Aalto Lounge is a bar in Portland, Oregon. Named after Finnish architect and designer Alvar Aalto, the bar opened in 2000.
Description
Aalto Lounge is a bar along Belmont Street in the district of the same name within southeast Portland's Sunnyside neighborhood.[1]Willamette Week has said the bar as a "sleek, midcentury modern vibe" with DJs, cocktails, and a secluded backroom.[2] The newspaper's Pete Cottell said the Aalto Lounge has a "sleek, cavernous atmosphere that makes everyone inside look 20 percent sexier".[3] Named after Finnish architect and designer Alvar Aalto, the interior has mid-century Scandinavian furnishings.[4]Portland Monthly has described the bar as "on the border between dive bar and hipster hangout".[5]
History
Owned by Alex and Kate Wood,[6] the bar opened in 2000.[1][7] Closed for several months during the COVID-19 pandemic, Aalto Lounge had socially distanced service inside and on the patio, as of September–October 2020.[8][9]
Reception
Aalto Lounge was included in Willamette Week's 2016 list of "Portland's Best Patio Bars for Happy Hour".[10] Readers ranked Aalto Lounge second place in the Best Date Bar and Best Happy Hour categories in the newspaper's "Best of Portland Readers' Poll 2020".[11]Eater Portland's Alex Frane included the bar in his 2019 overview of the city's "most iconic" cocktails.[12] In 2020, the website's Brooke Jackson-Glidden recommended the bar for bachelorette parties.[13]