The Rialto

Pool tables, beer, vast, smokie. That’s the Rialto I’ve known for years. At the corner of 4th and Morrison in SW Portland, the Rialto has always been a favorite spot for the after work pint, as well as some late night grub and pool (and beer). Some year or so ago they closed the place to do some renovations, and I got to visit again for the first time in ages. Some preliminary thoughts follow. It feels smaller to me, and has fewer tables. I’m probably crazy though. The bar is pushed up to the north edge. There are doors on the stalls in the men’s bathrooms, so I figure they’ve priced out the heroin addicts who would nod or die in there. Or maybe they aren’t afraid of the new meth-head thing dropping needles and dying in the can. Two Golden Tee machines and the EA Sports golf game. GT Live ripped us off $4 the bastard. The pool tables look to be the big sub-regulation size (ie, smaller then real, bigger than bar)….didn’t check the prices. The beer selection is the standard downtown selection. Didn’t try the food cuz it was pretty late and I wasn’t hungry. It felt different…way different. The seediness is gone, it feels more like XV. Not sure how that is. So, those are my impressions. My opinion is that I’ll be back, but I miss the old Rialto. It doesn’t feel like the friendly place it was. Not that it was that friendly, but it kinda felt like it was.