The Lamp - Portland, Oregon

Located next door to the Aladdin Theater, The Lamp (formerly Paolas) is not just a destination for concertgoers. This intimate restaurant and lounge is serving up great food, in a friendly atmosphere. Local businesses and residents from the Brooklyn Neighborhood are all buzzing about this great addition to the community. The Lamp has great beers, both on tap and bottled, select wines, and a full bar featuring top shelf bourbons and whiskies.

Tom Sessa, General Manager of the Aladdin Theater, describes the vibe of The Lamp:

"We have tried to transfer the same feeling that customers have when they come to the Aladdin, into the Lamp. Comfortable, friendly, and great customer service."
As for the food and drink, it is all excellent. Definitely not your standard bar food. Try the Smoked Salmon Fritters or the Blackened Catfish Po-Boy, two specialty menu items for The Lamp that are loved by all who try them. Or the chicken strips, which are house cut and breaded, not frozen.

The Lamp also has all of the Oregon Lottery games featuring Video Poker and Video Line games. And soon to open for the summer is our patio, located right in front of The Lamp. Come see us soon...for lunch, before a show, or on a casual night out...The Lamp is the new destination for food, fun and drinks!

The Lamp recently got written up in the Portland Tribune as the bar of the week! Check out the entire article here:

Bar of the Week: The Lamp Aladdin takes over its own post-show bar

Portland Tribune, May 19, 2006

It sometimes seems there's no limit to the lengths to which people will go to have the cleverest gimmick, the most elaborate theme, for their bar.

In 2002, a bar opened in Stockholm, Sweden, made entirely out of ice. The walls are ice, the bar is ice, the chairs and tables are ice, even the glasses are made of huge, hollowed-out ice cubes.

Since its inception, the Ice Bar has been the subject of numerous magazine articles. It's been frequented by such celebrities as Pierce Brosnan and Bono, and has been called "the most celebrated alcoholic attraction in Sweden."

This is all very well, except that sometimes you don't want your bar to look like a Polynesian village, or a pirate ship, or (like the Ice Bar) Superman's Fortress of Solitude. You want it to look like a bar ~ ideally with prices to match. And while Southeast Portland's the Lamp isn't likely to be featured on the cover of Bleeding-Edge Design Quarterly anytime soon, a solid menu and generous happy hour should help it worm its way into the hearts of neighborhood barflies.

Right next to the Aladdin Theater, the Lamp (formerly Paola's) only recently was acquired by the established music venue. The move makes sense; with the bar nestled right under the Aladdin's marquee, the two establishments have always looked like they belonged together.

If you're a regular visitor to the Aladdin, you'll appreciate having a place to go for a mixed drink during shows. If you're not, you'll want to acquaint yourself with the club's schedule, anyway: The Lamp declares happy hour after every Aladdin show, and there aren't too many other places where you'll find drink and food specials at 11 p.m. on a weeknight.

The happy hour in question (also held daily from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m.) features $2.50 well drinks, $1.50 PBRs and a food menu where everything is $4, from smoked-salmon fritters to a complete BBQ beef sandwich. Of course, if you arrive before the chef leaves (an unpredictable event), you can sample the more traditional full menu, which includes impressive pizzas as well as steaks and pasta. Entrees range from $8 to $12.

The atmosphere is frankly nondescript, though cozy, and the room hardly will be unrecognizable to devotees of the old Paola's. And as plain as it is, it's still a lot less off-putting than a bar carved out of a block of ice.

by Marty Smith

3023 S.E. Milwaukie Ave., 503-234-7000, 11 a.m. to midnight daily (open later after late concerts)