Space Truckin’
Hawthorne dive blasts off
Posted by: John Chandler on Oct 09, 2009 at 10:00AM
3 Comments
The formerly dingy dining area in the Space Room gets a space-age makeover.
View Slideshow »What better way to add extra-terrestrial excitement to a room than with actual ETs?
View Slideshow »This particular specimen once made an appearance on The X-Files, and was acquired via auction.
View Slideshow »Conspiracy buffs will want to pour over these otherworldly clippings.
View Slideshow »We didn’t know Andy Warhol painted aliens!
View Slideshow »Headlines from Roswell! The saucer men have landed!
View Slideshow »Astronauts, aliens, and all-day breakfast: a recipe for success.
If you put a gun to my head (and you will, trust me) and demanded that I reveal my favorite local dive bars, the Space Room would be on the short list. The snuggly booths, goldfish bowl-sized drinks, and atomic-age murals work as a healing balm on my weary soul. So when I heard that a face-lift was on the horizon, I kind of freaked out.
I’ve seen too many unique and eccentric old rooms transformed into bland, corporate lounges with zero personality. Dude, I can’t drink in a sterile environment! Fortunately, new owner Seth Leavens and I are on the same page. The main bar area is pretty much unchanged: the flying saucer lamps still hover overhead, and the cosmic art remains intact. Instead, Leavens had his design team make over the adjoining Brite Spot, also known as that dumpy little diner area that no one ever sat in. Now the room is opened up and the decor matches the rest of the place. Times 10.
The revamped dining room is chock-a-block with outer space accouterments, including Warhol-style alien paintings, alarming UFO newspaper headlines, and, of course, aliens. There’s a grand opening party tonight between 6–10. Drop by, have a bloody Mary, and help christen the new, improved Space Room.
Bonus! The menu now features breakfast served all day! It seems like such a simple thing, but many bars in town seem to have missed the memo. When you go out drinking, and eventually require a greasy pile of carbs to soak up the sauce, nothing, I repeat, NOTHING works better than eggs, potatoes, toast, and bacon. Get it? Got it? Good.
Get a sneak peek at the makeover in this web-exclusive slideshow.
Tags: Slideshow Bar Openings
The only thing missing is an antique radio or phonograph playing Orson Wells. However, the best part is that you can walk into this place and see just about anyone. Rock ’n rollers, hippies, blue collars, white collars, anyone. If you like booze, you can go here. No fuss, no cover charge, or false pretenses. Just booze. Love it.
Ah, I have loved this place for decades… you really had me worried by the headline, and I admit I was kinda freaked out by the time you got to “I kinda freaked out.” First, I was worried the smoking ban would change it forever, but the last time I was in, I could swear is was still hovering in a haze of cigarette smoke left over from the Eisenhower administration. And the juke is still one of the best in town. So SHHHHH!!!
love that place ( well the bar…but now maybe the restaurant too). walked there with some friends on a snowy portland day about 5 years back, slipped in the parking lot and then, once getting inside, slipped into one of them thar comfy booths. heaven!