Click Here for 2014 Post
My family does the Xmas thing on Xmas eve, so I have traditionally spent part of Xmas day at Powell’s (1005 W Burnside). The downtown Powell’s is open 10am to 6pm today. It’s the best place on Xmas to encounter Portland’s non-Xian literati (read: cute Jewish girls – though of course I have a beautiful girlfriend so that’s not why I’m going this year!). This year I’m going to do my holiday shopping, which I was unable to do the past few weeks due to the crap weather. So if you’re expecting a Festivus present from me; sorry, you’ll have to wait a few more days!
After your visit to Powell’s, wander around downtown. You’ll find that most hotel restaurants and bars are open on Xmas day too.
Also downtown, stop in at the Rialto (529 SW 4th). It stays open 365 days a year. Play some pinball or pool, while enjoying your beer. Watch basketball on the ginormous TVs.
In the Clinton neighborhood, according to this post on Craigslist, you can get your latte on at K&F Coffee (2706 SE 26th Ave. – at Clinton St.).
The smokiest bar in town ®, the Basement Pub (1028 SE 12th), is open today too. As is the Cheerful Tortoise (1939 SW 6th) (though the Cheerful Bullpen is closed).
Other neighborhood pubs and taverns that cater to real drinkers have a better than average chance of being open too. Take a walk through your neighborhood business district; you might be pleasantly surprised.
Update: PDX Pipeline knows of several other places that are open today: Chopsticks Express (2651 E Burnside), Grand Central Bowl (SE 8th and Morrison), BOG (4801 SE Hawthorne), Tanker Bar (4825 SE Hawthorne), and the Jolly Roger (1340 SE 12th).
This doesn’t happen every year, in fact it seldom happens, but the Trailblazers are playing on Xmas day this year. They take on the Dallas Mavericks at 7:30 tonight at the Rose Garden. There are plenty of tickets available too. I’m going to tonight’s game; perhaps after a couple pints at the Rialto . . .
Trimetiquette has all the TriMet Xmas day schedule updates.
At the end of the day crank up the baseboard heat, settle into a comfy chair and read a good book while enjoying your glühwein!
Of course this list is far from comprehensive – if you know of particular restaurants, bars, etc. that are open today please comment!
Great post & blog – I wanted to subscribe via RSS but the link was not working – just thot you’d like to know 🙂
I scored a 200 level ticket for tonight’s game too! meet up for pint pre/post? where do blazer fans drink anyway? Certainly not American Cowgirls…
uberbabyboomer – Thanks! I’ll look into the RSS feed . . . seems to work for me but I’ll google around to see if there are known issues with the WordPress feeds . . .
markovitch – I’m thinking Rialto pre-game maybe 5pm-ish, and then fareless-squaring it to the Rose Garden. Come on down!
Have fun. I will be watching the Blazer game at The Ratskeller in Govy.
Thanks so much for this info. It was great to get to Powell’s after being locked in by the snow for so many days!
Radio Room is open for Christmas all day! We open at 9 am for a special brunch menu that is served until 3 pm (equiped with our famed bloody mary bar of course!), then have a special dinner menu from 3 pm to 9 pm, then happy hour from 9 pm to 2 am! You can check out our Christmas Day menu at http://www.radioroompdx.com. Food, drink, art, music, and holiday cheer…for the people!