The bar Holy Ghost operates at the intersection of Gladstone Street[7] and 28th Avenue in southeast Portland's Creston-Kenilworth neighborhood.[8] The family-friendly[9][10] business is named after a song by the American funk group Bar-Kays.[7] The interior has a marble bar and buble tea shakers nicknamed Jake the Shake Roberts and Shake Gyllenhaal.[11]
Among cocktails on the mezcal and tequila-focused drink menu is a ranch water with infused tequila, a mezcal old fashioned with Cazadores Reposado, and an Altos Plata Aperol spritz.[7] Holy Ghost also serves a drink with bubblegum-infused vodka. The bar has a 400-bottle agave collection and also serves beer, wine (including sparkling varieties), and low-ABV[12] and non-alcoholic drinks made with drinking vinegars, Seedlip, and syrups.[7] One mocktail has gin, ginger, hibiscus, and raspberry, and another is a whiskey chai.[12]
Holy Ghost also has an Agave Social Club, offering regular tastings.[11]
History
The group Three on a Match opened Holy Ghost in mid November 2021,[13] in the building that previously housed the dive bar Pub at the End of the Universe. Holy Ghost opened alongside the pizzeria The Electric Pizza Company[14] (or simply The Electric) and the restaurant 28 Tigers in the same building.[8] Prior to opening, Holy Ghost was among Portland bars committed to enforcing proof of COVID-19 vaccinations.[15][16][17]
Three on a Match planned and prepared for the bar's opening for approximately four years; according to one owner, the concept began as "a napkin with a crude sketch of a bar and a whole load of memories—albeit extremely hazy—of time we spent at the Pub at the End of the Universe". Holy Ghost underwent a remodel before opening.[11] Ezra Caraeff's cocktail menu was inspired by a nearby agave plant.[7]
In 2023, Holy Ghost and other Three on a Match establishments supported teachers during the Portland Association of Teachers strike. The businesses offered free drinks to teachers and an option for patrons to buy drinks for teachers.[18] Holy Ghost and Three on a Match businesses have also bingo events by drag performer Peachy Springs.[19]
Reception
Katherine Chew Hamilton recommended Holy Ghost in Portland Monthly's 2023 overview of eleven bars with non-alcoholic drinks.[12] Holy Ghost won in the Best Bar for Mocktails category of Willamette Week's annual Best of Portland readers' poll in 2024.[20]
