Triple Nickel Pub

A lot of people have written about the changes to this bar recently. I walked by last night on my way to a house show down the street, where I was going to take some pictures of the bands. I hung out for a while, and on my way back, at 1:30 a. m, I thought, «Why not, I’ll stop in for a beer at the Triple Nickel, I haven’t been there in a while.»
I remember when I walked by there was a door-​man. I thought to myself «Since when does a bar on Belmont need a door guy?» I soon found out, as when I inquired about what time they closed, here’s what the door man said to me:
«You were at that party down the street, right? I’m not letting anyone from that party in. It’s a liability issue. I don’t know what you’ve drank, what you’ve smoked. I don’t want to risk it.»
I countered with «I’m not sure that is 100% legal.» He of course said «It is, I’ve been doing this for 30 years.»
Ok, sure. Here’s the thing… I actually work for a third party administrator/​litigation management company who handles insurance. I’m not certified in insurance by any means but I promise that that door man has never read any insurance policy that Triple Nickel has concerning the previous destinations of hypothetical patrons. Why? Because that stipulation simply does not exist. «It’s a liability issue.» No it’s not. It’s you being an idiot issue. The point about «I don’t know what you’ve drank or smoked» could literally apply to ANYWHERE THAT I HAVE BEEN BEFORE YOUR BAR. I could have gone down the street to Conquistadors and gotten blotto on margaritas for all you know.
So you know what? Don’t go to this place. No bar on Belmont needs a door person, period. I understand the need to protect your giant Jenga set and jello-​shots by all means necessary, but pure discrimination isn’t a good fit for anyone.

visited triple nickel last night with some out of town houseguests. Of all the places we went to eat and imbibe in the last week they were blown away by trip nick the most! the beer selection, environment and fast paced, genuine and attentive service from our rockstar bartender Hillary blew them out of the water!

I used to love this place. It was a chill, very understated dive bar but since the revamp, it’s just not the same. It’s like they’re trying too hard to be «trendy», catering to the hipsters. It’s not bad now (well, the dj’s kind of are), & they do have a much bigger beer selection, but I say, if it’s not broken, why fix it? Now I’d say it’s merely a «meh» bar.

My in-​laws showed me this place. I have to say, there are a bunch of games to play which is great. There are games like huge jenga, pool, darts, pin ball etc. there is a jukebox that seems to get played all the time, it seems like the place to be for blazer games! This place also gives me the vibe of a great place for groups of people, so enjoy.

Todd Boston made me experience at triple nickle the best I’ve ever had! He has great rapport with his customers! I really appreciate good customer service and Todd understands that. Quick, efficient and friendly, he deserves to be promoted!
Thanks Todd! We will come visit you soon

Okay, so it’s a dive bar. I get it. It serves its purpose.
I had an okay time. Loud music, rowdy crowd, cheap beer, lousy food, all that. I’m not saying it’s bad, but you know what you’re in for.
By all means, it was alright.

I hadn’t been into the Triple Nickel in years! It used to be a total dive. It’s turned into a fun little bar with a good beer selection and a large screen for sports! We were there for the Blazer game and stayed for the DJ. Great music. The only downside is a horrible women’s bathroom. Needs some serious updating!

Terrible service.
Short stubby bartender with the fake gold chain is not kind attentive or aware. Rather than take charge of his bar he sat back and pointed at me and another patron to see who wanted to order first. Then he brought me what the other person ordered. Not the first time I’ve received poor service from him. I would not return but it is my brothers home bar.

Todd is by far the best bartender in PDX! Good time, good music… can’t ask for much more!

What?! Warm beer in a warm glass at 1030pm saturday night? I wouldnt care if it was later but dang, im not coming back.
And no, cleavage doesn’t make up for it, unless it’s a strip club of course :]

Dirty, outdated, dive bar. The place felt like it could have been fun at one point. It felt dark and slightly dingy. We went early (6:00 pm) on a Friday night. The place was filled with wasted college kids.
The first thing that I noticed was that the bar was dirty. As a bartender, cleanliness is something I notice. The bartender working wasn’t friendly… To any guests, now that I think about it. The second thing I noticed was the obnoxious crashing sound every five minutes when the giant jenga blocks fell. No wonder the bartender was so ornery. It’s certainly a unique idea, but it’s hard to hang out there for a drink with all of that going on.
I would go back if I wanted to shoot pool maybe. Can’t think of any other reason, really.

It’s unfortunate to hear some of the bad reviews for this place because I’ve been here about 10 times by now and not once have I had a bad experience. Maybe owners changed since? The bartenders are chill, especially this one lady, need to get her name. Their outside patio is nice, perfect for big groups. The only downside is they close the back patio at 10pm due to neighbors. They have GIANT jenga, a few pool tables, big buck hunter and a photo booth. Actually, there was one bad expericence: they had a live band playing but it was AWFUL. It was the most obnoxious loud crap ever. This was about 2 weeks ago. Please do not get any more of those bands playing.

I understand that Burger Week is first come first served. I also know that Mercury and WW suggested that all customers be kind. I read all the reviews of all the burgers and headed out to Triple Nickle Pub to try their burger. When ordering the special I felt sized up by the waitress and was told they where out of the burger… So my party and myself ordered top shelf drinks and then went outside. No burger no big deal. Then a few moments went past and a party sat behind me talking about getting the special burger and how there was about 30 left. WHAT!!! Was my hair? Not hipster enough? Too queer?
I will be happy to say I took my business elsewhere and will not EVER go back to Triple Nickle.

Good burger (for $ 5). The place is extremely loud though with a live band playing away to glory. Good selection of beer too.

It’s a shame — they *might* have good food, but I couldn’t get past the attitude and delays from staff.
Went there because I heard great things about them for Portland Burger Week. We (gf and me) had high hopes and were prepared to patiently wait in line as needed. Surprisingly there was no line at all. Just 2 people ahead of us at the bar and the place was almost empty. When we got up there we ordered 2 ciders (had to switch — they were out of what we wanted — no biggie) and then ordered «THE BURGER» but asked if it could be without the banana peppers (I have a bad reaction to them).
«That’s IT!» exploded Hilliri, the woman behind the bar. «I’m NOT doing any more special orders on these,» yelling at both us and the folks you just ordered. «You have no idea how difficult these are to do and the website said no custom orders!» I was flabberedgasted. We weren’t on the web, we were in the pub and there was no signage about this. Anyway I backed off and said «ok, I’ll take the peppers out by hand.»
She then asked if I wanted fries with that. I asked if I can get them without salt. She gave me «a face» and then «we only make fries in big batches, we can’t do little ones». I asked if she could check, or just ask that the next batch be without salt, since it’s easier for customers to add salt to fries then remove it. She turned snarky and said «Maybe you don’t want the burger either — it’s got salt». I tried to explain that a little salt was ok, but not when there’s a ton of it (which more and more places do with fries). She wouldn’t ask the cook. She just glared at me. Again, I backed off and said, «Ok. No fries — don’t want to make it difficult for you.»
We paid for the food and drinks, included a tip, and went to sit down and chat. 32 minutes later the burger had still not arrived and the woman happened to swing by and said, «it’s coming». I stopped her and said, «I don’t mean to be snarky, but if it’s taking 30 minutes to make the burger, would it be that difficult to remove the banana peppers?» That was a mistake.
«Have YOU ever worked behind the line? Have you ANY idea what it’s like with a small prep area?» she yelled. I had, and said so adding that when I did, I always tried to accommodate requests from the customer. This apparently pissed her off as she commented «I don’t like your condescending attitude. I think I should just give you your money back.» and then had me follow her to the bar where she handed me back cash and dismissed me.
Like I said, it’s a shame. The ambiance is nice. The ciders were ok. I can’t tell you if the food is any good. The service? Well, *I* won’t be going back. It would’ve been ok to just say «sorry we can’t do special orders on this» without getting confrontational, but yelling at patrons and getting defensive just doesn’t work for me.

I strive to write helpful straight to the point reviews… anything else is nonsense and if you’re trying to be detail oriented on a Thursday night you can eat my ass. So anyways, we’ve got Jenga, a big ass tv, lots of beer, affordable interesting cocktails and very good bloody marys. Very good.
It can be noisy and have a younger crowd, just so you know. It has a small outdoor seating area on the front of the building where you can smoke or whatever. Have fun… this place will bring it via heavy pours and probably some interesting people watching.

This place definitely stands out in Portland. It’s a place you would find in a small college town or the suburbs of Southern California or New Jersey. Considering there are far better and less douchey bars in Portland, I will pass on this place in the future.
But wait, you retort, «They have giant Jenga!». Yawn.
«They have a great dance floor and music videos!» If you like overplayed hits from yesteryear like «Thrift Shop» and «Blurred Lines» then perhaps it’s great.
«They have pool tables!» Yes they do indeed. But only if you like bumping into drunk, overly tanned women and their frat boy toys.
Their beer selection was pretty decent admittedly but everything about this place sucks. I imagine this place was once cool, but I was let down during my last visit. In a town like Portland with countless great bars, it would be pointless to visit this place.

Once upon a time I thought this place was cool because it had Boulder Beer’s Shake Chocolate Porter on nitro and lifesize Jenga.
But then I went here on a Friday night. My friend had warned me the place had gone douchey, but I didn’t believe him. Less than a minute after walking through the door, I was approached by a man who offered to pay me to dance with him (he then proceeded to pull out his wallet, despite my firm «no»). I’d usually not hold the actions of one drunken patron against an establishment, except in this case, that behavior was indicative of the sort of crowd Triple Nickel attracts. The pick-​up lines never stopped, nor did the stumbling slew of drunk men slurring them.
At Triple Nickel you’ll find Shake Chocolate Porter, Lifesize Jenga, and a too-​drunk crowd bumpin’ and grindin’ to the music you thought you left behind in high school. If you’re into that scene, by all means, head on down. But I’ll pass.

OK, as a rule I write my own Unilocal reviews. However, because he’s already perfectly summed up my feelings, I’d like to invite a guest star to help collaborate on my review of Triple Nickel Pub:
That about sums it up, folks.
I walked in on a Saturday night, and the place was full of early 20s getting hammered on shots while dancing to a DJ playing Outkast tracks that were tired even back when I was in college. I didn’t think places like this existed in Portland, but I guess no city is safe from dudebros and the girls that love them.
I left quickly. I’ll never be back.

Wow! The sweet and spicy mac is to die for! It leans on the very-​spicy side, and my lips were on fire, but it was deeeee-​lish! If you can handle Sriracha sauce or Taco Bell fire sauce, it’s all good. The spicy tots aren’t quite as firey, but über tasty as well.
This is clearly a local dive bar — one every neighborhood needs. The kind where the wait staff doesn’t have Hipster «You can wait» attitudes.
I was here for a friend’s surprise birthday party and the location was chosen because its her favorite hangout. The food, drinks and service is what kept me there.
They have pool tables for the person who can’t sit still, as well as pinball machines. The loud crashing noises comes from the gigantic Jenga pieces and players not «Winning».
I’m not a bar fly but would definitely go back for the food.