Hale Pele

By Penelope Bass

There is something undeniably appealing about a bar that feels like a theme park but promises a much shorter line for booze, hence the resurgence of high-profile tiki bars across the country like Lost Lake in Chicago, Smuggler's Cove in San Francisco and Latitude 29 in New Orleans. (But not Trader Vic's in Portland, apparently—RIP.) Hale Pele is everything you could ever possibly want from the genre, from a delightfully kitschy interior (pufferfish lanterns and periodic thunderstorms) to a remarkably broad assortment of things being set on fire. But where Hale Pele really sets a high bar (or low limbo stick?) is in the quality of its cocktails. Though tiki drinks were long sneered at as cruise-ship abominations, the revived popularity of the genre has made bartenders, and drinkers, appreciate the complexity and finely tuned balance of a well-made tiki cocktail. Order damn near anything on the menu, from the ultra-boozy Zombie Punch ($15, limit two per customer) to the creamy but not-too-sweet Coconaut ($12), and you're bound to be delighted as a sugar-high kid who just rode Space Mountain the first time.

Happy hour: 4-6 pm daily. Discounted food and drinks.

Entertainment: Thunderstorms, volcanoes, fire.

2733 NE Broadway, 503-662-8454, halepele.com. 4 pm-midnight Sunday-Thursday, 4 pm-1 am Friday-Saturday.

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