Bar Guide 2014: Bunk Bar

By Matthew Korfhage

Bunk Bar

1028 SE Water Ave., 328-2865, bunksandwiches.com/bunkbar. 11 am-10 pm Sunday-Monday, 11 am-midnight Tuesday-Thursday, 11-1 am Friday-Saturday.

Call it mission creep. Bunk Sandwiches started out on Southeast Morrison Street as a deeply venerable spot for Cubanos and albacore tuna melts, but it's now an empire, spanning the city in six locations, haunting the outskirts of venues from Wonder Ballroom to Moda Center. But the best venue remains its own: Produce Row's humble-sized, whiskey-soaked, wood-grained Bunk Bar may cater to the appetites of condo dwellers during daylight hours, but at night it morphs into one of the best-booked music spots in town. The sound's nothing to speak of, it's too small, and you can't get to the restrooms except by goosing people you don't know. But somehow Thurston Moore, Kurt Vile, Thunder Cat or, hell, Michael Cera is on the stage, in a show that sold out almost before it was announced. Out front, Isaac Brock is smoking cigarettes and pacing. He just came for the show. Do the bands get bribed in sandwiches? The short answer is yes. MATTHEW KORFHAGE.

What plays: Bands by the cool kids.

WWeek 2015

Willamette Week’s reporting has concrete impacts that change laws, force action from civic leaders, and drive compromised politicians from public office. Support WW's journalism today.