Hanigan’s Tavern

Two rotating $ 3 pints. Tonight Ninkasi and Deschutes. Punk on all the time. Too bad the old school jukebox is gone.
Still the best after all these years.
I’ve never actually eaten here.

I’ve usually had good experiences at this cool neighborhood dive. Great specials on beer and a cool atmosphere. Great pinball. I visited twice this week and had horrible service! After complaining about being the only one working, the big guy behind the bar told us they weren’t serving food because it was past 1am (it was 12:35). Last time his excuse was that the fryer was broken. For a couple of minutes, he proceeded to clean a bunch of glasses while I stood alone at the bar waiting for a drink. He left plenty of room in the glass after pouring the beer, and complained about the people in our party who didn’t tip. Sorry but some people will not tip when they get bad service! I’ll give the place another chance but seeing that guy again may just keep me away from ever returning.

I’ve lived in the hood for over a year and figured I would finally stop in. It was about 8pm on a Saturday night. It’s a pretty big place, 2 rooms — one that has bar, and a «game room». There were about a half dozen people sitting at the bar and nobody in the other room. The bartender, a large dude, was chatting with someone at the bar and I squinted past him at the taps, trying to select a brew.
There are a lot of beers on tap, well over a dozen. I was standing nearly directly across the bar from the bartender and kept trying to catch his eye. He would briefly make eye contact with me and then continue chatting with the customer. After a couple of minutes of this I was kind of perplexed and finally had to interrupt him to ask «Is this where I order?»
He gave me a side glance and nodded. I said «I can’t read that tap,» (pointing at one) «what is it?»
Bartender: «I dunno.»
Me: (sort of bewildered) «Um… well do you know if it’s dark or light beer?»
Bartender: «I don’t know. I drink Pabst.»
uhhhhh… what?!
I don’t care what the bartender drinks but I’m not sure what better authority I could bother about telling me what beer they sell??? I’m not asking for a flavor profile or brewing history! Just the name of the beer! And if he can’t guess what kind of beer it is, maybe offer me a taster of it?
I dunno. This place is super odd. Based on the huge space that was mostly vacant on a Saturday night, it would be a good place to take over with a bunch of friends. But the beer wasn’t particularly cheap for a dive. They do have a few pinball machines, but the one I tried to play was broken.
There’s some interesting crude local art in there which amused me.
But overall I got the vibe that this is a «locals» bar… well I’m a local so maybe not. I felt unwelcome, and that I bothered the bartender by asking for a beer. I don’t think I will come back, and I don’t think they’d care. I guess if you are going to come here, plan on drinking PBR.

We only came here to have some beers and listen to some music. We got to have some great beers and listen to some great music. And $ 5.75 for two beers? Are you kidding me? I’m so glad I moved to Portland. Our bartender was very sweet and attentive as well, keeping our pints full. Thanks for a great, laid back Friday night.

It sure is a dive, though certainly not my favorite. Comes complete with surly bartender, 50¢ pool, not-​full pints of cheap [occasionally old] beer, but it’s the closest/​only dive in the greater Belmont area, so I remain appreciative of its existence.

The service is horrible, the patrons can be obnoxious (this is the only bar in PDX where someone tried to fight me unprovoked, calling me a derogatory word), & the smell in here is atrocious.
That said, there’s times where that’s exactly what you want in a bar, and this is the only dive I know of in walkable/​bus-​able Portland that’s an actual dive, and not just something opened by a 29 year old who pretends he/​she knows what a dive is. Don’t give me those fake dives — I want the real deal — and The Vern delivers and gives me a warm nostalgia for both the midwest and NYC where bars like this are common. Oh, also, it opens very early and once after breaking up with a girlfriend I came in here at noon and got plastered and it was awesome.

Classic dive bar. Pretty good burgers. Old school punk on the jukebox and 3 – 4 pinball machines. Stiff cheap drinks and cheap beer.

If Dives are your thing, come here for the cheap beer, incognito atmosphere, and pool tables. The owner has spruced it up over the past few years, but not too much so it keeps its Dive feeling. Hate the ridiculous methadone clinic nearby, but the folks who use that are long gone by the time I am there.
If you are a smoker, you can easily go outside to the patio or parking lot and smoke.
They’ve improved it a lot — cool renovations after a fire nearly burned it to the ground. Faith is the best thing about this bar — awesome waitress and manager.
Safe street, safe parking.

I think i found my fav new dive.

Most of what you read here is true. The Vern is kind of a crap shoot.
I still like this spot though. Good for big groups of people to get together and be rowdy as there is lots of space. There’s a couple of pinball machines and a pool table. The jukebox is pretty alright and even though the place seems to be falling apart at the seams, this is what makes it so chill to hang.

Mmm. Still proving its worth, with budget in mind: The Vern. I do love you in unique ways.
Best thing: the jukebox. Sure, some of the discs have changed, but there’s still a bubbling core within. There’s still a decent barrage of punk, metal, rock & local artists in there.
There’s a quaint back patio for smokin, daily beer specials (good beers, low prices) + full bar, cheap food (which I’ve only tried once, years ago: it was o.k.), good service, pinball, pool…
Me thinks today’s 4m rating is brought to you by the real character The Vern drips. The decades old graffiti-​carved table inside the front door is but the first drop. Time hasn’t completely stopped here, but it’s certainly not moving like it is just outside the door.
Thanks Vern — I always enjoy myself here.

So maybe they haven’t cleaned it up since the smoking ban went into affect, and it still kinda reeks of years of smoke. Maybe one of the pool tables has two two balls, one of which is being used as the 8 ball. Maybe their food menu consists solely of deep fried gut bombs. Maybe you could get hit by a falling ceiling tile at any time.
Who cares? I’ll still go occasionally because the Vern usually has at least two of the following:
— Good, cheap beer.
–Places to sit.
— A generally non-​violent clientele.

From the outside, this building looks pretty poorly maintained. When I got inside the building looked like it was about to collapse. High on the list of things I never want to see in a building is visible additional structural support. It’s right up there with uncontained fireplaces and large holes in the wall.
And it looks like it used to be the kind of public building that houses 12 step and support group meetings, like a church’s annex or something. Just freaking odd.
Then the clientele, like there’s a rockabilly Hot Topic Next Door.
The Vern is fail.
$ 1.50 PBR pints are +1 star, tho. The rating reflects this.

da vern, i love you. jalapenio cheese fries with ranch, pinball, cheap beer, and csi on the tv. oh, the jukebox rules.
monday is 2 dollar dead guys, thursday is 2 dollar arrogant bastard and sunday is 1 buck pints o’ pbr. 5 dollar pbr pitchers everyday.
*UPDATE*
Prices and specials have changed since this post, but I still love the place.

this is a small shitty shitty dive bar. i love it and miss it now that i dont live here. i love it cause it has fucking amazing food and cheap beer. not just cheap beer but in my mind great beer– yes that means hamms and pbr. i hate the hip trendy dark ales and brews and any of that shit that i didnt know about and everyone else did. i like my beer cheap and pissy and the vern delivers.
they also used to have my old poker league here, and we would shove in to that tiny back room and create more smoke than ive seen in any other bar.. soemetimes there are scary people here, often they are from womens roller derby. or guys with more tattoos than skin left. but good scary all around, not super scary scary though i have seen some fights here.
the only bad thing is the woman who works there– and likely owns the place, she is mean mean mean. i guess it gives the place character but she is like «throw mama off the train» mama mean. and kinda looks like that woman too.

The Vern is a trip into a world where PBR flows like wine and smoke billows from every orifice. I hear ambulance chasers wait outside of it to help people with their cancer lawsuits.
In all truthfulness, the place isn’t the best. I don’t know what they’re going to do when smoking is banned in Portland. The Vern is a great bar to hit up at the end of the night when you’re looking for cheap beer and possibly a fight. Make sure you are in your punk/​hipster clothes; otherwise, you might get your ass kicked. Check it out if you are into dive bars with character

Great dive bar. Well-​maintained pinball x 5. Good folks. One of the bartenders from Billy Ray’s also works here.
Hey…I have room left to rant!
I am probably going to hipster hell for saying this, but I wish they had a little better beer selection. PBR: not sure it is just bad beer. It is also a sort of social signal, but I am not sure if it is:
— I am trying to break my own heart.
— I am anosmic.
— I am the Indie-​est sheep you’ll ever find, and in my mind, I will assume the working class mantle with my consumption of this beer.
— I understand hard liquor is my best entertainment value, but this particular dive bar does not have this option.
Modern statistical analysis is underway to assess possible combinations of these and other factors.

I’d give the Vern a worse rating, but something inside me won’t let me. The place is junky, even for a dive, I have no idea what Courtney means by «facelifts.» And burned out bulbs? Have you seen the sign? It’s wrecked! If you can’t see how the place got it’s name you must be blind.
In any case: Cheap beer ($ 2 micros), friendly vibe, terrible food. It’s like visiting a Vancouver bar, but filled with Portlanders.

The Vern keeps going strong
OK, how cool is this? This place is actually called Hanigan’s Tavern but several years ago the bulbs on the «T» and the «a» burned out, so regulars started affectionately calling it, «The Vern.» The place and its décor have gotten face lifts over time, but patrons urged the owners to never replace the burnt out bulbs. I think that rocks and show the vibe and the effect of the loyal regulars here. More than a two dozen beers on tap keep your throat from getting dry and cheap pool and a rocking jukebox entertain.
Tip: Very good low-​key spot for pool with a friend, and you go in your sweats.

This dive bar is fondly referred to as the Vern because the T and A fell of the sign years ago, apparently when a truck backed into it. It’s the kind of place that wouldn’t bother to put them back up, and the kind of clientele that like it better that way.
Pool tables are in the side room, but otherwise it’s the bar or the uncomfortable seats at cheap tables. The beer is cheap too, but I don’t recall seeing food there. Ever.
It’s a late night favorite for the young indie set, and an easy stumble from most places in SE.