The Uncanny runs a neon-lit cocktail room at 3560 North Mississippi Avenue, in the Boise stretch of North Portland, inside the space that once held Psychic Bar. It opened in 2023 and earned a place on Esquire's list of the best new bars in America the following year.
Who would love it: anyone who wants an ambitious cocktail menu without a hushed, jacket-required room. Who would skip it: a guest looking for a quiet wine bar, because the red neon and black banquettes set a louder, stranger mood than that.
The room reads like a set built for a film that never quite explains itself. Red neon washes the walls, the seating runs to black banquettes, and a patio opens up the space in warmer months. Portland Monthly described the bar as one fit for a David Lynch set, which captures the off-kilter tone the owners aim for.
What to order: the menu leans on unexpected pairings rather than classics played straight. The Vieux Carre arrives with coconut Scotch whisky and tepache sherry, the house Sazerac is built around Trakal, a Patagonian spirit, with chanterelle, and the Devil in Disguise mixes sotol, fernet, and rum. The through line is savory, herbal, and a little wild, so a guest who likes Fernet and amaro will find more to chase here than a guest who orders sweet.
What to skip: the idea that this is a fast round before dinner. The drinks are built to be considered, and the value is in working across the list rather than ordering one and leaving.
The bar comes from local cocktail veterans, and the kitchen leans into meze and vegetable-forward plates that have drawn their own following. Eater Portland included The Uncanny in its 2025 roundup of the city's best vegan and vegetarian spots, which is rare praise for a cocktail bar and a signal that the food is more than an afterthought.
The crowd skews to Mississippi Avenue regulars and cocktail enthusiasts who track new openings. The room runs livelier on weekend nights, when the patio fills and the neon does its work, while early-week evenings stay calmer and better for tasting through the menu with the bartenders. The Halloween pop-up, billed as the House of Unholy, has become a seasonal draw with its own themed list.
Best time to go: a weeknight evening, when the bar staff has room to walk a guest through the more unusual builds. Weekend nights are busier and the energy rises with the crowd, though the patio gives the room more space than the interior alone.
What reviewers note: KOIN and The Oregonian both covered the opening and the Esquire nod, and Eater Portland has returned to the bar more than once for its patio and its seasonal menus. The recurring praise is for the creativity of the list; the recurring caution is that the savory, spirit-forward style is not built for guests who want something sweet and simple.
Mississippi Avenue gives The Uncanny a strong base, since the street already runs as one of North Portland's better walking strips for drinks and food. Start here for the stranger cocktails, then carry the night down the block. It anchors the experimental end of the neighborhood map.
Pair this bar with Teardrop Cocktail Lounge, Rum Club, or Multnomah Whiskey Library to round out a Portland night.
See where it sits among the best cocktail bars in Portland, or browse the full Portland bar guide for more rooms nearby.
Sources: The Uncanny official site (2026); Esquire Best Bars in America 2024; The Oregonian; Eater Portland; Portland Monthly; KOIN.
