July 9, 2009
A brewpub in a typical (albeit large) Nob Hill house, spread over two stories and a relatively small terrace. I expect they cannot sit so many people in here. The staff seemed to have trouble keeping up with their customers, several of them having to come inside from the terrace to claim their waiter or check. The beers tried were solid interpretations of their respective styles. Nothing really went further than traditional styles though (golden, amber, ipa, stout, porter...) It’s a pretty place, but not all that welcoming for the drinker, a bit like La Mare au Diable in Sherbrooke. Nice house, but poor bar setup where bar seats are almost in the way for the waiters who do not stop coming and going. Glad I visited, but I doubt I’ll be back; I’d gladly try one of the other Laurelwoods though.

May 30, 2009
Visited January 13, 2009. Quaint old house on the NW side of Portland. Billed as an organic brewery. Standard offerings for beer: Golden Pale ale Brown ale Red ale IPA - american hop aroma. Nice malt flavor balanced by decent hop bitterness. Hop flavor is good but not in your face as I would expect for a pacific NW IPA. Alcohol finish in the nose. Overall very clean and drinkable but a slight letdown. Wanted bigger hops. Porter Stout Seasonal - russian imperial stout. - black, opaque. Dark brown head. Caramel aroma. Subtle Malty sweet with chocolate overtones and a subtle vanilla character. Alcohol creeps up on the back of the tongue and finishes with a roast barley flavor. Overall very clean tasty stout. Imperial character seems understated which makes this very sneaky at 8.1 percent. Almost presents as a dry stout with a kick. Would love more of eveything in this beer. Food was ok. An interesting corned beef dish which was slightly overdone.

July 27, 2008
The happy hour food menu is amazing. Especially the nachos. All the beer is cheap and plenty. Usually a great seasonal on tap. Also good people watching from the deck to 23rd.

June 22, 2008
Great pizza, very good beer, and the best barman on the west coast. Seriously. He drew a map to Belmont Station, and helped me get oriented for getting around in Portland. The sampler for the beer, however, is a joke. TWO OUNCE GLASSES??? I guess they’d be OK for knocking back shots of beer, but for tasters??? Gimme a break. They fill them almost to the rim so you get as much beer as possible, but then there is no way to appreciate the aroma. I watched the barman trying to fill them. Laurelwood loses because the glasses are not saving any money, and your customers your customer lose a chance to really taste an appreciate the beer.

May 10, 2008
One of my favorite places in Portland. Great small/personal atmosphere. Excellent beer. It’s been a while since I’ve been there, so I don’t remember exactly what the food was like, I just remember I liked it :)

March 24, 2008
This Laurelwood location has a small B&B type of feel to it. Light hardwood floors and bright and sunny windows allow this small space not to feel too cramped. Service was waitress as well as one or two bar staff, so very adequate staffing for the size of the place, but it does seem to stay busy. 8 house taps, no guests, but Laurelwoods beers are good enough. They had the seasonal Espresso Stout made with Stumptown coffee which was excellent. This place is a nice reprieve from the boutique and salon infested trendy 23rd street area. Might be worth the (less than 5 min) walk from NOL if you don’t plan to visit another Laurelwood location. Reasonable happy hour prices.

December 20, 2007
Great food. Good ales. Service can be overwhelmed at times, but always working hard. Very willing to discuss ale issues, where time permits. Parking is very difficult - plan at least two blocks away to get an hour zone. There’s lots of competition for it.

December 14, 2007
This is indeed a large house, with books and games inside to play as you whittle away the time awaiting food or drinking a pint. Fairly decent selection of brews, food selection was very good and high in quality. Staff was pretty helpful, and even though it was a weekend, we got to park right in front and didn’t have to wait for a table. It was far from dead inside, though. I’m recommending this place.

June 10, 2007
I went in on a Saturday night thinking it was going to be busy there, but it had a nice mellow crowd, not too loud. The bartender was nice and friendly, and didn’t act like we were bothering her, and I’ve noticed a quite few bartenders in Portland that act like you’re bothering them. There’s a little bit of indoor seating and quite a few chairs outside. The inside has an orange wash paint job on the walls, with a mixture of odd, antique-like furnishings. The selection is good. They had about 7 regular beers and two seasonals. No guest taps. I didn’t have any food but it sure smelt good in there at times.

November 14, 2006
Like others have said, it has the appearance of an old house, and inside it’s small but very comfortable. Small bar area on the first floor, happy hour food and drink specials in the afternoon, and decent people all around. I can imagine sitting outside would be nice, but of course it was raining on the day I visited, so I sat up at the bar. I will visit again, the house has a lot of character,