Driftwood Room

Just go. Have the manhattan flight. Then order your favorite as a full size drink. You’ll thank me.

One of my favorite happy hour haunts. I love the feeling and setting of the place. It has a 70s feel and very intimate. Although a bit small they offer great drink options if you love champagne drinks. My favorite is the Elizabeth Taylor my go to. Happy hour options are great since all the food is from Gracie’s next door you expect high quality tasty bites from one of my favorite restaurants at a fraction of the cost.
Overall I would come here again.

Definitely a great selection of drinks. Lots of options. I liked that a lot.
I got a few champagne cocktails. The Portland 85 was my fav. It had pear brandy in it and its was yummy. I also tried the Elizabeth Taylor and this was good but a little too cough syrupy for me. I stuck with the 85.
Service was a little slow at first but they were on it after our initial order. We order fries and the mac and cheese too and both were great.
There was a wedding or something going on next door and it was a bit distracting. Also the bar in general is loud so that was even louder.
Parking was very easy. We went on a Saturday night and I got out-​front parking. I appreciate that since we are downtown. The bar is just to the left of the stairs in the lobby incase you are meeting someone and don’t know where to go. Restrooms are to the right of the reception desk.

A hidden gem in this city. The décor is timeless. Happy Hour is diverse and well-​priced. A great place for a quick bite, date, or business meeting. One of my top 5 HH spots in Portland.

Food was alright. I saw that this place had 4 ½ stars which meant that all around the place should be fantastic, right? It has a small intimate setting, not really made for a lot of people. I got the Oregon cheeseburger. The burger was OK… I think people reviewed the place for the drinks, not the food…

Excellent! This place is amazing. We stayed at the deluxe hotel. Every bar tender was in N credibly accommodating. Service was top notch. Even sent me home with a written recipe for their Old Tom cocktail. Employees went above and beyond to make us feel comfortable and taken care of. 3x at this bar in a 4 day period. Great music, dim lighting, amazing service. Earned every star on this review!

Dark, cozy, sexy cocktail bar with a stellar reputation and drink list. Feels super 70’s and old school in there. I’ve enjoyed all of their classic cocktails and love the wide selection of whiskeys. If you have an out of town friend coming in, this is a good place to take them.

I guess it just takes a dark lit room and a hotel bar to win the «swanky» label from Portlanders. I agree there is something sexy about a hotel bar, but this one isn’t what I’d call fancy or swanky. Turn the lights up and it would look like a 70s ski den — wooden walls, some brick (not the of the artfully worn/​crumbling hipster variety, this is dated and smooth), a full mirrored wall, and a weird upholstered and wavy shaped padded edge around the bar (with some tears).
That said, it’s very small and set up for intimate conversation (almost all two seater tables, small space, so in that sense if you were on a date, you’d want it to be with someone you know you like (or else risk one or both of you feeling uncomfortable) — it’s not a place for people watching.
The food gets a solid 4 or 4.5. Very good, would eat again, especially at happy hour price. I had the burger and fingerling potatoes.
My cocktail gets a 1. It was among the most disappointing $ 12 cocktails I’ve ever had. It was boozy and large, so if I wanted to get drunk I guess I would have been ok with it, but in this atmosphere and at the price, I expected a higher end drink with a more refined presentation. It came in a big tumbler with regular old ice cubes and just didn’t taste good.
Bummer.
If my friends wanted to come here, I’d do it, but I’d get a beer and focus on the food. I wouldn’t choose to return independently, nor would I recommend.

Great late night happy hour! Fancy little hotel bar. Classic style for sure. Manhattans baby!!! The bartenders were very attentive. The menu extensive. A place to check out!

Great bar. Top notch service and amazing food. The ambience is what really brings the experience full circle.
Cocktails are unique and work well with the classic lounge feel.
The menu is bar style fare but very good quality. Kudos to the kitchen!
My only complaint was that one of the bartenders made a rude comment about the cocktail server. You need to respect your co workers. Still a fantastic experience.

This place has the winning combination. First, a spectacular happy hour menu. I have been just about everywhere on this side of the river and I put their happy hour up to anyones. Second, the selection of boubons, whiskey and rye are top notch. They have about 10 types of Manhattan that will satisfy even the most picky of palettes.
The ambiance is amazing with the dimly lit hole in the wall but high class. Makes me think speak easy from the roaring 20s.
Bar tender was super friendly and can craft a mean cocktail. In my opinion, if you are looking for high end casual, chill, yet classy, this is the spot. One of my favorites in all of Portland. All attached to a high end hotel, so, if you have too much fun at the driftwood room, you can stay the night.

This place is wicked dark, but super swanky so it works. Narrow bar, with small tables (maybe like, 12?) only fitting 2 or 4 people, but we made it work for our group of 7. They will also happily serve you right outside in the lobby, which is nice! The bartenders and servers are all SUPER sweet and attentive, and were super patient with our group as we were trying to figure out our game plan.
They’re happy hour prices are pretty great, and I’ll definitely be back to try out some of their food! They don’t have a TON of food to offer, though, so if you’re looking for a super extensive menu, this isn’t your place.

Nice bar in the Deluxe, I was there for happy hour and the food and drink prices and selection were good. I was early (before 4) and had the place to myself. The bartender was nice and chatty, the food was good, It was however DARK coming in from outside it took a minute until I could see in there.
The Croque-​Monsieur was really good, I look forward to going back and trying more!

I would give the Driftwood Room 5 stars but the bar is so dark you can’t see ou hands in front of your face. I’m all for mood lighting but they take the romantic ambiance thing a bit too far.
In fact, the general consensus is that this would be the ideal place for people having affairs to tryst, because your eyes have to adjust to the darkness, like you would in a movie theater. Even then, you need a phone flashlight to read the menu.
HOWEVER — the bar food is fantastic! I thought a place on Hawthorne had the best spicy green beans on the planet, but the Driftwood Room takes it one step further and adds ginger flavor to their sweet chili green beans and adds pickled garlic on top — like a dollop of sour cream on a nacho. That is the icing on the cake for me because I LOVE pickled ginger!
Between the 3 of us, we also ordered the mac and cheese, forest mushrooms, bay shrimp & crab cakes and the BBQ pork ribs and beans. The only thing I wasn’t loving on was the mushrooms, but only because I don’t like mushrooms in the first place. My friends ate those up though, swearing that they were scrumptious.
I also think the bartenders were great and very helpful in helping us choose the best menu items to order.
Lastly, the location of this bar is in a hotel that is not right in the thick of things (downtown or the Pearl) which makes parking 10 times easier.

This place is wonderfully swanky. We went for the happy hour, cause we’re cheap, and I was very impressed with everything.
Very reasonable portions for a place like this (don’t you hate spending eight bucks on two bites of food? Not like that here). The mushrooms especially stood out as a totally killer appetizer, and the flatbread was very tasty as well.
While the food is fantastic, where this place really shines is in its cocktails. I had the Driftwood Sazerac, and it was wonderfully well-​balanced. Next I tried the Café Mallory, which was one of the best cocktails I’ve ever had, hands down. SOOOO GOOD. They also have an entire menu of various Manhattans, which you can get a flight of. Which is awesome, duh.
The ambiance is on the more romantic side (low lighting, Mad Men sort of feel), but I didn’t feel weird at all meeting a couple of friends here. There is only one four-​top, so I’d keep your party to three or less if you want to sit together. Staff is very friendly and attentive. Beautiful bar, as well.
Treat yo’self, and GO HERE.

One of my favorite drinks in Portland is made here. The Local Honey. It’s made with aria gin, fragoule thyme liquor, bee local honey, and fresh lemon juice.
The honey is from Bee Local. Apparently they have a hive upstairs on the rooftop of the hotel and they can just harvest it there. Talk about farm to table!

Came here with my friend after a long day of drinking. This has the best crab grilled cheese and no doubt the best manhattans in town. Good Food… Good Drinks… Good Atmosphere. Definitely a very loungy for those that would like a chill night and have drink and talks with your friend or sig-​other.

Take a moment to prepare yourself before stepping inside a scene from Mad Men.
This dimly lit, intimate hotel bar serves fancy champagne cocktails at great happy hour prices. I went with an old colleague on a Wednesday around 3pm and we were one of two parties in the bar. By the time we left around 5ish the place had filled but was not jam packed by any means.
I ordered the Elizabeth Taylor (x2) which I highly recommend!

I was hungrily walking around my neighborhood, trying to find a decent happy hour around a time that seemed difficult, yet still kinnnnnda possible. 2 PM. I figured I would just order a drink somewhere and wait the extra time until I could order from a happy hour menu, though I soon remembered that I recently read great things about the posh, yet unimposing hotel bar known as the Driftwood Room.
As soon as I walked in, I felt a lustful sense of inspiration. You have to walk though the hotel entrance first— I felt like Cinderella walking up the stairs, as both of the doormen graciously greeted my provincial existence. Now many places could royally fuck up an establishment with an old Hollywood theme, but hotel deluxe/​Driftwood Room thoughtfully maintains its elegant, mid century charm while still adhering to a sexy, modern aesthetic for today’s world-​weary crowd.
I was the only patron in the bar, which felt awkward at first, but I opted for one of the tables in the back. I ordered the oregon burger (which happened to be one of the best burgers I’ve tried in PDX) and the rose colored glasses cocktail, which was also well crafted. The house chef was working at the time, so that could very well be the reason why the food was so unbelievable. Chaz, the bartender warmed up to a conversation and was very informative throughout my lunch. I mentioned that I usually drink whiskey and he offered me a complimentary cocktail — He was testing it out for a friend’s book and wanted my honest opinion, which was great.
Lately my dining experiences have been nothing but mediocre, but I am so happy that I got the chance to explore the Driftwood Room’s fun and unique environment. I felt okay in my casual attire since I went in the middle of the afternoon, but I have a feeling that everything gets a bit more swanky when the clock strikes five.

The Driftwood Room reminds of a place I loved back in Seattle (The Tin Table): an intimate space tucked away in a larger building full of decade-​referential décor, offering a straightforward menu of simple small plates with a just-​right drink list and a killer happy hour.
This is not at all what I expected… but I mean that in a good way.
From all the reviews, I thought I’d be walking into a bar oozing with swank and style, whispers of Mad Men from fifty-​plus years ago. That’s not quite the scene; this bar is a tiny kidney bean of a space, and though it’s dimly lit and you sink luxuriously into the chairs it isn’t quite what I’d call sexy. At least not at happy hour, which is packed for good reason given the $ 7 champagne cocktails, the $ 4 spicy (and garlic-​strewn) broccolini, or the $ 6-​yet-​decadent mac and cheese. Many other options abound, from sizzling forest mushrooms to fries many ways to roasted cauliflower. Nothing palate-​stunning, but then again it’s all very tasty and, for that kind of money, the perfect way to be out without a high tab.
The contrast between the bright lobby of the DeLuxe and the dark mirror-​walled interior of the Driftwood Room is a bit stark, but once you’re in the bar I bet the right time is nighttime once the happy hour crowd’s cleared out. I see it as a lovely end-​of-​the-​evening stop, especially a two-​top at the far end where the shadows are broken a bit by the light from tiny lamps or reflected from the mirrors. My kind of nightcap…