Valentine’s

Located around the corner from Voodoo Donuts, the place was fairly empty on a Friday night. The drinks are cheap ($ 13 bucks for a Tito’s soda + gin & tonic), and they have a fairly extensive beer menu for such a tiny space. It’s dark, and quiet enough to carry on conversation — something I highly value these days.
Dope bar with a chill vibe.

Bona fide PDX establishment offering strong drinks and live talent from the city. $ 5 vodka sodas and red benches outside to drink smoke and chill after work.

Legit pdx haunt w good happy hr

Can’t rate the ambiance properly as we were the only ones there at 5pm on a weekday (seems like a place that may only really get busy late night on weekends) and while I liked the general lay-​out of the place and the dank vibe it gives off, I have to say we were left very disappointed by the drinks.
The «cocktails» just tasted like a cheap and nasty hangover in the making and while you can get some decent wine out of a cask/​box — not here. Don’t even think they were particularly cheap, which you can sometimes give average drinks a pass on. We didn’t finish any of them and quickly moved on to find better elsewhere.

I always appreciate a bar that carries an interesting cider. Thank you for not trying to shove angry orchards down our throats!

I LOVE this place!!! It’s in the heart of the madness yet is totally low key. And… Wait for it… DELICIOUS DRANKS!!!

Of all the douchey places in downtown, this place is an oasis. I really like the atmosphere, drinks and music.

Loved the atmosphere. Very relaxed. Loved the upstairs seating. Drinks were delicious, standard prices.

It’s baffling to me that people in the community still patronize this place with full knowledge of their atrocious business practices. Please stop giving these people your money, they don’t deserve it.

Came here for a show last night, was pleased with the prices of drinks & the atmosphere. Very cute spot and I like the upstairs seating too. I definitely will be checking it out again :)

Pure Surface is a new event held here at Valentine’s. The Aug 10^th event was my first Pure Surface experience, who’s website describes it as «is a new performance series where text, dance, and film are presented together in the spirit of collaboration.» I would describe this event as a moment of simultaneous arts. The evening, which is a bit of misnomer as the event lasted approximately thirty minutes, consisted of works from Allie Hankins (movement), Allison Cobb (reading), and Jodie Cavalier (video). I would have attempted a simultaneous review, but here the works do not sit so mixed in my mind and I will keep them a bit apart. Cobb had the mic and served as MC reading her prose-​ish poems. She explained that we were about to hear works from her new work Plastic: an autobiography. For me this explanation went to long and too far, removing some the poetics from the poetry. The poems were inspired by Cobbs’s experience of one day finding a four foot plastic auto part on her front lawn. Her reading of these works wound a precise language elucidating thoughts and feeling around this bumper, as well as other troublesome plastic delights washed upon the shore. Object Oriented Ontology’s grandpapa Martin Heidegger’s thingness came into play, as Cobb described being troubled by the eternal qualities and pervasiveness of all this plastic in our midst. As soon as Cobb began reading, rather than talking, Allie Hankins began her dances. Costumed within the hot room in an everyday looking outfit of light colored pants and top, Hankins’ initial movements were slow, pedestrian, and bit melancholy. Before the first poem ended, the pedestrian nature of her movements faded and more formal and trained steps emerged, evoking the transformation from raw plastic to auto part. Hankins timed her dances to the poems, pausing when Cobb began her poems with explanatory chatter. Her second dance began with a melodic, manic, and bit robotic set of gestures that gave me a lovely little chuckle. This section evoked humor as Hankins slid facedown, feet first under the chair and table of an audience member. –a brave maneuver at any bar. A highlight for me was when Hankins simply knelt in the doorway facing the audience. I cannot recall the poetry at that moment, but the action read as defiant, or expecting. It felt as if she were watching us, waiting as we sat, not taking our Brechtian chance to do more than spectate. All the while Jodie Cavalier’s two videos methodically played upon two walls above our heads, keeping us entranced. Cavalier executed a lovely site responsive work upon the gray wall by simply projecting still and slow moving clouds. This deft gesture provided Cobb and Hankins an entirely new locational context for their work, and is a lovely example of «the spirit of collaboration» between artists working simultaneously. Cavalier’s second work projected above the head of Cobb on the standard Valentine’s screen depicted what seems like plastic objects shot close up, on the beach or superimposed with a beach, lending them an abstract quality that one wanted to decipher. This work was predominately in shades of blue and at times had a liquid light quality which played chromatically well with the gray walls and the clouds. The movements in this video were very different from the sedated pace of the clouds. At times it seemed as if the camera were traveling down a clear plastic ribbed tube surrounded by a glowing blue light. Though Cavalier’s video had a material connection to the poetry, its pacing and mood felt better paired with Hankins’ dance. Cobb’s prose style of poetry, packed with images and lists and explanations, coupled with her method of reading, lacked a space or a pause leaving no zone for a fading up or down, but just a steady tone, which for the dance in particular was difficult to contend with. As Claude Debussy said, «Music is the space between the notes.»

Lovely little boîte smack dab in the middle of Old Town Portland. Enjoy the airy ambiance of the patio on a warm summer day while making fun of all the families toting the ubiquitous pink boxes even though you know you’re jealous of’em.
Most weekdays there seems to be live music ranging from punk rock to well played bluegrass and all musical points between, weekends they have DJ’s spinning classics of rock, soul and such… no Top 40 malarkey here.
In short, worth checking out just about any day of the week.

Not the most happening place in the world, Valentines seems to attract a wide range of people with different levels of drunkenness. Most seem beyond the tipping point which makes for fun people watching and dancing. Dj was wasted, took over the little dance floor with his moves and played a strange mix of hip hop. This place is wildly random and incredibly dark, which is why I liked it. Who doesn’t want a random night in Portland where you don’t have to wait in line and you can drink, dance, and eventually sit outside and eat a doughnut? Perfect.

Great spot. Probably the best hidden hem around here. Great staff, nice cocktails, good music, great environment.
Wish I still lived down here. Would be here everyday.

Hubby & I were looking for some place to have a nightcap & this place popped up w a good rating. It’s on a cute pedestrian street of pubs & restaurants with picnic tables lined up on the street. It’s tiny, but cozy @ the same time. The bartender was very nice & quite capable!
There’s a cozy loft with a couple of small tables, a «booth» & 4 barstools along the wall. Percy spot for people-​watching!
What a delightful find!

Pro tip: If your date wants to sit upstairs, s/​he wants to make out with you. (That’s where two little table-​alcoves are, hidden from the downstairs view.)
Valentine’s is OK. I WANT to like it – the cute little bar, the romantic lights strung overhead in the alley, the high ceiling — but the details get in the way. The seats downstairs are hard, and at least on the booth side, the table height is too low for leg-​crossing while you’re awkwardly waiting for your online date. Even upstairs, the live music is TOO LOUD to talk over (although I guess that’s good if you’re into sensual ear-​shouting).
With no live music and comfier seating, I’d be here all the time.

Was told to visit Valentines when I was in town by a former Portlander so I obliged. Nice décor, good band playing, cheap PBR. Works for me! Would stop in again next time I’m in the city.

During a road trip, my friend was looking to experience a good hipster bar. Valentines delivered. The food was good, the drinks were good, and the atmosphere was as hipster as we could have wanted. He loved it, I honestly felt a little out of place.
I really enjoyed the experience, and there was a band starting to set up right before we left. The food menu was pretty small, but the sandwich I ended up getting was pretty good.
I would recommend Valentines if you are looking for a good hipster bar, but if you’re a little self conscious you should probably look elsewhere.

Went here to hear live music the other night. Good mix of artist/​band selection — though organization was off and as a result they ran way overtime and we missed hearing Novosti’s full set which bummed me out. There were sound equipment issues and long delays for setup/​teardown.
The place is pretty cool. It’s got a relaxed, urban feel to it. Soft lightning and somewhat minimalistic décor which I liked. It had an intimate atmosphere, which was nice for live music.
Drinks were moderately priced with cocktails, a few micros on tap, and $ 3 Rainier tall boys. I had a Moscow Mule which was tasty and their daily special — a Gin Rickey — which I really didn’t like. It tasted bitter and flat.
The bathroom was unisex, functional, not appealling, and constantly had a line for it.
I would return here, though. I like how they have turned this part of Ankeny into a pedestrian street with tables outside.

For sharing the same name as the day of my birth, Valentine’s really keeps it on the down low. Quite the opposite of how I am every February 14, when I order small planes to do sky-​writing, secure Champagne Rooms around town (just in case), and let everyone in a 1200-​mile radius know that it’s time to celebrate me on the anniversary of a day when actually my mother did all the work.
This completely below-​the-​radar spot may soon experience a revival with the addition of the outside seating that has taken over SW Ankeny, now completely car-​free. Like the neighboring businesses (Central, Dan Louis Oyster Bar, and Voodoo Donuts), they’ve got a smattering of wide picnic tables primed for group meet-​ups under the stars.
Happy hour runs 5 – 9 nightly with $ 3 wells, drafts, and house wines, plus $ 1 off food (made by Peoples’ Sandwich of Portland). Bowl of creamy tomato soup, Tillamook grilled cheese, and a glass of pinot g for $ 8.50 total? Sold.
I remember when this place first opened and that I was scared it was too cool for me. I regret not frequenting Valentine’s in the last couple of years as I was again reminded this evening that it is truly lovely. Wicked rad rotating art, an upstairs intimate cubby (date night, oh hello), and a pretty wide variety of live music round out the pluses of the joint.
It’s tucked away, unassuming, and sneaks up on ya like like that boy in middle school who slipped a Valentine in your locker unexpectedly. Go for the cheap dranks, stay for the hip tunes and more-​than-​comfortable patio.