Portland Drinking Guide: The Best Spots for Cocktails Right Now

March 25th, 2014, by Emily McIntyre, Serious Eats

Enter through the curtained, sign-less door of Expatriate in NE Portland, and you are in another world. A world where famed Beast chef Naomi Pomeroy imagines a menu of riveting pan-Asian-inspired bar food, where owner and pedigreed bartender, world traveler, and DJ Kyle Linden Webster bends in total concentration over his spinning records, and where a Chinese moon gate inspires a moment of worship between sips.

The oft-neglected art of mixing a balanced cocktail is central here, and an unashamed focus on hospitality. Sit yourself at the long mahogany bar and soak in the sheer atmosphere of the place. Above your head, on the top shelf of the spirit library, is a round-bellied Blanton's bourbon bottle that glows like molten gold next to a world globe. Know that wherever you are, at this moment you are an expatriate from your home scene. Your explorations end here, with a perfectly executed cocktail and some really great music.