East Chinatown Lounge

DJ was garbage, he played nothing but Young Thug and Rich Homie Quan the whole night. Mixed in a few other jamz. But constantly went back to his love of RHQ and Young Thug. The place was small and EXTREMELY HOT. Bouncers were horrible. Had to pay $ 20 just to get in the door. Horrible experience. The DJ was inexperienced, Didn’t mix anything, just straight transition from song to song. No originality to set him apart from. I could have got behind the bar (where his little set up was) and did the exact thing he was doing. Playing music. Don’t waste your time. Because you will have to stand in the line. The place don’t hold no more than 30 people. Enter at Your Own Risk. You have been warned.

Went here after reading other reviews expecting this place to have some sort of dance floor… But it doesn’t. This place is a bar and lounge with a DJ that plays good rap music and a somewhat rowdy crowd (there was a fight the only time I’ve been here). I also didn’t like the fact that the big cover charge and the not-​so diverse crowd (I was approached by one of the only other white guys in the bar and he asked me if my wife and I were lost…)
Super tiny place that is basically a restaurant, not a lounge and definitely not a place to dance.

This spot used to be happening. Now it’s just a trashy hip hop bar. Do the owners have any clue?

Kinda small but very clean & neat, The crowd is pretty chill, the music slaps & surprisingly they have really good DJ’s.

Homophobic bar. Don’t come here they will discriminate against you if you look anything out of the ordinary. Sad to say because I love the music here, but will never come back. Stop your ignorance Portland! And bouncers, grow the F up! Get with the times.

I haven’t been to East in a long time, but I still call it my favorite. I LOVE the bathroom (yes, I know that’s weird, but being a girl it’s a necessary to have a clean bathroom at your drinking destination), love the lighting, the drinks are decent, but the best thing about East is that they play great hip hop. I swear the dj always reads my mind in what I want to hear.

Finally I have found a Portland spot worthy of the term «lounge» with a promising rotation of hip hop and retro disco/R&B dance classics. I will definitely be coming back here regularly. The space is compact with a cool eastern ambiance and a sexy interior that hosted a cool and diverse crowd. I could see how in a space this small the mood could take a swift downturn with the wrong group of people– it’s super intimate and small inside. But our group of 8 latecomers got a superb welcome with great dance tunes and attentive service and we all felt our discovery of this spot made for a fantastic night cap.

I was pleasantly surprised by this little hole in the wall. ‘East’ as the locals call it has a nice little lounge area with red décor and mood lighting. The drinks prices are fair, the service always quick. If you weren’t looking for East you wouldn’t know its there. The bearded doorman is always good for laugh. DJ Joey Beach tears the club up with his monthly hip-​hop rotation where he plays old school jams and new school flavors. If you are in chinatown late at night, check this spot out!

asked for fireball got sin fire at $ 6 each! WTF $ 6 sinfire=ripoff!

I’ve been a regular here over the last few years and the owner has ruined what used to be my favorite bar. They used to do $ 2 wells on Wednesdays with good music and a good DJ. They now only give girls cheap drinks on Wednesdays and charge guys full price… The regular drink prices have gone up as well. At this point id rather go to Harlem or a cheaper better similar eastside bar…
My old review below–
I must admit I am a regular here. Cheap drinks good music good people good atmosphere, what’s not to like? I got to say the one drawback is that with one exit/​entrance they hit capacity really fast. But supposedly they are expanding so looking forward to that.

The little Shaun White wannabe bartender is the worst. I’m not sure why he has such an attitude, but if you want a moody little girl on the rag to be pouring your drinks, then maybe you should come here. Or if you want to be spoken down to or spoken to like you’re a huge bother, then this is the spot for you.
Again, I don’t know what this guy’s problem is, but he’s not very happy when people come into the bar. If you order a drink, he’s SUPER light on the booze and then throws on a huge stink face like your order wasn’t good enough for his time.
We looked past it and drank our drinks, but then he started to pick a fight with this other group in the bar. I guess one of the girls gave him her temporary ID AND her expired one, and he wouldn’t accept it. So then he starts whining, «Get out of my bar. I don’t have to serve you!» And, I mean, there’s manlier ways to say it, but I’m pretty sure he was pouting and close to stomping his foot like a 5-​year-​old. Half that group got out and started to leave (the ones talking back to him), but then we saw him grab the phone and start shouting that he was calling the police and kicked out the other half that was just sitting at a table minding their own business.
Needless to say, we left too. We had finished our poorly made drinks, and I didn’t want him to give us the stink face again if we ordered another round. We ran into that group outside and the girl went on to tell us that he said, «I’m 25 so I can tell you’re not 21.» I looked at her, two other girls they were with, and then remembered that I get carded to go see Rated R movies. She was the LAST girl he should say wasn’t 21. Maybe it was just a ginger hating on a fake ginger, because he obviously thought he was way above everyone that walked in there.

There are a lot of things I like about this place. The initial draw is the music. I am a huge hip hop & rap buff and East is always bumping the sickest beats.
The bar is stocked and has reasonable drink prices. It is a cozy spot, so it can get crowded pretty quickly on a poppin’ night so beware if you’re claustrophobic. I love the little lounge spot that can be separated by a curtain for parties if needed.
The food menu is pretty tasty and is Asian influenced. I went to this spot almost every weekend for 2 months straight and still love it! Go here for drinks, dancing and possible fooding!

You know what– I love this place. It’s great.
I came on to rate it and peeked at some of the other reviews… People seem to dog on them because of the food situation there. Admittedly, I have never eaten there– but who really goes to a bar in Old Town to eat? Ok– so don’t order food.
This place is a super chill vibe. They have good DJ’s here. The ambience is dope. It’s loungy, laid back, and the perfect size as far as I am concerned.
The lighting is great and flattering.
There are some good sized mirrors too which I consider a plus because you gotta check in and make sure you’re still looking fly. Right?!
There’s enough room to have a dance party and plenty of room to kick it.
Some nice looking people hang out here ((ahemmm)) and that’s always a good thing… Especially in Portland, when you might go to the wrong spot and be suddenly surrounded by a bunch of wooly mammoths. You know.
Drinks? I’ll admit I don’t know. Im strictly a Pendelton neat gyal. Sometimes vodka soda. So I just don’t know, but they have 2 + bartenders on deck when ever I have shown up, so I’m assuming that they can handle your Manhattan or whatever your sweet little heart desires.
**wheelchair accessible**

East– the first place I think of when I need a drink on a Wednesday or if I’m down for some good music. I fall in love with the DJ’s remixes here every time without fail. Most of the time they’re playing your favorite hip hop mixes that date anywhere from the early 90’s.
The lounge itself is on the smaller side, and it’s got that dark and mellow vibe. Up until I read these reviews I didn’t even know they had food here, it’s definitely more of a spot to hang and drink with your friends. Not the best place to have meaningful conversations tho, since the music does tend to be on the louder side.
A great spot to hit up for a pre-​funk if you’re planning on hopping over to the other bars or clubs in Chinatown.

Is this place still around? Terrible!
Don’t order food.
Don’t come when it’s busy.
Don’t waste your money.

Fantastic DJs and $ 2 drinks many nights of the week. It turns into dancing some nights, and the bartenders are some of the sweetest ladies ever. Hipster attire is the common denominator, but go in whatever.
Wednesday nights are very fun here!

Organized a birthday party for a friend here a couple of weeks ago. Spoke to the owner who was very accommodating and reserved the cozy little lounge area in the corner. I mostly think the night went very well, because we had a lot of people there, and eventually it felt like as if we had the bar to ourselves (since it is not too big of a place). I’m sure I would have had fun if I went there with a group of friends on another night as well. But I think the fact that we had a lot of people there, and had the corner section to ourselves, made it worthwhile.
First off, I love the ambiance of this place. Great work done on the interior deco, and lighting which makes this lounge have a very unique and stlylish atmosphere. It’s perfect if you’re looking for a very mellow relaxing evening (instead of the loud clubbing atmosphere). Music is decent, and the DJ will gladly play any requests you have as long as they are not out of the ordinary.
Another great thing about this place is the drinks are relatively cheap compared to a lot of other downtown bars/​lounges in the neighboring area, which is a huge plus, especially for a place as elegant looking as this. Didn’t have a chance to try the food, but then again I suspect it would have been usual bar fare.
Hope Portland sprouts up more places like this!

Come here for the drinks, do not come here to eat. Even though they have food menu, they are microwave food. They also charge arms and legs for their so called food. For example, $ 7 for rice curry (rice with curry sauce). $ 6 for microwaved potstickers. $ 10 for rice with chicken skewers topped with peanut sauce.
We had potstickers and taste exactly like frozen ones from Uwajimaya. I can understand if they want to microwave everything, but the price is ridiculous. Those microwave goodies probably just worth $ 3. Now, we know better, if someone suggested to hang out at East we will eat before hand or make a quick stop at delicious Chinese restaurants in China Town.

I hadn’t been to East in a while. It’s about the same I remember. It’s dark, there’s a little alcove with some couches and stuff.
The chairs are the bar are stupid. Sure, they look all swanky and comfortable, but you don’t want drunks bumping into each other with their chairs. Or people getting busted in the chops while trying to get in or out of the area. And there’s nowhere to order drinks without trying to get past these chairs.
Wow, I just talked East out of a star.
Other than that, I generally enjoy East, but it’s a much better atmosphere with friends. I have fuzzy memories of some refugees from the nearby Magic stumbling over and back for some reason a few years ago. For some reason it was pretty slow this past Saturday, I think Flugtag pretty much wiped downtown out for the evening. There was a DJ and I was enjoying what he was spinning, but the place was mostly empty and the vibe was even lower than the attendance would have suggested. Hopefully this is a, unusual occurance (judging from the score, I think so) and I’m willing to head back. Especially if anyone else wants to go.

I’m just on a strange vein right now. After writing up the Shanghai I started thinking of my other favorite bars/​lounges in Portland with a «sensual» flair. East Chinatown Lounge was right up there on that list.
A cool vibe with these great uni-​sex bathrooms. I have a friend (attractive female) that shared this place with me years ago. She also shared with me the fantasy she had of having some fun in the Uni-​sex bathrooms there. Let me be cleared, she shared the fantasy, not the actual «fun» in the bathroom. But ever since then I haven’t been able to stay away from this place. And every time I’m there I have to check out the bathrooms :).
Now the bathrooms aren’t as nice as they were when the place first opened. I think the counters are a little smaller and not as sturdy. Sorry, my mind is wandering.
I am going to plagiarize another website here because I like their description: «Think downtown cocktail lounge, with a touch of ‘80s chic and ski-​lodge style – but in a good way.»
The place has a cool vibe, very good drinks, and a funky little menu with an Asian flair for some snacking while drinking.
The front room area has these interesting egg-​shaped chairs that are more comfortable than they look. The small clouded windows let in a little too much light in the late afternoon if you are there to sneak away for an mid day rendezvous. But as the sun goes down, it darkens nicely.
The main area has a nice bar and several comfortable booth tables with chairs on the outer sides. You can slip into the corner and enjoy your drinks while watching the crowd (or ignoring the other people there).
Happy hour has some good prices. Though I still don’t understand the appeal of PBR. The Pabst trend came through San Fran a few years ago. I know it’s fun because these places can offer $ 1 pints. But in the end, cheap beer is still cheap beer. Spend the extra buck and get a $ 2 pint of good beer during their happy hour.
Another potentially cool thing is that you can bring in your ipod on Tuesdays and plug it in — be the DJ. Great idea. Except that last time I was there someone was playing some hard-​core speed/​scream mettle — the kind my so listens to. I’m ok for a song or two, but not non-​stop.
But I’ll be back. You may see me there, my mind wandering to thoughts of bathroom escapades.