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vegan bar snacks! happy hour at tube.
10September 4th, 2009more restaurants (not LA), portland
one thing we rarely get to enjoy as vegans is cheap bar snacks…but at tube in portland, we can. the arty hipster haven has a badass happy hour from 5 to 10pm with $2 tall boys and loads of vegan menu items at 3 bucks or under.
we hit up tube at around 7pm, before it got super crowded, and dined out on happy hour specials. they also were offering a full dinner menu with lots of vegan options, but we decided bar snacks would be much more special.
my favorite dish we ordered was the professor nanotear muffin pictured above (a slice of grilled vegan ham and vegan cheese between an english muffin and homemade spicy chipotle veganaise, $3). it was thin and greasy, and not much to look at…but it sure tasted fantastic. the vegan ham/cheese/english muffin was a winning combo…soft, salty, melty and crunchy all at once.
vegan ghost dog with mustard. $2
we also tried the vegan ghost dog, a simple vegan hot dog smothered in spicy mustard. now this is definitely something i could make easily at home—but for just $2 in a cool bar, i’ll take it!
lastly, we shared the vegan taco which was freakin’ huge for 3 bucks. it came filled with tasty tofu scramble, which you can’t see in the picture because it’s covered in fresh lettuce and tomatoes. again, this thing wasn’t spectacular…but it was damn good and after eating it, i wanted another.
vegan taco: homemade spicy tofu scramble in a grilled flour tortilla topped with shredded lettuce and vegan cheese and diced tomatoes. $3
the great thing about tube, on top of the vegan-friendly menu, is the design and atmosphere of the place. the place is super slick and super trashy at the same time. everyone who works there is beyond cool and decked out in the height of fashion, like they just stepped out of the pages of an indie rock magazine. the bar is designed to look like the inside of a television, with a green glow and curved glossy walls…and the place is plastered with cool posters and art.
behind the table we were sitting at, there was a pop art piece on the wall with dozens of little red-eyed bunnies, and the word “fuck” scrawled several times beneath them. i dug it.
fuck bunny
after throwing back too many tall boys and snacking away on bar food, i decided it was time to move on to real booze. luckily, tube had a vegan white russian (my favorite drink) on the menu. i was so fucking excited about this, and i don’t know why. i’ve had thousands of vegan white russians in the comfort of my own home, but here i was with the opportunity to drink one in an ultramodern dive bar in one of the coolest cities i’ve ever visited. of course i indulged.
vegan white russian
tube’s vegan white russian was awesome and the bartender gave me a great pour. it would be SO DAMN EASY for all bars to offer this drink…all they need to do is stock some soy creamer behind the bar. until that day, i guess i will just dream of far away places like tube.
so if you like dive bars, modern bars, cool design, hispters, cheap food, or good drinks…be sure to make a stop at tube when you are in portland. you will definitely have a memorable experience.
i fucking love this place.
tube
Tags: alcohol, bar, beer, hot dog, mcmuffin, taco, white russian
18 NW Third Ave
Portland, OR 97209
(503) 241-8823
open 7 days at 5pm
9 responses to “vegan bar snacks! happy hour at tube.” 
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this place looks fucking awesome. grilled ham and cheese…whatwhat!
side note – one time jonathan had to get drunk for a sketch show he was writing for, so he started drinking milk and vodka together thinking that’s what a white russian was. gross.
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graciela September 4th, 2009 at 10:02
Went to Tube for dancing once. Didn’t like it. Maybe the food experience is better.
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miss anthrope September 4th, 2009 at 10:06
@graciela: i was in, out, drunk and full before the dancing even started!
@brittany: hahaha, that’s so disgusting! wait, he HAD to get drunk for something he was writing? WTF?
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@qg – yeah, it was some show called “writing under the influence” where all of the writers had to be on something. jonathan chose alcohol since he never drinks. he drank 3/4th a bottle of vodka on an empty stomach and passed out – but he wanted me to be sure he brushed his teeth before bed. nerd alert!
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I used to literally live two blocks from this place (in Old Town Lofts) and I had no idea they served vegan food.
Then again, I’m not a big drinker…but still! TWO FUCKING BLOCKS AWAY?
Good stuff, miss anthrope! I’ll check this out when i return to visit family in PDX.
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[…] has so much personality, plus offers loads of vegan items from white russians to happy hour snacks. we hit up tube just about a year ago and instantly fell in love; so imagine how excited we were when we went back recently and found they had expanded their menu. […]
Brittany September 4th, 2009 at 08:24