Portland bar with a ‘nod to nostalgia’ makes USA Today’s bars of the year list

PORTLAND, Ore. ( KOIN ) – USA Today released its inaugural Bars of the Year list this week — naming one hotel bar in Portland among the best in the 27-bar list.

The bars were selected among USA Today’s network of food writers across the United States — featuring neighborhood taverns, wine bars, and “cocktail meccas,” as first reported by the Salem Statesman Journal .

“When we set out to spotlight the USA TODAY Bars of the Year, we didn’t select the places you would find on your average roundup of best bars. Our food writers are not just spending a few days passing through a city in search of what it has to offer. They live in the towns they cover. They work there. They drink there,” USA Today said.

Among the bars on the list: Portland’s Hey Love — located in the Jupiter NEXT Hotel at 920 East Burnside Street.

“In here, it’s summer all year round. The walls are lush with overgrown plants & local art. The music is rich & soulful—and usually at least a few decades old. The food is bold & bright with a hearty nod to nostalgia. The drinks are vibrant, a little bit sexy, and always fun,” according to Hey Love’s website.

The drink menu at the self-described bar/restaurant/plant paradise/neighborhood escape,” includes a mix of beer, wine, slushees, zero-proof drinks, and cocktails to pair with the bar’s brunch and dinner menus.

Some drink names lean into the 80s nostalgia – including the “Fiesta Forever,” a watermelon cosmo that “Will Have You Dancing on the Ceiling,” along with the “Papa Don’t Peach,” a peach mojito with rum, mint, peach, and dry white port.

“Hey Love is both a love letter to Portland & a portal to somewhere else entirely— somewhere friendly, warm, & a little mysterious. It’s a vacation with no stamp in your passport.”

Other bars on the list include Barcoa Agaveria in Phoenix, Arizona; Flora-Bama in Perdido Key, Florida; Neat Bourbon Bar & Bottle Shop in Louisville, Kentucky; and Radio Social in Rochester, New York.

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