Scotch Lodge

"This subterranean cocktail bar is home to an A-Team of bartenders, who bend, twist, and expand what we expect of whisky. Pulling from a truly jaw-dropping list of spirits, bartenders milk-wash vodka with coconut milk before combining it with orange liqueur, cranberry, and pomegranate, or take smoky scotch and pair it with mezcal and lapsang souchong sweet vermouth in the Loch Stock. The food menu is full of stunners, as well, be it a pumpernickel-rolled fried brie with verjus syrup or a bowl of pasta with seaweed butter and candied duck. Scotch Lodge takes a few walk-ins, but it’s best to get a reservation." - Rebecca Roland

"An acclaimed bar recognized for its exceptional beverage offerings and service." - Erin DeJesus

"There’s something about taking a date down a flight of stairs into a subterranean spot that feels particularly clandestine in a romantic way. The below-ground Scotch Lodge is such a spot, a hidden-away library of whiskies from around the world, though the drams are hardly the main draw here. Lauded bartenders mix drinks with everything from genmaicha to coffee vermouth, pulling bottles of Ardbeg and Teeling 17-year, cognac-finish single-malt as additions. The food is equally matched with the beverages — think granita-topped oysters, scallop crudo with rambutan, and pappardelle slick with seaweed butter." - Katrina Yentch, Thom Hilton, Brooke Jackson-Glidden

"The elegant Scotch Lodge ups the ante on its rarified atmosphere with a selection of eye-popping whiskeys (in both rarity and price), as well as some more affordable drams and terrific cocktails for those whose obsessions don’t include peat-sourcing. Decorated like the home bar hideout of an exiled Romanov, the inner eastside’s Scotch Lodge offers an inviting menu of original cocktails — with plenty of gin, mezcal, and rum drinks alongside the dominant whiskeys — as well as a food menu creative and well-executed enough to regularly land it on best of Portland lists. It’s a sensory escape from the world above in almost every aspect. Wheelchair access is through the south entrance of the building." - Nathan Williams

"This subterranean cocktail bar is a dimly lit respite from the city above, with an exceptional international whisky list, award-winning bartenders, and a stronger culinary program than it really needs to have. At cozy, candle-lit tables or at the marble bar, visitors sip Penicillins and Scotch-spiked daiquiris while awaiting soft-shell crab sandwiches and granita-topped oysters. Meals here should start with an order of fried brie sticks, rolled in pumpernickel crumbs; from there, it’s crucial to opt for the pasta on offer, whether it’s a pappardelle with seaweed butter and candied duck or a rigatoni with ‘nduja and kombu pomodoro." - Carrie Uffindell, Eater Staff