Kenton Club

I have to give the Kenton Club four stars since I’ve not eaten there yet but I’m willing to bet it’s good!
I travel a long ways to frequent this bar for the live music and it’s never less than stellar.
The bartenders are nice and deliver quick service. As a bartender myself, I appreciate this more than anyone.
The shows are always great so big props to the booking agent!

The new menu is amazing! Jalapeño poppers, but with fresh ingredients, made from scratch to order! I’m so proud of this little spot for stepping up its food game. You don’t even have to be drunk to enjoy it! We actually came here for the food for once, and not to get drunk. That’s how good it is.

A fun north portland venue/​dive bar, often with free local music shows. Staff is pretty nice, lots of deep fried food options. A great place to check out the portland rock and roll talent in portland, just vocals go through the pa generally so the sound can sometimes be a little rough, but the vibe is pretty nice usually.

Whew! Strong drinks! So glad I was finally able to check this place out. Lots of regulars, and the bartender has a sharp memory, is cool under pressure, and very chill.
Made it in too early for food, but the atmosphere, locals, and barkeep made up for it. This will definitely be a place I’ll be returning to very soon.

Kenton club rulz! They support the local music scene and have a lot of good shows, and have a fair set up for bands. No cover, shows are always free. Back patio is great. I haven’t had the food, and apparently, not many have. It’s a dive bar, the kind we need to keep around in Portland, you know, the ones that aren’t all fancy with $ 9 tiny drinks. They have pool and pinball, and a sweet bar to chill out. I ahve always been treated well by the staff here. Kenton club is awesome!

I would go here way more often if they didn’t have as many shows. It is right in my neighborhood, the drinks are cheap the patio is killer, and the bartenders and regulars are great folk. I think its cool that most of their shows are free and I have been to some good ones before here but its really hard to just have a few drinks with friends when some shitty local band you don’t care to see is doing a sound check.

I dig this joint. Been here a few times over the years. Never made it a regular haunt, but if I had such a desire, this place would certainly be a contender. Friendly staff, perfectly nice customers. Of course I spotted one asshole ranting at or to another patron at the bar (well, I heard him, determined his asshole-​a-​tude and then heard him sing (damn it, I knew he’s be good). I get the feeling that this place could attract some angry hipsters on certain nights. But what bar isn’t complete without that? I also befriended two lovely women in the john — Amanda and… I forget. I was laughing at a piece of graffiti when she admitted she had added a great one in her stall. «no one cares about your poptarts» — I think I have that wrong.
Drinks were either $ 4 or $ 6 — beers only $ 3. (apparently I musta had a lot of em since I have already forgotten so much of the evening. Lots of my pals showed up for Karaōke from Hell. I made sure to get there early since I knew finding a spot for more than 8 of us would be tough. But we worked through it, borrowed empty chairs without incident, and folks came and went throughout the night.
Karaōke from Hell is AWESOME! Wanted to do that for some time. And Kenton is so close I couldn’t resist. Super fun. I forgot that there was a covered patio out back — and twice I opened the door and completely missed it. Duh. Take 2 steps and turn right. Holy crap, it gets crowded out there on a rainy night. But we quickly found a spot (people are going in and out) and settled in. Made a friend even. So in sum — will not forget how much I like this place.

The Kenton Club was my go to bar when I lived in NoPo. The area lacks watering holes in comparison to the rest of the city, so this place was always appreciated over the other options I had down on Lombard and nearby. It is definitely a dive bar with a matching atmosphere. $ 2 Rainer drafts make it a cheap place to catch a buzz. I’ve never seen any live music here, but the jukebox is always pumping out some good tunes. Last time I was there it seemed like classic after classic of 80s new wave tunes. If you are in the area and looking for a chill spot to drink, this should be your destination.

The Kenton Club is the «Cheers» of North Portland. Love this place! Great dive bar with an interesting history, free pool til’ 6, live bands several nights a week, great brunch on the weekends (original and yummy!) and cool bartenders. The crowd is eclectic, accepting and fun.

World’s greatest dive bar. Fabulous patio. There’s an open cribbage tournament every other Tuesday night.

Surprisingly, a nice chill bar. They have some pretty quality shows come through as well.

Good low key atmosphere. Good food, good service. A nice go to place when you don’t want to deal with a huge Saturday night crowd.

The band was groovy. The drinks were cheap. The place was funky. Makes the list.

The bartenders are not dicks, the crowd is chill and diverse, not a fashion show, the drinks are cheap and strong, the food is good, the woodwork on the walls is really interesting…
But most importantly, there are so many good bands that play here, and there is very rarely ever a cover. This place gets blue star shows in the Mercury 75% of the time (which is a statistic I completely made up, but is still probably pretty accurate).
A great dive bar.

Gin and tonics all the way! There wasn’t any bands that night at the Kenton but the jukebox had a cool selection of music I definitely dig.

Billy and Justin are my two favourite bartenders in Portland.
The staff here is awesome– clever, obliging, and interesting.
The patrons are an awesome mix of quirky and weird, and are rarely bad.
It’s like this cool kids that don’t have to tell everyone that they’re cool all hang out here. Especially on a Tuesday afternoon (FREE pool) and late in the evening.
I’ve hosted events here, stopped by for shows, and they always impress.

I’ve been in living in the Arbor Lodge /​Kenton neighborhood for the last 6 – 7 years. I’ve been to every single bar this side of MLK. The Kenton Club time and time again proves to be my favorite spot. Laid back atmosphere, friendly staff, free shows every weekend and within walking distance of the MAX (and my house:) Now that they’ve added brunch on the weekends they’ve stepped up to a full package establishment… that brunch is amazing. As a local gigging musician this place definitely does it right. No cover for fans and they actually pay bands, decently. I only wish every other venue/​club in town would adopt this model. Fuck yes, long live the WFKC!

My friend invited me out to see 82^nd and Heartache play at the Kenton Club and it was pleasantly divey and a lot of fun.
None of the arcade games in the bar worked, which was a bummer, but the beer was good and the atmosphere was friendly. I would definitely go back.

Debating to go out to eat, so I call. This is my exact conversation with the guy you have answering your phone
«hey, do you serve food?»
«uh… Sorta. Like, shitty fried food.»
End
This Is an epic dive bar, Have no delusions of fancy crap before you come here.

If you only ever see one movie about roller derby, dear God, let it NOT be Kansas City Bomber (
), a gritty and weird film from the 70s starring Raquel Welch as KC Carr, the hottest thing on skates. This movie makes no sense at all, and its nearly-​non existent plot is confusing as hell. The players on the same teams beat the living crap out of each other, trying to follow the game is useless, and will probably not make you ever want to see a live bout. BUT, in the spirit of loving seeing our fair city on film, it’s pretty sweet in parts.
See, KC/​Raquel is super hot and gets traded to the Portland Loggers. Reigning star skater Jackie Burdette is pissed upon KC’s arrival to P-​town, and her raging alcoholism puts her in rough bars night after night, kicking ass and taking names. Enter Kenton Club. There’s an awesome scene filmed there, with several ladies having to hold Jackie back ’cause she’s ready to brawl.
It’s not rough like in the movie. It’s actually one of the friendliest bars I’ve ever been to, with great bartenders and a good neighborhood-​y feel to it. Wicked good drink specials, pinball, a jukebox that holds everything from Old Crow Medicine Show to Al Green, and while I haven’t eaten there, I’ve seen the BBQing taking place out on the patio and it sure smelled amazing.
Drinks are stro-​o-​o-​ng. Like, glass of booze with a splash of mixer strong. They have a handful of taps but plenty of bottles of beer. It’s a big place, great for a group, and they have live music almost nightly on a small stage, no cover.
Check out the derby memorabilia, from the Kansas City Bomber posters to some neat photos from the Rose City Rollers inaugural season. It’s not a museum or anything, just a handful of things commemorating a wicked rad sport. Modern derby resembles nothing like the sport in the movie, which was super over-​the-​top and ridiculous, but I imagine the inside of the Kenton Club’s look hasn’t changed much in 30 years. It’s old school.
Good tunes
Sweet patio
Cheap dranks
Pinball
Old timers at the bar
Breakfast, lunch, dinner
Throw in some Raquel Welch posters, and this is a solid spot.