Thirsty Lion Pub & Grill

This place is a mix of good and poor, but nothing great. Service was slow, ten minutes for the waitress to initially come to the table, 15 more minutes to get our drinks. Five more minutes to get our water. Apps were mediocre, Scotch eggs were good, calamari was over cooked, cold, and poorly flavored, and brussels sprouts were cold and over oiled. Dinner was no more impressive. The enchilada was cold sent it back, the grilled peppers was cold, and the Cuban sandwich had butter pickles that ruined the flavor. Overall, the service was terribly slow. Just not worth the stop.

Service here wasn’t outstanding — It took a very long time for me to get seated and our food came out quite slowly. However, I have been here several times and the food quality is consistently good. Also, although service was not outstanding the waitress was really sweet and I felt like she was putting her best effort forward on a busy night.
It feels like a pretty typical tavern-​style chain. Not too exciting, prices are mediocre. But service was kind and friendly and food was good. I would give 3.5 stars if that were an option. I’m sure I will be back simply because it’s an easy choice with enough options that everyone in a big group ends up satisfied.

Came in yesterday for lunch with friends. Got seated immediately, which was great. Took about 15 minutes before our server finally came over to greet us. He said he was «spread thin,» and offered no sincere apology. He took our drink order and food order since it had been so long (we knew what we wanted after 15ish minutes). We never received our waters like we had asked for — from two different people. Two of the dishes we ordered out of the four were incorrect. Our server blamed the kitchen. This dude just didn’t want to take responsibility for anything. And one drink order wrong, too. No discount, no apology. Just didn’t care.
Every table (which the restaurant/​bar was not full, btw) was waiting and looked annoyed. They were clearly understaffed overall. It was Rose Festival weekend, wonder what they were thinking on that one?
Don’t think it’s worth my time to give them another shot. Too bad, too, because my dish (one of the 2 that was correct) wasn’t all that bad.

We just stop in in for drinks –Bloody Mary after watching the Rose Parade & they were pretty good! lol the staff was really friendly and didn’t mind when we ask them to put the Nationals baseball game on:) so we will definitely be back to check out the food menu

Was super psyched to come back here again– it’s been years since I’ve been here last but the food (burger) was sub-​par and the drinks were weak (manhattan). Must have been an off day but still was slightly disappointed with the overall experience. Hopefully it was just an off day.

Horrible service. Sat at the bar and never got a bartender to even ask if we wanted a refill. It was dead and we couldn’t catch their attention away from washing dishes or the game on TV. We’re easy going and don’t require much but a refill on my beer would be nice. Weird service and weird customers. There are so many better spots in Portland. Don’t waste your time.

We enjoyed a fabulous breakfast here. The food was great, the outside seating was great and our server Ron D was impeccable. I had the sweet potato hash and my husband had a traditional eggs and bacon breakfast. Thanks, we will come back next time we are visiting Portland.

Creeps go to this bar.
I’ve been here plenty of times for work lunches and it’s fine, although the service is slow if you’re not a big party or you’re not sitting at the bar.
However, last weekend I went there for the first time on a Saturday night. The place was pretty busy as there was a basketball game on. I sat at the bar with my friend. Turns out the guys sitting behind us thought it would be fun to take pictures of us. Of our butts, specifically. The other patrons didn’t seem to mind, even helpfully getting out of the way so that they could take their pictures from the tables 10 feet behind us.
Not sure why they wanted to take our pictures since there are so many «sexy servers» as a highlighted review of this place points out.
Anyway, watch out for the cretins.

Have been to the WA Square location, so I know they have good food.
I’m not a beer drinker, however they have a huge selection for any beer connoisseur!
My friend and I had the Blood Orange Cosmo… highly recommend it! We also tried several of the appetizers and they were all awesome! Try the calamari and the Pretzel with cheese fondue.
We also had their Salmon Caesar salad and it didn’t disappoint. The salmon was fresh and flavorful. My son also had the bacon cheeseburger… he devoured it. Everyone was happy and satisfied with their meals and drinks. The staff was helpful and friendly. It’s even within walking distance to voodoo doughnuts! So that is a plus.

I admit it. I had to use the bathroom and since public bathrooms are scarce in Portland it seems the only option seems to be is to go into a restaurant and buy something in order to find a restroom.
Flying Lion was the closest place that we could find. Steve and I split a beer between us so we wouldn’t have to fine another restroom in a couple of minutes. We sat at the bar, had a nice, dark beer while we were, did our other business and were on our way.
Short and sweet and the end!

I was pleasantly surprised with this place! Beer, food, service, and décor were very good across the board.
Despite this city’s reputation as a beer and food destination, in my experience, the majority of Portland pubs – particularly those in NW and SW, which mostly cater to tourists high on Voo Doo – serve beers that taste like dirty taps and flavorless food swimming in grease. I admit, I went to Thirsty Lion to meet coworkers expecting as much. Happy to say, I was wrong!
Instead, I had a great Buoy IPA (or two…) that tasted fresh and clean (zero «tap taste», yay!) and Happy Hour nachos that were piled high with deliciousness, all for a good price. Someone else got the Scotch Eggs, which were amazing – perfectly cooked, crispy on the outside and gooey inside.
Despite the fact that it was Thursday and the place was packed, our waitress (Sarah) was excellent, super friendly and genuine. The layout of the place was nice and open, and the bathrooms were clean and well kept.
I will definitely be back. Thanks for restoring my faith in Portland pubs!

Very impressed with the quality of the food and drink. They do some unique twists on familiar dishes. I’ll definitely be back.

I had a nice date here. It’s in a good location close to occasional street drama. What more could you ask? Also, VooDoo doughnuts is nearby is you wanna drink before getting in the ridiculous line. Personally, I haven’t been in the line, as I go to the SE location. But back to Thirsty Lion! They have good cocktails, knowledgable staff, and a wide variety of menu items. Plus, there’s a lot of beer.
So, it’s a good place to go if you don’t have a particular type of food or drink in mind. Casual yet classy.

Nothing better while exploring a bit of Portland then coming in for a pint or two of a local pale ale and an order of their scotch eggs! Stop by every time I’m in town and always enjoy the experience…

The Thirsty Lion was the sanctuary we needed after a late night concert. While starving, Unilocaling, and prowling the streets, we decided to try out the Thirsty Lion, after walking passing it earlier in the daylight hours.
For a Saturday night, it was not busy at all. AT all. So we had great service.
I was deciding between the Quinoa/​Black Bean Burger or the Grilled Veggie Panini — the waitress greatly promoted the Burger between the two, so I decided on that one. PLUS an added bonus: they make their veggie burgers in house, which is always great for me! I have a hard time justifying paying a high price for a simple Morning Star Patty. My friend decided to go with the Pulled Pork Sliders.
We received our orders pretty soon after we placed them. I was very pleased by this because my stomach was a very Hungry Lion. Our meals satisfied us greatly. The burger had 2 delicious spreads on it [Garlic Pesto Aioli, & Sun Dried Tomato Tapenade], and was pretty big, so I had to work at for some time. I was a big fan of their house made burger, and my friend also thoroughly enjoyed his sliders.
We left very satisfied and with fun items: my friend is a Leo and a very big drinker — so the name of this pub is the epitome of who he is. He picked up a shirt on the way out. I have a collection of beer glasses, so I grabbed one to commemorate our visit here, and to Portland in general.

Had a few drinks here yesterday. Our server was Megan and she did a great job. I can’t comment on food, because we didn’t have any, but as far as the space, the beer on tap, the bar, the servers, and the over all feel of the place is very cool. I feel like the pricing was good as well.

Came in here tonight because I’m visiting from outta state and I was lost and decided to come in. Justin the bartender was extremely helpful and knew the menu very well. I’m the worst when It comes to deciding about food or beer but I gave him 100% control and he ordered for me. Got the scotch eggs, (surprisingly good, but an aquired taste) Brussel sprouts that were phenomenal! And the Atlas cider which was to die for and the boneyard PRM IPA which was perfectly picked out for my taste. Hoppy and strong but still light in flavor. But still the cider was to die for! Unreal! It was tart with 6.4% in alcohol, slightly sweet, dark and soooo flavorful! UH AMAZING. Thanks justin for making my decisions!

Able to check in and write this while sitting at the bar on a Thursday afternoon around 3 pm without even a greeting.
Talk about bad service. Peace out
ETA: This was on an afternoon with the OBF going strong just a few blocks away. I walked in the front door, stood for a moment, and sat at the bar for several minutes without even a glance from the bartender or other staff. After looking over the beer menu, I pulled my phone out, waited for Unilocal to load, and wrote the above lines, exiting Unilocal and walking out without ANYONE greeting me or, you know, pretending they were there for service. Abysmal.
Given the huge amount of options for beer and food in Portland, it is vital that customers feel like they’re important. If your waitstaff is so caught up in afternoon sidework that customers can come and go without even a greeting, you’re going to lose business.
I might try this place again — sometime after I try the other 1,000+ beer joints in Portland.

I have very mixed feeling about my one and only visit. Our waitress was fantastic and attentive to our beverages. I enjoyed the atmosphere, to me it wasn’t too loud, I enjoyed the lighting and dark décor. We shared the nachos and they were pretty damn good!
But…
Everything seemed over priced. Our food took forever. There was a couple seated next to us twenty minutes later than us, they ordered the same thing and somehow our meal still came second?
There’s something weird about the bathroom situation too. There was constantly a line. It’s something that probably can’t be helped but I thought it to be seriously odd considering then size of the establishment.
Overall food and service is pretty good. The execution and prices are so off that we probably won’t return.

This is one of those places where I wish I could give a half a start. Do you think that the lease. But not for the start. Really, and willing to help you. But it’s kind of odd that most of the servers are women, and we saw one mail server and they were all dressed pretty skimpy. I’m not sure if they required to wear really tight shorts black skirts that almost show their butts but that’s what we saw.
The atmosphere is very cool kind of like a very large soccer pub, they had TVs showing sports all over the place, which is very cool it I think a lot of the people there came for the sports. The menu is very large and you could definitely find something that you pointed. That is I highly recommend her mac & cheese, it was amazing.
As for their alcohol selection, very big selection with so many different choices. They mixed drinks wasn’t that amazing, but the flight of beers that you could pick any beer you wanted to try one that was definitely their best deal.