Hobo’s

Really impressed since we thought this was just a bar. We walked around and decided we would come back for dinner. We did and were not disappointed. Waiter was fun and attentive. Hummus appetizer was good and I am a hummus snob. Sea scallops were also done well. Ambiance is quite nice. Not too crowded. Would definitely visit again.

My friends raved about this place and honestly I don’t see why. When we were trying to dance we were accused of being too drunk and we were told that we would be kicked out if security saw us with a drink. At this point I hadn’t even gotten a drink yet. I understand that they are taking preventative measures but it’s pretty ridiculous to be cut off. This was my first time, so I’m pretty peeved.
It’s pretty nice for them to grab us water but it’s pretty irritating and it ruined my night. I didn’t have a great first impression.
Decided to come back and it wasn’t half bad. The music was great! It made me weary whenever I saw security. There’s a fun crowd and the bartenders are pretty nice.

LOVE IT! Best Prime Rib in Portland!!! Very friendly staff too…

So disappointing. #1 Being there tonight makes me so glad to be gay. How many loud, drunk and Vaseline slathered faces of loose woman can someone handle in a night? See my tits? Aren’t they big and see them spill out of my two sizes too small blouse? No, thank you.
It also makes me sad about that Hobo’s has long since sold out and doesn’t really care for the gay customers who supported them for so long.
#2 A room temperature salad of wilted lettuce. And dried out, tepid food. Such a disappointment.
Can’t say I didn’t try.

The bar itself was really nice and I liked the vibe of the place. But one of the bar tenders would not take 2 of my friends ID which we have never had problems before. She said one friends was too bent and it was barely noticeable! And the other friend I honestly don’t know why she didn’t take hers… But then he bar tender followed our group around while we were waiting to take the tour and made us feel uncomfortable… Service and quality products are everything to me and I did not appreciate having hawk eye watch us!

Hobos was a, ways a wonderful romantic gay bar to go to ever since the early 80’s.Perhaps it’s because of the neighborhood but it’s dead during the week and a disgusting hetero nightclub on the weekends. Obnoxious 20 somethings and hoochie mama’s.Unfriendly bartenders and rude doormen who act like Nazis. Its too bad that the gay community who has support this bar for decades no longer feel welcome. I cherish the memories that I have had for decades but will never set foot in this establishment again.

The starting place for the Portland Oregon shanghai underground tour. Had a maitai was OK with pineapple flavor. $ 8. The atmosphere in the restaurant/​lounge was nice and cozy and dimly lit, older architecture, but clean and friendly service. A little bit of a classy feel to it.
I’ll be back to try the food menu looks good.

Just isn’t what it used to be, if it wasn’t for Dave I wouldn’t even step foot in this place. The OLCC would shut this place down if they walked in.

Friday Nights were pretty live a lot of women but I didn’t know it was a gay bar until someone told me. Good Job!

ASSAULTED. ZERO STARS. WORST PLACE IN PORTLAND. Two friends and I walked to the door, showed our ID, and were about to walk in. A security guard comes out and violently yells, no one can come in. A drunk group comes out, yelling at everyone outside, and next thing I know, I was thrown to the ground by a security guard when this drunk group was exiting the venue. I have a scratch on my elbow to prove it. I will never go to Hobos. The nextdoor Portland police had nothing to say or help me with. I can say, I’ve had a few drinks, yet i was being a normal, club goer, but the security staff of Hobos were terrible. Security, I would suggest escorting the drunken group out of the area to get rid of any kind of heated arguments that might disrupt incoming guests and also from females getting thrown to the ground with scraped elbows. Idk, maybe that would work Hobo? #AssaultAtHobos

WOW!!! I expected a whole lot more from this place. The service was mediocre at best. We had a party of 6 with a bar tab of $ 250.00. We even had to return a $ 28 Filet Mignon that was returned because it was ordered medium rare but was delivered looking like beef jerkey. It was accompanied by 3 little pieces of asparagus, and an actual ice scream scoop of cafateria type potatoes. SERIOUSLY? I know everybody has their own experiences but this was one of the worst experiences I’ve ever had, especially with a restaurant which is supposed to be a high end restaurant. We will never return.

The underground tour is interesting.
The food is great
The environment is quite crazy
It is value for money

(Not letting this slide into the filtered reviews. I’m tired of that nonsense. This review was originally written in early 2014.) Food is good and so are drinks are, too, but drink specials are very sparse. Bar staff are very friendly and cool.
That being said, I just want to catch Rupaul’s Drag Race here on Monday nights but the owners of the bar insist on having their pool tournament that night, and won’t let anyone turn the TVs up even though they’re in the other room. I’d rather watch it here at Hobo’s because the staff are friendly. Fox & Hounds is anti-​drag (read: Clientele and staff are mostly older gay crowd who came out later in life and don’t like most aspects of the gay community, internalized homophobia, etc) and claim the volume on all six of their TVs is broken in order to avoid changing the channel to Logo so people can watch it. Hobo’s bar staff have always been open to the idea of having the show on the TV and even became fans of the show, but the owners won’t let them.
This used to be a gay bar. It was bought out a few years ago and unofficially turned into a straight bar. A lot of gay people stopped going to Hobo’s after this change. This is very sad. One of the bar review users on Foursquare summed it up simply: «Hobo’s went back into the closet so they could lure tourists into their dank holes.» :(
(Also, if you watch any of the Real Housewives shows, you don’t get to knock Drag Race.)

The service at the bar was exceptional; the cocktails were well-​prepared; the crowd was friendly and engaging, no cliques that I could see… excellent patio in the back.

PRETENTIOUS… that is what I have to say about the bartender that was rude and made my friends and I feel very unwelcome. We walked into a bar/​restaurant as there were 2 other people sitting at the bar and I walked in with 5 of my friends because of the exposure this place has had along with Ghost Adventures and the nostalgia that it brings. Sadly, I was VERY disappointed because the bartender acted like we walked into the wrong place from the start.
I bartend and I manage a restaurant in San Francisco, I would NEVER treat a guest how this person treated us… I couldn’t even order a drink here because I was so taken aback by his demeanor and lack of class… unbelievable…
When we walked out after paying for the tab, he yells out «don’t get arrested!»…really? Why would you even say that? We were courteous, polite and brought business to this Wednesday evening. This might explain why it was so desolate inside. This person should NOT be in customer service. I told him that he should treat his guests with more respect and he had nothing to say about that… how could he?
DO NOT GO HERE… STAY FAR AWAY… This place has ZERO customer service and this is a shame… because the history is what brings people here, it’s the POOR customer service that drives us away. If you read the other posts, it’s obvious I am not alone here…
–Sadly disappointed

Had to send the vegetarian burger back as it was hard as a rock. Waiter was very nice and sent for a replacement which was cooked better but the kitchen used old lettuce and the very outer layer of an onion as garnish. Possibly the worst veggie burger I ever had. Avoid!

My experience at Hobo’s this Sunday during Pride was one of the worst dining and service experiences I have ever had. I was with 6 other people and we arrived at noon. The server, Dave, handed us the brunch special menus and told us that technically brunch was over but he had checked with the kitchen and they would still serve us some of the items on the brunch menu. Then he offered us the lunch menu, which we said was fine and that we were fine ordering off either menu. So he snatched back all the brunch menus and then handed out the lunch menu.
I also need to point out that the place was nearly empty — I didn’t see a single table of other people, although I think there might have been some people seated outside in the back. Dave the waiter seemed very annoyed with us just existing and constantly wandered off to do unknown other things. We ordered drinks, which arrived but not very promptly despite the lack of other customers. Once we ordered, he took down names and was polite about giving us separate checks as needed. Then we had to wait over an hour for our food. According to our server the kitchen also wasn’t really ready to start serving lunch. At this point other people started coming in, I suspect the pride parade was over at this point, so people we ready to sit down to drink and eat. Somehow everyone that came in after us seemed to be served faster than we were. Despite being there for two hours we were only able to get 3 drinks because Dave never came back over to check on us and it was nearly impossible to get his attention.
We ordered two appetizers, which arrived about half an hour after we ordered them. I only ate the steak bites but I will say those were delicious. Then over an hour after we had ordered food, our actually meals began to arrive. These came out in completely random order and were so spaced out that some people finished eating before other people’s dish had arrived. Two people’s meals never came out, despite the length of time we were there. Three times food that we didn’t order was brought and left on the table and I actually saw Dave take two of the plates back into the kitchen then turned around and walk back into the dining area to deliver the food to a different table. The person that got the third mis-​delivered meal actually tried to keep the wrong order because he was so hungry he didn’t really care what he ate at that point. He then had to wait even longer before receiving the most pathetic excuse for a french dip sandwich I have ever seen. The meat was totally dried out and the «hoagie» roll it was on looked like a hot dog bun to me. He ate a few bites before determining it was too gross to eat. He had also ordered a salad but was served fries instead.
Dave had us come to a register in the back where he finally actually split our bills so we could pay. Despite the bad service — we actually started talking at the table about how bad the service was, I still tipped him 18% out of habit, $ 5 on a $ 27 total. After I walked back to the table to gather with everyone to leave, a member of my party paying after me got treated to Dave complaining to her about how little I had tipped him despite him giving us «great» service. Regardless of how he felt that was just not acceptable behavior.

Not a ‘destination restaurant’… but a good dining destination nevertheless. Hobo’s is a good location to pair with your visit to Portland’s Shanghai Tunnels if you’d like a convenient place to stop for a cocktail or bite. There are several dining rooms to fit whatever mood your in for your dining experience. It’s a casual bar with plenty of seating, friendly service, and a good menu.
During a recent visit, I had the opportunity to try their Cioppino, a seasoned seafood stew with shrimp, scallops, clams and halibut in a tomato leek broth. The star of this dish is the sauce, which adds zest to all of its mild seafood ingredients. The dish comes with toasted bread to ‘sop up’ the remaining broth. I had to ask for more bread so that none of it would be wasted. At $ 23, it’s one of the priciest items on the menu, but I loved it.
If you’re looking for food on the casual/​bar side, the fried oysters and nacho plate were great and less than $ 10 each.

Came for the Portland underground tour (aka Shanghai Tunnels) and stayed at the bar following the tour. Chad the bartender is amazing and so accommodating! Had a quick nosh which was tasty as well. He is a mixologist extraordinaire. All the waiters are cute as buttons.

We went here on a Friday night and had reservations and were quickly seated toward the back of the restaurant. This is a nice area and near the fireplace. It actually looks like they may have seating outside when the weather is warmer.
The atmosphere in the restaurant is nice. And on this visit very low key for a 7pm dinner.
We decided to order drinks which were brought promptly complete with the little napkins that go under them (thank goodness – you’ll see why).
They our party of six decided that we would order appetizers. We ordered them and my friends said do you want any appetizers. I said no, I’ll wait until they bring the utensils and napkins. Well, finally, I said go ahead and pass them. I pulled my napkin out from under my drink and used it as a make shift plate and grabbed a paper napkin from under the appetizers (they used it so the bowl wouldn’t slide on the plate on it’s way out of the kitchen but it was the only napkin I was getting.
The food was good but nothing to rush out to try. I liked the artichoke dip and chips but nothing you can’t get at a Stanfords.
Then the entrée’s started coming out. I didn’t say anything about the lack of napkins/​utensils as I was out with some new friends and I didn’t want to be «that person» who is complaining all the time.
So, the first two entrees came out and it was set in front of the individuals who began eating by using asparagus spears and one guy started eating his mashed potatoes with the knife that was stuck in his steak.
It was getting too much for me when my salad came with no utensils or napkin I said any chance we could get some set ups for this table it’s a little hard to eat without them. The waiter seemed nonplussed and took his time getting back with more entrees and napkins/​utensils.
Overall, this isn’t a bad place but the service was not good. At one point, the waiter tried to add water to my friend’s cocktail as the glasses were similar.
I probably won’t be back.