Green Dragon Bistro and Pub

6/22/2008 9:45:36 PM, sunday, june 22, 2008
Horrible. I was there at 6:00 pm on June 22 and there was one young girl trying to serve the entire place. I gave up an attempt to have a beer after 30 minutes of standing by the bar. I have been there before and it was adequate, at best. We left without ordering and I told the chef about the poor service and he said he phoned the manager to report the problem. How in the hell do they stay in business? We went to the Lucky Lab down the street and had no problem. I will never go back to the dragon again.

6/12/2008 8:49:16 AM, thursday, june 12, 2008 [ Updated thursday, june 12, 2008 ]
The Green Dragon may be my new favorite drinking spot in Portland. This is the kind of place that I enjoy most - open garage atmosphere, unpretentious anti-faux-modern design, chalkboards and stacks of kegs, simple tables, shuffleboard, and a fantastic draft beer selected. The pub side has a little more to the design than the garage side, but overall it’s put together well, and can feel like you’re drinking in your buddy’s basement. Beer selection is top notch, with a lot of new beers to the area and new beers overall. Bartenders are fantastic, unpretentious, know their stuff. This is a place run by and for beer geeks, bucking the trend of faux-high class that’s creeping into the beer world, especially in Portland. This is the anti-Henry’s Tavern, but by no means is it the Horse Brass. I like it, but I don’t expect everyone to feel the same. Beer-wise, though, you’d be making a mistake by skipping this one on your visit to Portland. I’d suggest you put this higher on your priorities than Horse Brass, that’s my opinion as a former local and frequent visitor to Portland.

5/25/2008 12:30:07 PM, sunday, may 25, 2008
Recommended by staff at Belmont Station. I was under the impression they brewed but there is a problem with their license. They were out of ingredients for a couple of menu items we ordered. The food that we did have was good. The staff was either new or confused. The tap list was good but for the PNW I found it a below expectations.

5/19/2008 3:46:14 PM, monday, may 19, 2008
Quite possibly the best place in town for the selection on draft. A couple times I’ve been in there they’ve played some of my fave ’70s albums over the speaker system. The atmosphere is quite friendly, like the patrons are part of one large family. The one time I’ve had food there I had the Smoked Salmon Croque Madame sandwich, which was very good but pricey.

5/19/2008 5:03:38 AM, monday, may 19, 2008
I’ve been here 5 times since they opened, and based on my first 4 visits I would not have given it a very high review. But I came back this past weekend and was really impressed. Their draft lineup was the most well thought out and varied I have seen in Portland in quite a while. Highlights were a rare beer from Chouffe, Allagash Curieux, and some eclectic craft beers like this crazy Oatmeal Pale Ale brewed by Fort George in Astoria. This is the first time I came here just to drink. In the past I have dined, which I think is part of the problem. My advice: come for beer, go elsewhere for food. They are still working out a few bugs, and need to work on some things like a front door that stays shut in the winter, better ventilation or A/C in the summer—that kind of thing. Still, at the time of this review, the best draft beer lineup in the city without question. My guess is that will continue. It’s a rough & tumble funky place and you should definitely come here.

5/13/2008 10:36:04 AM, tuesday, may 13, 2008
Had a great time here. They have tons of beers on tap and there brewery is getting closer everyday to being done. I can’t wait to try their beers. The service was pretty good. The beers where awesome and we did not have any food. This is not for taking the kids it is a bar. This is for the boys or the party group only. Tons of room and right in the middle of all the beer goings on in Portland. A vast selection of beers on tap this is going to be a place to visit to get the odd stuff.

5/12/2008 11:20:08 PM, monday, may 12, 2008
Loved this placeit has a great vibe. The kind of place you go into and the people are friendly and know beer. I was in there on meet the brewer night they had 4 taps focused on a regional brewery and the brewer was there to answer questions. I am all over this place.

4/1/2008 11:16:59 AM, tuesday, april 01, 2008
Arrived here late one night, the restaurant was closed but the bar was still going. Sparsely lit warehouse type space that just feels right to me. Fairly hip crowd, nice mix of ages. From what the waitress told me they were already brewing their beers there, but they just weren’t serving them yet, so they might be a full-blown brewpub at this point already. The taps they did have were nice. At least 20 taps, mostly local or at least West Coast, with a few Belgians. Was a superb selection for an out-of-state visitor who doesn’t come to Portland for Import beers (except maybe from WA, CA and ID). Service was fine, bartendress was laid-back and cool, would definitely recommend Sunday nights.

3/2/2008 10:31:23 PM, sunday, march 02, 2008
I’ve been to the Green Dragon about ten times now. Their raison d’etre is supposedly to provide beers that aren’t available anywhere else in Portland. This is a lofty ambition and I think they fall well short. In my experience, the tap list while good, is far from extraordinary relative to other good pubs in Portland. They could really differentiate, by offering a larger proportion of Belgian’s like Concordia Alehouse used to do before the ownership changed hands. They could also benefit by expanding their bottle selection and changing up the food menu a bit more. I’ve always gotten attentive service from the bartenders but the wait staff on the restaurant side leave A LOT to be desired. A few days ago I was there when it wasn’t super busy and my glass sat empty for at least 20 minutes It took 15 minutes for the waitress to return with my bill after she took my card. I want to like this place but I’m tired of being disappointed. The positives...the frites rival those found in Belgium and Holland and the bowls of soup are huge and consistently delicious.

2/12/2008 8:09:47 PM, tuesday, february 12, 2008
I was here on NYE with Bikesandbeer, and it was a good time to be had. Lots of variety as to what they had on tap and a generally good list as well. Two weird things, 1 whenever I tipped the bartenders seemed shocked and thanked me. Also as a ratebeerian they could do a better job labeling their beers so that we can find them online. Nice place