Bar Guide 2014: Paymaster Lounge

By Rebecca Jacobson

Paymaster Lounge
1020 NW 17th Ave., 943-2780. 2 pm-2:30 am daily.
You'd be forgiven for being unable to keep the name of this bar straight. After an Austin, Texas, bar called Moonshine sent a cease-and-desist, Moonshine became Balls the Cat's Moonshine Kitchen and Lounge, and then finally Paymaster, named after the building's previous check-writing business. (Balls the Cat lives on, on the chalkboard.) Whatever its name, this is a welcome bastion of life in an awkward spot between the Pearl and Trendy-Third, crammed with vintage Pabst and Colt signs, a Heineken windmill and a Rainier poster with a viking conquering a devil-eared Sasquatch. Find your way past the excellent crop of pinball machines (Metallica, Star Wars, The Sopranos) and the wondrous vending machine (pregnancy tests, VHS tapes of The Big Chill) to reach the giant covered patio. REBECCA JACOBSON.

Happy hour: 2-6 pm daily. $4 drafts, $3 wells, $1.50 Hamm's.
Entertainment: Pinball, vending machine, patio, tons of vintage signs and posters.

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