The Beaumont Neighborhood (Not to be confused with Belmont), is a larger NE neighborhood, stretching from 33rd to 50th, with Fremont cutting through it west to east. Beaumont is a cozy, residential neighborhood, filled with homes rather than apartments, and with a median age greater than areas like Alberta Arts or Division/Clinton. While you may not make a crazy night in Beaumont like you might in Inner Buckman, there are a number of excellent restaurants and bars serving up great food and drinks during happy hour. Here are four of our favorites. Let us know if we missed your favorite Beaumont hangout on our Facebook or Twitter.
 

Littlewares, the Summer pop-up restaurant from chef and restaurateur Joanna Ware, is closed, but Smallwares and Barwares are still going strong, bringing some of the best “inauthentic Asian” food to Portland in the form of delectable tapas. Happy hour at Smallwares is 5–7 PM and features a number of discounted small plates and drink specials to kick off your evening. Highlights include Smallwares’ take on an old-fashioned, The “O.G.” Whiskey ($7, pictured at top) made with Old Overholt Rye and a homemade garam masala syrup and the Draw Me Like One of Your French Girls ($5), a local pilsner topped with a spicy, slushy margarita that is both surprising and delicious. Try them with the Mac & Cheese ($8) with bacon and gochujang; the Fried Eggplant ($7) with shrimp balls and sweet soy yuzu kosho aioli; the Pork Belly Musubi ($6), on rice with a harissa kimchi sauce; or any of the other rotating dishes. Smallwares also offers a late night happy hour menu with larger dishes but no drink specials.

 

 

Kate and Alex Wood, owners of Aalto Lounge on Belmont, opened Bang Bang in early 2015, and we’ve been fans of the curry bowls and cocktails ever since. Originally, happy hour was only available after 10 PM on the late night menu, but they’ve recently added a happy hour at opening, 5–6 PM. The menu features snacks (all GF, like the rest of the menu) including Crab & Pork Spring Rolls ($5), a variety of Skewers ($2), and more. Whatever you do, do not miss the Drunken Wings, with sweet garlic soy: they challenge Pok Pok’s for best Asian wings in Portland . The menu also features glasses of wine for $4 and specialty cocktails, including the excellent Bang Bang Old Fashioned ($6, pictured right), with Old Grand-Dad Bonded Bourbon and housemade orange-cardamom bitters. After 10 PM there are bonus items, including the amazing Bang Bang Panang Curry Bowl ($12), with the option of either tofu or fried chicken.
 

Happy Hour: Monday–Sunday, 5–6 PM & 10 PM–12 AM (4727 NE Fremont St.; 503-287-3846)
 

Proprietor Andy Diaz moved from NYC to open this cute neighborhood spot. Blackbird mostly pours wines from smaller wineries and distributors, offering a selection of rare and unique wines by the glass and bottle you can enjoy while sitting in library seats at long tables. Informational classroom posters line the walls, so patrons can educate themselves while imbibing. Blackbird also offers a menu of wine-friendly food including panini, crostini, charcuterie, and, of course, cheese plates. Happy hour is simple – $1 off all wine pours, and it’s all day on Sunday and Monday.
 

Happy Hour: Tuesday–Thursday, 2–5 PM; Friday & Saturday, 12–3 PM; Sunday & Monday, All day (4323 NE Fremont St.; 503-282-1887)
 

It’s tempting to call Mad Hanna a “dive bar”—a non-descript building filled with pool tables and video poker machines, inhabited by mostly locals, and serving only the minimum amount of food needed by the OLCC (including PB&J sandwiches for $3!). But to do so would be disingenuous; owned and operated by the eponymous Crystal Maddix and Elizabeth Hanna, it’s a welcoming, cozy, spotlessly clean bar with a familial atmosphere. The drinks might be cheap, but the quality isn’t. Play some pool, throw some horseshoes, or buy a drink for an absent friend—they’ll put their name on a board so your friend can claim it later. Happy hour sees the cheap menu even more affordable with $3.50 pints and $2.50 wells.
 

Happy Hour: Monday–Friday, 2–6 PM; Saturday & Sunday, 12–3 PM (6129 NE Fremont St.)
 

Not all bars in Portland are dives or fancy cocktail spots; we have casual bars unique to the city. Fire on the Mountain is a local chain where you can get down on a plate of hot wings, from sweet to scorching. If wings aren’t your thing, there are plenty of other options, from pizza to sandwiches and salads. It’s a family-friendly, casual spot, but that doesn’t keep it from being quintessentially Portland; the chickens are free-range, organic chickens from NoCal, the fryer oil gets turned into biodiesel, to-go containers are compostable, and now Fire on the Mountain has its own brewery at the Beaumont location. At happy hour, quench your burning palate with a discounted beer. Specials include $1 off pints and $3 off pitchers.

Happy Hour: Monday–Sunday, 3–6 PM (3443 NE 57th Ave.; 503-894-8973)

Smallwares photo via Little Green Pickle; Bang Bang photo by Alexander Frane