Reuben, the sandwich the bar built its name on and the one local blog The PDX Blogger called the best on the planet. Pair it with one of the thirteen taps, which lean toward Oregon breweries and rotate with the season. The kitchen also runs soups, salads and the kind of straightforward plates a pint calls for, all at tavern prices well under a downtown sit-down.
The crowd is neighbourhood-first, a mix of longtime regulars, Timbers and Thorns fans on match days and students from the nearby campuses. Yelp reviewers credit the Reuben and the unhurried service, and point newcomers toward a weekday afternoon for the calmest version of the room. Match days near Providence Park bring a louder, fuller house.
Getting there is simple. The tavern sits on SW Jefferson Street in Goose Hollow, a short walk from Providence Park and steps from the Goose Hollow stop on the MAX light rail, which makes it an easy pre-match or post-match stop without a car. The covered deck doubles the seating in dry months and is the reason the room rarely feels cramped.
On the beer, the thirteen taps lean local and rotate with the season, with Oregon breweries leading the list alongside a few standbys. The kitchen keeps the menu short on purpose, built around the Reuben, a French dip, soups and salads, the kind of plates that pair with a pint rather than compete with it. Travel Oregon frames the Goose as one of the city's enduring neighbourhood taverns for exactly this reason.
What regulars say is consistent across Yelp and Travel Oregon. The Reuben is the reason most first-timers come and the reason they return, the covered deck is the seat to claim on a dry afternoon, and the rotating Oregon taps reward a second visit. The recurring note is that this is a tavern rather than a kitchen-forward gastropub, so anyone expecting a long menu should set their sights on the sandwich and the beer.
Best time to go is a weekday afternoon on the deck, or before a Timbers match for a pint within walking distance of the gate. Who it is for: a Reuben fan, a neighbourhood regular and anyone who wants a tavern with sixty years behind it. For more rooms like it, browse our best craft beer bars in Portland guide, the wider Portland bar guide, and our pillar on the best craft beer bars worldwide.
Sources: Goose Hollow Inn on Wikipedia; Travel Oregon listing; Yelp Goose Hollow Inn reviews; The PDX Blogger (Reuben review); Untappd Goose Hollow Inn
