Beaker & Flask

With their adroit balance of fine drink and fine victuals, Beaker & Flask’s kitchen and bar are one good-looking gastronomical power couple, the devotion and inventiveness demonstrated by owner/lead bartender Kevin Ludwig and crew deftly matched by chef Ben Bettinger’s sophisticated but unstuffy menu.

If you’ve been having difficulties sealing the deal on past dates, and you’re convinced a subpar setting and not you is to blame, it might be prudent to patronize Beaker & Flask the next time you score some coveted digits.

If you’re a cocktail aficionado or cute bartender groupie, sit at the bar for a front row view of all the shaking and stirring going on, or claim one of the U-shaped booths looking out over the surrounding Southeast industrial landscape and West Portland horizon. Sip some of the city’s finest cocktails, tagged with tongue-in-cheek tags like The Cold Shoulder and Anger Management, out of mismatched vintage stemware as you contemplate dishes like pork cheeks with pickled octopus, mustard grilled rabbit with chanterelles and sherry cream, maple-braised pork belly and creamed kale, sublimely pillowy ricotta gnudi in balsamic brown butter, and the crowd-pleasing (and messy) whole ear of grilled corn slathered with poblano aoili and grano padano cheese.

In its liquor-laudatory spread, The Best Bars in America 2010, Esquire Magazine named Beaker & Flask in the subcategory “The Bar You Take a Woman To.” Not long after, the Portland Mercury named it one of “Portland’s Seven Sexiest Restaurants.” So, if you’ve been having difficulties sealing the deal on past dates, and you’re convinced a subpar setting and not you is to blame, it might be prudent to patronize Beaker & Flask the next time you score some coveted digits.

Details

Cuisine: New American

Executive Chef: Benjamin Bettinger

Owner: Kevin Ludwig

Atmosphere: Cool, classic Southeast bar and restaurant with a laid-back vibe, great views, and an eclectic mix of patrons

Outdoor seating: No

Best Seat: If the sun isn't blazing through the front windows, I love to sit in the curved booths lining the front wall. The bar is also great fun.

Noise Level: Normal to Energetic, depending on the crowd

Dress Code: Casual or swanky, the atmosphere can go both ways

Bring the Kids: No

Bathrooms: All the way to the back, past the kitchen, through the back door, and down the hall

Parking: Parking is free and generally easy to find on surrounding streets

Cocktails: An outstanding cocktail list that is seasonally driven and always interesting

Beer: A half dozen West Coast beers on draft ($5), a dozen-plus domestic and international brews by the bottle

Wine: A well thought out wine selection with roughly a dozen glasses of wine by the glass ($7-$13)

Vegetarian Friendly: Yes

Good for the following occasions: Dinner with Friends, a Damn Good Cocktail, Girls' Night Out, Nightcap

Reservations: Yes, call or go on OpenTable

Take-Out: No

Delivery: No

Wi-Fi: Yes