Teardrop Lounge

"It would be hard to overstate Teardrop’s influence on the city’s cocktail scene. It was, in many ways, Portland’s first craft cocktail bar, ushering in the drinking culture Portland is now known for. The expansive menu is split into descriptive categories (like “bright and crisp,” “supple and herbal,” or “deep and dark”) all of which are made with meticulous care and high-quality ingredients by knowledgeable veteran bartenders. Seasonal drinks are often a strong move here: In the summer, that may mean one of the city’s finest piña coladas, while in the fall, late harvest-noted cocktails like Boogie Street blend Asian pear butter and blood orange with Evan Williams 1783 bourbon and Novo Fogo cachaça. Year-round, large-format punches incorporate hard-to-find spirits and liqueurs like Greek Skinos Mastiha." - Rebecca Roland

"A haven for martini lovers, known for its ability to cater to discerning drinkers with classic and innovative martini options." - Zoe Baillargeon

"Teardrop is a bar that could be easy to miss on its sleepy block, and though it doesn’t particularly call attention to itself, it’s one of Portland’s most influential cocktail lounges: The dramatic horseshoe-shaped bar, a whole lot of mood, and some of Portland’s top bartenders can be found inside. The menu breaks down the drinks into categories, like Supple and Herbal, Arid and Aromatic, and Rich and Robust, making it easy for even the most indecisive of cocktail drinkers to land on the ideal beverage." - Maya MacEvoy, Thom Hilton

"Get a Front-Row Seat at the Teardrop Lounge If you enjoy drinking cocktails, you'll like the Teardrop Lounge. If you enjoy seeing them made, you'll like it even more. It was pure fluke that when we arrived, the only seats remaining were the two barstools next to the wait-station, and we took them willingly, because we'd heard good things about this place from a gin-distilling friend in London . Speaking of gin and tonic, this place makes its own tonic water from scratch, and it's a million times better than the anaemic stuff that comes out of a soda stream. What was supposed to be a place to kill some time before the cinema turned into an hour-long entertainment in itself. The mixologist was kept on his toes—the bar was at capacity and the orders just kept coming—and we didn't see him slow or stop for a second. From Tom Collinses to Negronis to Long Island Iced Teas, not to mention the raft of house cocktails that the Teardrop is famous for, he was stirring, shaking, and sluicing incessantly. And if we'd thought that would make him too busy to talk to the likes of us—well, we were very wrong. He was charming, insightful, interested in what we were up to, and witty (at one point, looking a little exhausted, he told me "If you came in here and ordered a simple gin and tonic, I wouldn't just make it for you, I'd buy it for you"). Seriously, I couldn't recommend this place more highly. Go there. And give the barman a break."

"The founder of one of Portland’s most influential cocktail bars, Daniel Shoemaker of Teardrop Lounge, figured it was best to have a unified front in instituting a vaccination policy." - Alex Frane