Night Light Lounge

Didn’t even get to order a drink and I’m done and out. The bartender working at 7pm was just rude and I kept asking him a simple question about drinks and the other menu was covering the info I was asking about and he got frustrated and kept pointing at the menu like I knew the answer I was looking for was under the other menu and then he proceeded to ignore me as I was attempting to asking him a question, helped 2 other people and skipped over me. Eff you dude for your rude ass service. We have left and didn’t get to enjoy our time here and have now maneuvered down the street to a cool bar with better service.

Good happy hour food — and quite big. Definitely enough to make a meal out of happy hour. Really nice, large heated patio. And $ 1.50 PBR’s at happy hour: D :D

Really wonderful staff but not an exciting menu. The food isn’t anything amazing. Their cocktails are great but they don’t have a great selection of liquor. Overall a really nice place to meet up with friends because they have giant booths but not a date night place.

Came here for brunch and it was fantastic. I’d been looking for a good brunch spot outside the Pearl and NW that isn’t slammed, shuffling you in and out like cattle. This place is very low key, comfortable, with great service and fantastic food.
We arrived when it opened at 10am on Sunday and were able to sit right away any where we wanted. The crowd really started to pick up when we left around 11 and the restaurant was pretty much full with a line out the door.
I got the Big Breakfast Sandwich and it was gigantic, fresh, and filling. I couldn’t finish all of my potatoes. All for only $ 8.50 Not to mention a great deal on mimosas, $ 12 for a serve-​yourself bottle.

Oh, Night Light. I hate to write you a bad review, but after being a regular patron of yours for well over ten years (back when you had awesome BBQ quesadillas and could smoke inside), you’ve been slowly becoming a disappointment over the last couple of years. It’s SO sad to see. Customer service is lacking — BIG time. The last few times we’ve been in, the servers have asked us to close out with them because their shift was over. This is ridiculous! One waitress told us she needed to get the tips from us before her shift ended. Why can’t you just switch it to the next server and settle up at the end of the night — like every other bar/​restaurant on the planet! It’s a pain in the ass for customers to open and close tabs — particularly with more than one person paying.
My other main complaint is the time it takes to get service — particularly if you’re sitting outside. Multiple times I’ve asked when I walk in if there’s table service or not (the servers get even more unfriendly if you start a tab at the bar and then later switch it to a table). It’s hit or miss whether or not there’s table service. Oftentimes they will say that there is, but it takes a long time (we’ve waited a half an hour) before someone comes to get a drink order.
On the plus side, the food is delicious and brunch is great, but for now, I’ll find another neighborhood bar where I can spend my money.

Highly recommend the Nightlight. Great staff (we love you Jon!), great service, great cocktails and the best truffle fries we have ever had!

We’ve been eating and drinking here for over 8 years. The food is excellent — fresh, quality ingredients, inventive dishes as well as awesome preparations of the mainstays such as eggs bene, steak frites, etc. Oh, and THE BEST EGG SANDWICH EVER. The cocktails are unique and delightful. The small plates are delicious and satisfying as intended — a Small Plate :) The prices are more than fair for the quality of the food.
And now, The Staff: We’ve patronized this place for quite a while and have seen the expected changes in staff that happen in any restaurant. We have loved just about every single one of them. The core attributes of the staff here doesn’t change when they do: they are all quality, competent, cool, fun.
I have a thing about Portland restaurant staff… I’ve been more than disappointed many, many times by inattentive, condescending service at some great restaurants with great food. It really is a thing in Portland — by thing, I mean a problem. But at Night Light I’m pretty much consistently happy.
Yes, this place gets BUSY because it’s awesome and when it’s busy things happen… like you might have to wait a bit longer than usual. They handle it much better here than many places in Portland. The only thing I think they can improve is in greeting incoming customers. It is seat yourself here but I’ve seen some lost incoming who don’t know what to do… this is where it’s helpful to have a staffer actively looking for the lost faces and explaining how it works here.
All in all, as one who is frequently disenchanted (and sometimes downright offended) by many other culinary experiences here in Portland, I am so grateful for this establishment and their wonderful staff. And shout out to staffer Robert, who some Unilocaler slammed for «hiding behind the bar». BULL*%#!!! Robert runs around like crazy to attend to his customers. He is always attentive and looking to help. He has NEVER hid behind anything in all the times he has served us.
That is all.

I came here with a group around happy hour on a Saturday for a casual birthday thing. After parking (tons of street parking, by the way), we approached the doors. I was very confused, as there was an elderly couple just lingering around the entrance. I later realized that they weren’t sure whether it was self seating or whether they needed to wait to be seated. As it turns out, you seat yourself. It was just odd that no one who worked there noticed the elderly, confused couple standing at the door. After being seated, I could already tell I wasn’t going to enjoy the service. The waitress who served us wasn’t mean or anything. It just seemed like she was there to do a job… a job that she quite possibly didn’t care too much about. She quickly tried to get us to order so she could scurry away. I must admit though, the food was good. The truffle oil fries were good and the small spicy mac n’ cheese on the happy hour menu was so cheesy that it was enough to satisfy my craving. The bathrooms were pretty interesting, with chalkboard scribbles on the walls if you need that kind of entertainment while doing your thanggg… oh yes, and the patio looked super cute, but on that particular sunny day that we visited, the patio was almost full and there were a lot of smokers outside.

I was excited to try this place based on the name, patio, and pictures. However, the experience was somewhat underwhelming due to:
a) We had to seat ourselves which was a surprise but not a big deal.
b) They allow smoking on the patio which makes it much less desirable place to eat/​sit so we chose inside.
The food was just okay. They do give big portions of fries for happy hour which is a plus. However, the Blue hamburger is a bit sloppy with a soft patty and large bun which others may like, but not my preference.
Overall, the Night Light Lounge offers food and a table for money. It did not offer anything special from my point of view to bring me back a second time.

When you first enter the front door there will be a sign that asks you to seat yourself, which is kind of nice but it caught me off guard because I’m used to being greeted at the entrance. My friend picked this place for her birthday because it was a nice day and we wanted to sit out on the patio. So went to look at the patio area but didn’t end up sitting there because there were a lot of smokers out and it smelled bad. I’m actually surprised that they allow smoking at a restaurant.
In the end we picked a booth seat inside. Service was pretty fast once we were seated. The waitress informed us that the food might take awhile since they were understaffed but I thought the food came pretty fast. Props to them on that! I found it to be a bit warm inside, I wonder if they have A/​C when it is the hotter summer months.
Food & Drinks: Good, but nothing too special.
–Spicy Mac & cheese from the happy hour menu ($ 4) — It was very flavourful and rich so I got tired of it after awhile. It actually would be nice to share with someone though.
–Truffle fries ($ 5) — Good large portion, you can add another $ 1 if you want parmesan on there. Tastes as truffle fries would.
–Drink ($ 9) — Good, definitely has alcohol in it and does not taste watered down.
They split the bill for us as we liked which was nice. The only thing is they added a 20% gratuity on top (maybe because we had a group of 8), but they didn’t tell us about it either before or after.

This is my second review of this place. I reviewed it last year and it was great. Came back for another visit and it was even better!
I cannot for the life of me understand these bad reviews. This place is the best.
Some real whiners on here complaining about things out of the restaurant’s control.
Aaanyway…
Unbelievable breakfast. I had the Eggs Migas and it was by far the best breakfast of my life. huge portions and top quality food.
I wish I could remember the name of our server, cute little dark hair girl. She was RAD and the service was spot on.

Egregious Customer Service — The bartender was very rude and childish.
Yelled at, cursed at, drink thrown away, denied water, food thrown away, denied more food, denied to finish food, denied to pay, denied to use bathroom, told where to sit, told what to say, threatened with cops, kicked outside, harassed outside verbally, unwilling to stop verbal harassment, blackmailed, threatened with false police report of drunk driving, unable to drive under blackmail, had to call law enforcement twice.
He forgot to provide a spoon for the soup and it took him 4 times of «yeah, yes, that’s fine, ok you can take it» to remove my dishes he was asking. But these are very small and nothing to get upset about by either me or him. I never raised my voice, cursed, was aggressive or rude, but very polite, quiet and direct.
Consider that my education is in criminal justice and I served in the US Air Force in law enforcement. I have no criminal record of any kind either. I was hungry college student passing through getting a quick bite to eat. I’ve also worked in the restaurant industry for nearly 5 years and was a business major prior.
I hope the owner gets this and corrects the issue. It looks like a great place with great food. But the service was horrible.
1:00am-2:15am 2-​25-​2016

The night started off decently enough, my friend picked this place for our Friday night after work/​happy hour place. Although I have been here before, I didn’t realize it until after we walked in. Mind you, it was a few years back and only once during the middle of the week for a tragic first date, but that’s a different story.
So, all the tables in the front were full (with couples of two a tables/​booths meant to accommodate bigger parties), so we sat in the back at a tiny table. The three of us are good friends, so that made things easier. If we hadnt been before this point, we would have become so. Read this as tiny table no space.
The waitress is prompt and drops of menus and takes our drink order. When she returns with our beverages, we order. We order nachos, night light fries with all the toppings, and the chicken skewers. So far, so good. The room starts to fill up a bit around us and the noise level gets a little louder as people enjoy their adult beverages. My friends drain their beverages in true post work week fashion and get another round. I nurse my shirley temple like the responsible designated driver. The second round of drinks are then delivered. I am getting a bit hungry and start to notice a few tables that ordered after us getting served food.
After shooting the breeze for a bit, we all begin to hear our tummies letting us know that the previously mentioned food has yet to make an appearance. At this point, two tables of patrons have received/​consumed/​paid for/​left their tables that arrived after us. We all look at each other and decide its time to say something. At this point my friends also notice that the front room has since cleared out. The waitress comes by our table and we ask when the food might be arriving. She says she will check, does so and comes back stating that the chicken skewers sometimes hold things up but it should be out soon. My friends and I look at each other and shake our heads. Its been over 30 minutes at this point. Really? Chicken chunks on a stick take over 30 minutes? Huh… ok.
So, about an hour and some odd minutes after we ordered, our food comes out. At this point we are kind of miffed. The waitress apologizes and states that the ticket got lost and that is the real reason our food took so long to come out. She was nice enough to finally admit the real reason instead of blaming the rather bland/​under seasoned chicken skewers. Once we ate the food, which was overall not impressive, she comes back and lets us know our drinks and food are comped, since there was such a snafu. We are blown away with this kind gesture. We left a sizable tip, so that she knew we werent angry at her, and it seemed fair.
(So here is the thing, I would have rated this place much lower but after the resolution of the night’s events, I can safely give them three stars.)

Went here for brunch on a Sunday and overall it was a great meal. The food and drinks were fantastic and we couldn’t stop raving about them as we ate.
It would have been a 5-​star review if it wasn’t for the service. When we got there no one checked with us to see if we had our name on a list and we waited for probably 10 – 15 minutes without anyone greeting us. Then our server was pretty slow and not attentive at all. My drink was empty for a while and if he had come back our bill would have been a little bigger with some additional drinks.
The food and drinks won us over so we’ll be back and keep our fingers crossed for better service.

Used to be my favorite bar in the SE, but they’ve changed the menu and lots of the old staff have left. No more Black Sabbath either. =)
The last 3 times I’ve been in it’s been a negative experience. There’s way better easy choices in Portland.

I’ve only been for brunch, and always enjoyed our meals. Good drinks for decent prices. Enjoyed the banana French toast, though they’re very sweet, and the pork Benedict is delicious. Service can be kind of slow when they’re busy, but that’s true of most brunch spots in the area, and the wait here is better than many places.

Dear Ruins,
If there was a unuseful unfunny and uncool button for your review I would hit all three. The only thing I find «most disappointing» was your review. I love this bar and the staff and the back patio! You only got two skewers because like you said it was an appetizer. That’s what you eat before an entrée. And the nachos are the cheesiest nachos I have had! Maybe you wanted two full bags of cheese thrown on there. Even your friend enjoyed his meal but you still had to complain about it? Also how can you complain about how packed a place is on a Saturday night and that its full of hipsters … Dude we live in Portland and that’s just what we have to live with. I would rather live in a packed lounge full of hipsters than have to be in a empty bar with only one complainer like you! Sheesh!

It could easily be 4 but there were a few things lacking.
First, service is so-​so. I had to ask for coffee several times before I got my mug. We got one check in after we got our food so our coffee, oj for the mimosas and water remained empty. Everyone was super nice, but a bit negligent.
The food was good but I’m not sure it’s good enough for me to come running back.

We weren’t supposed to come here.
We were in the area and I remember walking by it and seeing the posters of rock stars on the walls and thought it was cool. Then we found ourselves in the middle of the Naked Bike Ride. After seeing enough naughty bits to last a lifetime, we were going to go to another bar but darn bikers had blocked the roads with their protesting (of what, I don’t know?) so I pulled out Unilocal and this place showed up.
I’m glad I went because it’s a really cool bar. It has a lot of space, one main room where the bar is, then more on the back, and even a patio area on the outside! The bartender is QUICK with your order and they are super friendly. Music was pumping and everyone was having a good time. The food and drink were spot on. Overall good times!

Great brunch spot. The waiters dress up in themed costumes every Sunday. They were ninjas this weekend and fairies last weekend. The food is excellent, and I highly recommend the biscuits and gravy or the banana French toast. The art and decorations are a ton of fun, and the copper lined table tops add a third dimension of flair to an already exciting personality. On sunny days, they open up the back patio, which is an ideal spot to drink mimosas or Bloody Mary’s (or both).