On the rare occasion that I travel outside Portland’s city limits, I’m always surprised that I can’t buy a beer at a movie theater. Can I really enjoy the latest J.J. Abrams blockbuster without a well-lubricated suspension of disbelief? Is Andy Samberg funny if you’re stone-cold sober? I hope to never find out. While the rest of the country is just now discovering that people need beer at the movies, Portland pioneered it.
The [everyday activity] + drinking combo may be the actual best thing about living here. It’s one of those quick and easy clues that our culture is morally responsible. I travel frequently to Idaho, where the air is crisp with religious sobriety, and recently spent some time in Florida, where a bottle of gas station wine in a paper bag is the state bird. In places like those, having a sip at the theater or clothing store implies some illicit degeneracy.
Do we sometimes take it too far? Sure. My eye doctor used to give me beers in the waiting room, then test my vision. (That can’t be something they teach you in medical school, right?) But for the most part, we’re still the champions of responsibly drinking while doing stuff. Here are a few of the city’s best also-a-bar activities. (Note: These are actual bars where you can buy a drink, not spots like salons or optometrist’s offices where they just give you free beer for no reason.)