Bar Vivant

The last Royal.
7:30 pm on a Tuesday night, we walked in after dinner wanting dessert. We had been eyeing The Royal in the dessert case and there was only ONE left. I lined up for the cashier and she said if we wanted it here, we would grab a seat and someone would be right with us.
We sat down. 10 minutes passed, no one came. I got worried so I went back to the dessert case, about to order it to go so I could have it, and as I was re-​lining up, the waiter showed up so I returned to my table, placed the order. 10 minutes after that, we placed our drink order.
10 minutes after that, our drinks were served. THEN, 10 more minutes later, one of the desserts we ordered, the capacabana, was finally brought to us, with a mere apology that they were out of the Royal. EXACTLY WHAT I WAS AFRAID OF!!! Had he grabbed the dessert when it was ordered (ain’t like he needed to do anything more than putting it on a plate!!), this review would have been a four-​star.
You know, when someone needs their chocolate, they NEED THEIR FREAKIN’ CHOCOLATE!!! Now I have nothing to pair my freakin’ port with, and when I glared at him telling him exactly what should have happened, he said «there is a flaw in the ordering system, this is not my fault, I’m just doing my job.» NO. YOU were not doing your job. While I understand things get busy and can get out of hand, your job was to place the order when it was ordered, and when you couldn’t deliver it (had you done your job properly!!!) offer a real apology and WORK ON PERFECTING THE ORDERING SYSTEM instead of pointing your finger on something else.
OBVIOUSLY when someone needs chocolate and is not getting it when someone else is not doing their job, the first someone gets really grumpy. UGH!
To be fair, the capacabana was good, but if you don’t want to endure this painfully slow service, run and never look back.

I love tapas and was excited to try Bar Vivant. The service here is painfully slow and the tapas were simply underwhelming. The pinchos looked a little old and the variety was lacking. They have an extensive wine list and random but interesting ambiance. The place was not busy and the bartender was friendly but the service speedy was maddening. There was another employee just putting menus together while we sat at the bar waiting for someone to approach us for almost 20 mins. Not sure what that was about but I won’t be going back to give it another chance.

Some friends and I descended on Bar Vivant last night in a celebration of my entering club 30. These plans were unbeknownst to me (semi-surprise)…and apparently Bar Vivant as well. Those poor, wonderful souls.
They handled the onslaught of 25 people with poise and competency. In addition to delicious drinks and clearly astounding desserts, they handled the chaos of the group so amazingly well that we didn’t feel like a burden at all.
Our server was a rockstar and the bartender kept up with the drink orders like he was bailing water out of a sinking ship — seriously a pro.
Also, the drinks were dirt cheap. THANK YOU Bar Vivant for helping cap off a memorable landmark birthday celebration!

Likes:
Basil Ice Cream — Unusual and Delicious!
White Chocolate with Berries concoction. My husband inhaled his.
The décor and ambiance is nice.
Staff helpful.
Would come back for sure!

I found my favorite cocktail at this place! A seriously great bar, with awesome selection (I mean a 42 page drinks menu, full of wine, champagne, etc., has got to get some of you excited).
The oysters were actually really good and I enjoyed watching the guy open them right in front of us. The other tapas are pretty good, and the fresh cut serrano ham is a pretty awesome addition.
I have to agree with some of the other reviews that the sitting is not the best and I think it is more of a place you go to grab a few drinks and maybe one or two tapas and then go to your next destination. Sort of a «pre-​party» place for a lack of a better word.

As a Spanish expat I was excited to try Bar Vivant. Finally a place with simple, traditional tapas, and none of the fancy, fusion, frou frou «tapas» other restaurants in town offer.
However, some of the food looked like it’d been sitting out too long even though it was early in the day, and it tasted OK, but a bit bland. The Ajo Blanco soup (a shot glass of it) seemed to lack one of the main ingredients, ajo (garlic), the tortilla was nothing to write home about and came smothered in tomato sauce and was served cold, while a pulpo salad was served warm. The boquerones tasted really good, but, and this is my main complaint about Bar Vivant, the portion was ridiculously small. 3 of the tiniest anchovies I’ve ever seen spread out on a plate. Also, and if you’ve ever been to Spain, you know that it is mandatory, no, I’d say it’s almost a law, to make bread available with any tapas…
$ 30 later, we were thinking of ordering patatas bravas and some croquetas since we were still pretty hungry when the servers disappeared for a good 5 mins… so we decided to just leave…
I wanted to love it, I miss going out for some good ol’ tapas, but I’ll just wait till my next visit to Spain.

What a surprising gem! I read about this place in one of the local rags and realized I had missed it because the business I knew about at the same location (Prix) specializes in pastries and desserts which are not my thing. Well I am so glad I stopped in. They have an incredible assortments of tapas, including as the centerpiece, fresh cut serrano ham. Also oysters, boquerones (Spanish anchovies) shrimp, almonds, and many other rotating selections. Ask for the Champagne list. Then expect to be amazed. In fact, this is the most extensive list IN THE ENTIRE UNITED STATES! I was skeptical, too but just check it out! Also long and deep sherry list. There are other tapas bars in Portland, and I LOVE some of them (my birthday was at Toro Bravo with 15 of my best friends) I also love Pata Negra, Navarre, and others — but this place tops them with their low key authenticity. As they say, «napkins on the floor, please» Stop in, and allow yourself to be transported to Madrid.

I went with some friends for the Sherryfest West 2013 Andalusian Sherry tasting event. The space is tight and things were a bit chaotic since they were open for business before the Sherryfest event. I will say the Tapas are very good even if the service was a bit lackadaisical.
If you are a champagne, wine, or sweets lover then Bar Vivant is not a place you will want to miss checking out. Their champagne, wine, and sparkling wine list is very extensive. The adjacent Pix sweet shop (Bar Vivant is in side the same shop) whips up some very yummy treats.

I wasn’t sure whether to write this review for Bar Vivant or for Pix. It’s all one room, so maybe there shouldn’t be two Unilocal entries? So, yes, the macarons are great, but we’ve already known that for a while. But, Bar Vivant, well this is something new. The tapas are like the tapas you get in Spain — just a tiny bite. Not for when you’re hungry, more more just tastes while you’re drinking. A few of my favorites include the croquettes, the octopus, and the cold garlic soup, which I dream about sometimes. The happy hour is a steal. It’s the kind of place you can take your mom, or your coworkers, or a friend, or a date (I have done all of the above). Oh, and they threw a great New Year’s Eve party. I just love this place. I want it to do well, but not so well that it’s hard to get a table.

Disappointing. Non-​friendly non-​inviting atmosphere. Service seemed confused and scattered. Lots of food sitting out at room temp. Tapas was meh, service was meh, atmosphere was meh. Trying to combine Bar Vivant and Pix has made it feel disjointed and odd. Def preferred the Division and Nopo locations.

Tiny plates of brilliant flavor explosion. Inspiring drink menus. High energy OR relaxed. Savory-​sweet-​spicy-​soft-​crunchy-​chewy-​creamy-​licious. One of Portland’s best spots to share and pair. Don’t be intimidated by the space — to the left we find a standing room (counter service), Pix sweets in the center and full-​service tables & bar to your right. Easy! And it gets better every time.

I was really excited to try Bar Vivant when I first read about it on Thrillist.
The building was very easy to find, but once inside, it was rather confusing, as previous reviewers mentioned. We had a party of three and it was difficult to find seating at a table, since several of them had not been bussed. The place/​tables are rather small and definitely not meant for larger groups (4+) to go.
The food was okay. I liked the pear jelly with cheese and puff pastry. It would be nice to have a menu with explanations of each tapa.

FRESH CUT SERRANO HAM!
Really, that’s all you need to know. I’ll add some details but when it seems like I’m whining, just remember that part.
Beneath an Osborne bull-​board is this jamon oasis. It’s a Pix combined with a tapas bar. Most are already familiar with Pix so I’ll focus on the tapas bar. It certainly has been our focus.
The freshly sliced serrano ham is fantastic. It is properly and lovingly sliced and the portions are generous, the price reasonable (I think it’s $ 4). We’ve had many of the other tapas and most are pretty average. The padron peppers are solid. I don’t recommend the spicy Gilda.
Like a real tapas bar, they encourage you to throw your used napkins on the floor which I think is great. Environmental Portlanders, however, seem reluctant to litter under any circumstances.
While a successful recreation of Spanish and French food, the resemblance unfortunately doesn’t end there. It is also a recreation of the worst Spanish and French bureaucracy. We’ve been a couple of times. The first time wasn’t very crowded at all and we went to the Bar Vivant side and ordered food at the bar without issue. Our beer, however, was held up in customs at the Pix-​Vivant border. The most recent visit was more crowded and there was a sign posted at the Pix side to wait to be seated. We went to the Vivant side and sat only to be told that we needed wait to be seated there as well. We could stand near a table, however. Shortly after we stood, we were then informed that we would be allowed to sit. Confused yet? It gets worse. Previously we ordered at the bar like in Spain. This time we could order tapas without issue but if we wanted a macaroon (the fleur de sel are world class), we had to wait for our server. Server? What server? We waited for a while and on our next attempt, we wisely ordered to go and then took them back to our table. Even if we had a server, I don’t think it would be too practical considering the huge variety of macaroon flavors. They should just do all the orders through the bar.
OK. Done complaining.
FRESH CUT SERRANO HAM!

I’d like to give Bar Vivant a better review but sadly, the experience featured far too many confusing elements for me to check off on this place. I agree with Abby: scattered is a good way to describe the place, especially when it comes to the service. Walking in, a sign greets you asking you to please wait to be seated, yet, when you are, you’re told that all the food was back near the front and you’d need to go back over there to order. Should I have ordered before you brought me back to my seat? I found myself getting up and walking back to the bar way more than I would like to in a place where I’m expected to leave a tip for a server.
Regarding our server, I didn’t catch her name, but she was lovely and brought a warmth to what would have otherwise been a coldly confusing experience. The food was good: the calamari salad tasted as if it was pulled right from the sea moments before, the savory salt cod croquettes were excellent but not good enough to shake the lingering feelings of not quite knowing what was going on the whole time. I anticipate returning, as I quite enjoy Pix’s desserts, but hopefully with time the tapas concept is ironed out for a smoother experience.

Wow… scattered. The concept works better in Madrid by far. The desserts are still outstanding. The service is confused, and although some of the tapas were very good, the bar, food and desserts are sufficiently disconnected to detract from the food. A perfect example of trying to do too much. Go for the desserts though, they are still among the best and most varied in Portland.

Bar Vivant is the savory yin to Pix’ sweet yang. I’m not sure why that sounds kind of dirty to me, but it’s not intended to be.
Ever since Pix moved in to its new digs on Burnside it’s been offering up an expanded spectrum of food, wine and spirits via Bar Vivant. Technically this bar shares the space with Pix but it seems to live its own sort of existence. And to call it a tapas bar kind of misses the mark. This bar is all about the pinchos — spanish small bites that are diminutive in size but big on flavor. Think hors d’ouvres on toothpicks. In fact, their pinchos bar looks kind of like an hors d’ouvres spread but instead of you just swiping up handfuls, you can look and point and choose what you want and they’ll deliver a whole bunch of little bites to your table.
My first visit to this beautiful, welcoming and stylish space has me wanting to come back very, very soon. The décor evokes a sense of 1950’s/60’s continental European flair, and that’s backed up by the design of the menus, logos, etc. The style of service is a bit awkward at first, as is the feng shui of the layout. It’s a square building but the bar is set diagonally, separating the space into odd angles and cozy seating areas. It takes what would be an angular space and makes it a lot more fun. The deep red wallpaper and dark wood accents bring in the lounge flavor in big doses. As with the old Pix way, the service is great but the confusing mix of order-​at-​the-​counter/​order-​from-​your-​seat style is definitely still very present here. They display everything at the counter for you to see and you can order form there, they do deliver some stuff to your seat and some things you order from your seat as well. In the end, I’m fine with it but I’m sure it will confuse many (as was par for the course at the former locations).
There are a lot of things that really stand out here. One is the massive wine and beer list. The second is the interesting array of sherries, and third is easily the pinchos. They remind me of Spain. In fact, it takes me right back. Tortilla Española, pulpo, Jamon Serrano, etc… the types of things I lived on when I visited Spain. One bite of each and I was transported back to that trip. Other bites that really stood out to me: Spicy Gilda (a small toothpick with anchovy, hot pepper and green olives), Gilda (same but with less hot pepper), foie a-​la plancha with armagnac plum, chorizo and potatoes, and some of the best boquerones I’ve ever had. These little bites range from $ 1 to $ 6 or maybe a little more (depending on size). They’re priced just right for a drinking snack, and the explosive flavors of these small bites cry out to be paired with a cocktail, wine or beer. They do add up fast, but the quality easily supports the price.
Of course you can pair that up with the legendary sweets from Pix, which is obviously in the same building. But me, I’m a savory type of guy, and I will definitely be back in very soon to make my way through the entire set of pinchos offerings. So amazing!