Pi-rem Hybrid Gallery & Lounge

This place is now called Groove Suite, so check out those reviews.

Seems to be out of business again… and has actually reopened under the name Groove Suite — so look for that name on Unilocal

As a recently relocated resident of PDX I’ve been looking for a place to party cheap. I was turned onto PI-​Rem through a tribe listing and ended up at the coolest dance party I’ve seen since leaving LA. It was a Solovox and Global Ruckus event. Crazy beats from gypsy techno (so described to me) to India influenced electro, to a funky keyboarder riffing right there to the crowd, to fat thumping trance. I danced so hard along everyone else who packed the dance floor. It was like summer in there, people shedding clothes (costumes?), just what I dream of when I go out to dance. I stayed until I couldn’t stand to be sprayed with so many other people sweat. Yeah the smell got to me, but it was already about 1 30 am. I took my sweaty self upstair and cooled down as I walked through the falling snow to my car. I hope everyone comes back soon.
ps: bathrooms are located downstairs, there’s a coat rack, and tons of comfy seating next to friendly people.

This place has a certain basement charm that can’t be denied. Whenever I’m here I fantasize that I’m an ex-​patriot creative meeting with fellow artists and writers in an underground quasi-​legal lounge. This is the place I’d bring that group, the place I’d want to unwind at the end of a bender or drink wine and stare at interesting paintings that we could all sit and critique. This is the place where the bones of my next great American novel would materialize, a stinging commentary on something deeply touching and human.
Sadly, I can’t give it five stars. This little place aspires, but falls just short. The music is always so-​so, the ambiance often ruined by either the lack of people or the wrong feel from the people present. But it makes a nice lounge and a good place to relax a little and sip some wine. They have a decent selection of wines, and occasionally interesting art. Perhaps someday I’ll have my post-​post-​post modernist ex-​pat group and we can transport ourselves to the basement of dreams that this little bar could be. Meanwhile, I’ll drop by on occasion, have a glass of wine, and browse an art book or two.

One of the coolest ‘underground’ lounges in PDX. The place is thoughtfully divided into a lounge area w/​couches, a bar and dance floor area. One of the few places in pdx that consistenly has quality edm dj’s. They did some minor renovations recently and got a new sound system which sounds superb!!! Very very clean sound! Now if you people would just get out and dance.

The night I went a DJ mixed international music in what could have been a frat house basement, except with better curtains and chairs. The music was OK in the beginning because of the heavy bass beats. As the night wore on, it progressively got worse. You wouldn’t have been able to tell based on the 15 – 20 people on the dance floor shaking their hips and flailing their arms in all sorts of directions. This place gets three stars for the drink selection (tons of beers from Germany, Japan, etc.), nice bartenders and the henna artist they had that night. So much for my so-​so night.

Almost anything in saucy ol’ chinatown is good with me.
When we got there at 9, they weren’t ready to open yet. Lame.
When we finally did get in there, my friends and I were the only ones. It was cool because the staff was very friendly and helped us decipher the beer list (which was extensive).
Later in the night, the crazies showed up. It was an eclectic crowd, so that’s good. Not too much of one type or another.
The space is laid out a little weird since you have to go upstairs to an office area to find the bathrooms. I like that the dance/​dj area is seperate from the bar area. It gives you the option of taking a beer break between dances or just going for the lounging alone. There are lots of couches and tables for seating — groups or intimate.
They serve quite a bit of wine in addition to the beer. I don’t really get the wine bar /​dance club combo cause I think about six glasses got broken on the night we were there. Although I like wine, I think I’ll just go for beer and a dance.

nice little wine & beer bar located in the basement level. not much by way of art but there wasn’t much space for display. a few djs played house music, one was ok but another in a cccp track jacket performed what i can only describe as repeated turntable sacrilege.
i liked the spot and the various beverages they had to offer but that dj should have stayed home.

Portlanders selected Pi-​rem as 2006’s «Lounge of the Year» on that OTHER, much less cool review site, so I’m a little surprised to be the first reviewer here. Maybe this makes up for the fact that I was the last to know that one of the best venues for electronic music is just down the street from my apartment in a neighborhood better known for its dreary bridge-​and-​tunnel club scene.