White Owl Social Club

Last weekend I met up with a friend to get the latest pair of bottle cap earrings she had crafted for me. In the course of our conversation she mentioned that she'd recently been to the White Owl Social Club where their happy hour included $2 pints and tasty food. Not one to pass up an inexpensive pint, especially one so close to my inner SE abode, it only took three days from hearing about White Owl into visiting White Owl.

Housed in a black corner building on SE 8th between Madison and Main, the space had been known by multiple names in the past, most recently Plan B. I had never been to Plan B although I did recall walking by it during a visit to a few distilleries in the area mostly because it seemed like such an odd name. So while I don't know what it looked like before I can say that the impression the solid black exterior gives (divey) is incongruent with what is inside. The interior, while modest in size is clean and contemporary, if a bit dark, with a combination of tables, booths, bar seating and an outdoor, covered patio.

Hunkering down at a booth and taking a look at the menu it was clear that my friend had not led me astray. Indeed, happy hour is offered everyday from 3 - 6 p.m. with all of their draft beers $2, potato boots are 2-for-1 and burgers are $5. The beer was the primary draw and I was not disappointed in the 10+ offerings with Migration Black Hearted IPA and Stone Ruination particularly catching my eye alongside brews from Boneyard, Upright, Oakshire, Ninkasi, Cascade Lakes, Deschutes, Hopworks and Double Mountain.

Being that we were there during happy hour we decided we should give the food a go, too. Potato Boots (loaded potato skins) can be made to order but we chose to go with the premade combinations of "Southeast Style" and "Gresham Style." Both were quite tasty as were the buffalo burgers we ordered a short time later. They aren't gigantic 1/2 lb burgers but neither are they the barely there "burgers" you get at a drive through. The non-happy hour price of $9 might be a bit steep but for $5, they're well worth it.

It was a good visit (with none of the service issues noted on some Yelp reviews) and a place we'll likely be returning to soon, often or both. If you've checked it out I'd enjoy hearing what you thought of it. If not, make plans to stop in soon.

For a good look at the place, check out Thrillist's slide show.