I mentioned to my buddy that I went here and he said, "Total Sellwood crowd." Â I really don't know what that means. Â They looked like your average bunch of people. Â No one was being a 'try hard' othat I could see.
The place is really green. Â Not new...Just green. Â All the walls are green.
Anyways. Â This is a neighborhood bar. Â Seems to cater to the late twenties crowd. Â Not a ton of seating. Â A decent sized bar. Â Couple of pool tables. Â And a sort of not really at all clean bathroom.
The good thing about this place is that one can come here and socialize.  It's friendly like that.  The food is fine  Not super special.  They have a decent menu for a bar.  The burgers are greasy and the pours are heavy....and rightly so!
I've gone here for several years to the restaurant side and actually have always enjoyed the food - but I have to wonder if it's been taken over recently by new mgmt, because I had an awful breakfast this past weekend. My wife's biscuit and gravy was a rock - literally could not cut it - but the waitress insisted it was made that day. I ordered the Challah French Toast and felt it was rather bland, along with the eggs and hash browns also.
A huge disappointment - time to find a new spot in West Moreland. If anybody is looking to open a good breakfast spot - several for lease spots down here right now - you'd be welcome and appreciated!
It's okay. Â Some people think it's a destination, but it's just a competent neighborhood bar. Â It took a long time to get our drinks (and there were three people working the floor) and one of them was quite possibly the worst old fashioned made in the history of bartending. Â It's like they forgot to put a spout in the bitters bottle.
Our server did split the check without being asked. Â So that was pretty cool. Â That would normally be worth an extra star, but the Long Island Iced Teas in carafes is such a bad idea I'm going to withhold it.
I've been wanting to try Limelight for a while, and the breakfast menu was such a pleasant surprise! I was treating a mean hangover, and the cure was definitely a Hair of the Dog mimosa and the giant stack of pancakes. Those fluffy morsels melted in my mouth - coating my devastated tummy with tasty goodness.
The prices were super reasonable, and I was entranced with the face-sized breakfast burrito my friends ordered. I will definitely be going back to try some of that Salmon Benedict.
I was impressed with their in-house vodka infusions, they make a good strong cocktail. Â The waitress was frustrated that only 2 of 5 was eating, she made that clear, as the rest of us were just drinking. Â Unfortunately, what she didn't even give us an opportunity to say was that one in our party was underage so we were forced to sit on the restaurant side. Â Perhaps we ought not be punished for that either way? Â The food wasn't anything to rave about, standard bar fare.
Review Source:My second visit to the Limelight was for happy hour, but sadly happy hour wasn't going on when we arrived. Â Oh well. Â We started out with some vodka based drinks that were nice and summery. Â I decided against fried food and got myself a salad instead. Â The Carne Asada salad ($9.75) is really good here. Â A nice portion of rare steak with all kinds of goodies like beans and lettuce and cheese and corn chips with a cucumber (?) salad dressing. Â Very tasty. Â Highly recommend. Â Nice service too.
Review Source:My husband and I love The Limelight. Â The staff is always friendly and accomodating, the breakfast is consistantly tasty, Taco Tuesday's are the bomb and the the cocktails are awesome. Â I noticed the two latest reviews and I was also there for breakfast on that day... It was the day of The Shamrock Run the breakfast staff was slammed. Â We too waited a bit for our breakfast (there were some big groups before us), which was hot and delicious (the food NOT the groups). Â If you read reviews and want to know the skinny on a place from someone who has real experience take it from me this place is great, every bar and restaurant can make mistakes on occasion and to make a decision based on one time after a big event such as The Shamrock Run you are doing yourself a disservice and to post a review based on that one time you are doing everyone else a disservice.
Review Source:horrendous service. would never come back. the only time our waiter "waited" on us was when he took our order, he never came back to refill our drinks, or to ask if everything was okay, or to say something about the long hold up. it took over an hour for us to get our food, and it was cold by the time we got it. definitely would not recommend.
Review Source:Went in after seeing a movie next door.  Went to the resturant  side for burgers after. The food was good bar food.  Red head waitress must have been having a really hard day. She basically threw our food on the table. I watched her dare a customer to argue that their order was NOT wrong and then had the pleasure of listening to the almost comical sound effect of her literally throwing the dirty dishes into the bus boy bin.  Seriously she could have not made more noise if she tried. The accoustics are not that great.... So sorry to say I won't go back because of the waitress.  The food and drinks were fine and there was a nice variety in the patrons.  But I don't like being waited on by someone who should NOT deal with the general public.  If you like being abused by the wait staff then go for it.  Or look in the window and see if some one else is working.
Review Source:The Limelight (the restaurant portion) is a homey, friendly, wonderful restaurant with really delicious food. They have a very decent happy hour on weekdays, and a bountiful brunch on weekends. They also have outdoor seating, and a great, lower-light lounge/bar, in a separate room. It's often quiet (good acoustics), and always feels comfortable.
From burgers to chicken to veggie fare, including great salads, this food is tops for Sellwood!
We often get the Salmon Louie which is served with lightly fried salmon (not greasy at all), hard boiled eggs, a generous portion of fresh avocado, tomatoes, swiss cheese, and cucumbers. It's heavenly! I also love their regular salad.
I also highly recommend their cakes. They're delicious!
Everything is reasonably-priced, and service is top-notch friendly.
Okay, major pet peeve: Servers and/or bartenders who place your drink in front of you by holding it by the rim. Your money-handling hands and my mouth should NOT mix. My server here did this EVERY time. Gross.
For that reason alone, I won't be back.
But her attitude about ordering a drink when we ordered HH tator tots was surprisingly rude. I intended to order a drink, I just wasn't sure which one yet. Geez, lady.
The tator tots were nothing special. (And yes, tator tots CAN be special! Try them at Brooklyn Park Pub if you want to see what I'm talking about.)
The carne asada salad I ordered was okay, but too small for the price. 3 slices of meat and less than 1/4 of an avocado, sprinkled with corn and black beans. Meh. And it should have been served in a bigger bowl so I could stir the dressing in without losing half of the iceberg lettuce. The dressing and meat were tasty, but for $9.00 they needed to add more of both.
On the upside: the Black Opal was the tastiest drink I may have ever had. EVER. And strong. That's the only reason this place gets 2 stars instead of 1.
Every dive bar has got to come up for air every once again. This reviewer found the limelight basking in the sun of a dive bar that has come of age to realize that pbr in a glass, does not a business make.
A solid menu, good strong drinks for fair prices, cute staff and a solid burger ( not slow bar quality but better than a mcmanins meat puck).
It's a great sneak joint when yur hungover and the cure is a bloody Mary.
Thumbs up!
Their food is the best deal on the street (not the cheapest but in terms of price and quality), the beer selection is no bueno though. Â The staff is very friendly, sometimes on the weekends it's too crowded to get into the bar side but the restaurant side is open till about 11 I think. Â I don't do mixed drinks but I hear they are good and strong. Â Breakfast is great here as well as lunch or dinner.
Review Source:I've been going to the Limelight for many years, it's just gotten better and better. Great for drinks after work, dinner and breakfast. Â There's a bar side and a diner side. The atmosphere feels very local, a little divey, but that's the secret!
Happy hour - great place, good prices. They actually serve 'real' food - soup, salad, quesadillas - not just the stuff dunked in grease. The beer selection is limited, but the full bar makes up for it.
Dinner is very good. They have the typical diner food, but also some excellent salads, sandwiches, soups and entree specials such as pork loin, salmon and steak.
Breakfast is wonderful, not overly greasy. Eggs, french toast & fruit are my favorite options. It seems like no one knows they serve breakfast - it's not usually packed. But I like it better than Fat Alberts a few doors down.
So, Me and four of my friends show up at the limelight at 11 pm last night. Â We were checking out the bars in the neighborhood that we were moving to. Â When we walked in there were 7 other people in the bar...not too busy which is exactly what I said to the bartender. Â Her reply ' fuck off' '. Â I thought she was just kidding with me. Â Nope. Â Not even a little. Â WTF!?! Â She looked us over especially at our friend who was our DD and none of us had had more than 2 drinks as this was our second bar and she said..."ah...I'm going to have to refuse service" Â Really??? Â We got kicked out of a bar? Â I don't know what her problem was, maybe a bad say, maybe a bad life and I don't really care. Â I guess we'll just have to take our money somewhere else. Â I suppose that the owners of the limelight don't need me or my friends business. Â And as a person who works in the service industry I'll make sure I dont recommend this bar.
Review Source:The Limelight is the best bar in the Sellwood/Milwaukie area. Â The bartenders are always on their game and they're never pissy. Â Â Much better than that hole, Pogo's across the street. Â Drinks are stiff and the food is good. Â The Clam Chowder is my favorite chowder not located at the beach.
The only thing is the jukebox sucks now. Â It used to have more music and was cheaper.
After working up a sweat roller-skating at Oaks Park one night, a dear friend took me to the Limelight for the first time. "You gotta try the fries... " Â
We each poured over the menu, hungry from our laughter and hours of skating and all decided to get the veggie burgers w/ fries ("You gotta try the fries... "). None of us are vegetarians but the veggie burger just sounded sooo good. One of our party got her veggie burger w/ bacon AND cheese on top.
It was probably 10pm, fairly hoppin' w/ people, and our food came out super quick, hot and singing happy fry oil songs. The friend who'd been there before ordered a side of their jalapeno mayo, which we ate on our fries and burgers (me more so than the others, but I totally need FAT in my diet so I'm not scared of mayo. It was good shit.). Gotta have the mayo w/ the killer fries.
The Limelight has a few pool tables and a nice dark glowy nightlife vibe. The food was great, fast, and all prepared in-house. Food prices were good. Our server was friendly, prompt and attentive. Â I have nothing but snaps for the Limelight.
Thanks for saving our hungry asses.
Oh, yah, try the fries.
I didn't go for the Long Island Iced Tea because, well, the last time I drank them was in college and was driving the next day from LA to SF. Â I had to pull over on the Grapevine and heave in the emergency lane. Â It's bad when you're that toxic the next day.
Very strong pours, fairly reasonable prices and zero-attitude bartenders. Â Someone apparently deposited their paycheck into the juke box and dominated with 80s tunes. Â Lots of TVs for watching some team called the "Blazers" all you yeeps keep fawning over. Â
I did not have to pull over on Alberta the next day and heave. Â Plus one star.
Limelight's an a-ok kind of place on a cute strip of Sellwood. Â All servers/bartenders I have ever encountered there are super nice, and it's a good place to meet my work peeps (geographically, that is). Â
I have had excellent lunches there (great salads!) and always had a nice time with the after-work crowd. Â Went last week for a birthday thing- pleasant as always. Â A monumental, bronzed, bejewelled, thumbs up to LL for having shoestring fries. Â Basic bar fare, but I believe the veggie burger is housemade? Â That's always a nice touch, and love the brioche bun. Â
It gets the job done for drinks and snacks with no hassle.
Alright, picture this - one day you're spinning one of your old Cramps discs when the song "Let's Get F*cked Up!" comes on and you say to yourself, "yeah, why not?" Â But you don't want to spend a fortune, and maybe even if you're a beer lover, you don't feel like drinking a half dozen beers just to get a buzz (hello beer belly!). Â What do you do?
If it's a Tuesday, you head over to the Limelight on SE Milwaukee Blvd in Westmoreland for $4 Long Island Iced Teas. Â That's exactly what I did last Tuesday, and the ensuing evening was one I won't soon forget!
LIITs at the Limelight are served in a half carafe, and they really should take your keys as soon as you order one. Â Luckily for me, My Lady would be swinging by later to scoop me up so I didn't have to drive home. Â They also should have a warning label on each one - "Caution: Consumption of this beverage will result in total obliteration of all mental faculties. Imbibe with care!"
LIIT #1: "Hey this doesn't taste half bad! Â I can't believe this is almost entirely alcohol."
LIIT #2: "Whoa, I'm starting to really feel this. Â Maybe I should order some food before this really goes to my head."
LIIT#3: "OK, the wheels are starting to come off...things are getting a bit hazy and I'm singing Sepultura, Clutch, and Rick Astley with two guys I've never met before."
LIIT#4: "I begin suffering from 'rolling blackouts', did I pay for this drink? Â Did somebody buy it for me? Â I didn't just sing the theme song to 'Fraggle Rock', did I?"
LIIT #5: BLAAAAAAHHHHRRG!
I doubt I had more than 5 half carafes, but really can't be sure. Â I did make it home (mostly) before violently rejecting Long Island's finest gift to the drinking world.
Somehow my debit card was in my wallet, though I had no recollection of paying my tab; the receipt said it came to $24, but there were about 7 of us around the table buying drinks for one another so you can't really tell much from that.
I did spend more money in the jukebox than I had in the previous 36 months combined (at least $10). Â I also got invited to a Superbowl party, to that's pretty cool. Â I also apparently handed out some candy to strangers.
OK, so this review doesn't really tell you that much about the Limelight...but in a way, it tells you all you need to know.
OK, none of the other yelpers seem to recall my presence at Limelight on the evening of the infamous Darth Vader debacle but to put in my two cents the waitress was fairly prickly. Â Geez guys, I feel like Claudius, I was there...remember???? Â LOL! Â
I understand ordering a water in a dive bar can be annoying, especially when you order a bottled water but whatever, I would have still given her a tip. Â After ordering a water (and being called a wussy...thank you!) several other yelpers ordered drinks. Â When another yelper ordered a Darth Vader and laughter erupted the waitress threw her hands up in the air and stormed off, saying something about when you are serious about ordering let me know. Â None of the drinks that we ordered were brought over to the table. Â
When I finally went up to the bar to again order a water she was just as prickly. Â Whatever, guess I wouldn't expect anything more from a dingy dive bar.
That being said...they had very cool, unique drinks on the menu that were not pricey. Â There was a pool table, a couple TVs, a big screen if I remember correctly, and several tables. Â I think I saw a dart board as well. Â I think if you want a no nonsense, no frills, don't expect awesome service bar than this may be your place. Â Everyone seemed to like their drinks and I heard that they were strong. Â So, whatever....three stars. Â
And I really was there, I swear!
JW's account is spot on...except for one minor detail...
Let's re-tell the story from my seat:
Ron orders a drink. JW order a drink. Melinda's +1 orders a drink. JW interrupts the bartender by jumping up in pure joy that Melinda's plus one has just ordered the Darth Vader, some sort of Long Island+Jager concoction, and jubilantly requests a high five -- completely body blocking the server from the rest of the group. The server storms off, saying over her shoulder "When you're serious about ordering let me know."
Absolutely hilarious.
1 star in JW's book.
3 stars in mine.
I like my servers with atitude but an atitude with reason.
This is a case of busy night and just trying to get by it. Our server was told to be good and fast at first until we (a group of more thn 5 people saying hi's and hello's) came. A nicer and more pleasant remark would be more appreciated.
The drink I had is good and sweet. Black Opal will surely give you a good buzz.
This is where I got rejected by my hot racist. But I'd like to say that I enjoyed a mixed drink called HELLO KITTY! So Kewl!!!! (I'm a girl damnit so I'm allowed) It tasted like a stiff strawberry bubble tea after the whipped cream dissolves into the drink. I had the calamari appetizer and it wasn't too bad.. like the other reviewer said, it came in long flat strips, not parts/rings, that's a first for me. The drinks are cheap and good for a divey spot. This is a little out of the way for those on the westside or even coming from downtown- that's alot of hoop jumping for a man/woman just so ya know. Probably not worth it as there are plenty of other dives in Portland that's not so hidden. We sat at the bar.. it was dark and dingy enough for when you feel like poo after being DENIED or feel like hanging yourself after a long day at work. The gin and tonic helps too.
Review Source:Don't stick your nose up at what looks like a dusty restaurant. The Limelight may have been around a while, but it's far from antiquated.
While I haven't visited the lounge part of Limelight, I will definitely vouch for the restaurant. The food is generally pretty basic (however, their shoestring fries are amazing!), but the price really can't be beat.
The Happy Hour drinks are cheap, and the "Iced Teas" that are on special are generally sweet, but pack a huge punch. One will probably get you buzzed.
Oh. My. God.
Finally a nonsmoking dive bar that doesn't regularly book folk music!
It's dank, it's dirty...it's rock and roll baby.
Whether you're staring in awe at their plentiful bar....or satisfying a craving to lose a rather serious wad of cash to video poker, this place is A-ok.
Sheer proof that a dive bar that doesn't allow smoking can be successful...it was B to the Usy when we went in there.
Great place...didn't eat, but the drinks were strong and the whiskey burned going down...what more can you ask for?
Free pool and cold beer are hard to beat
Who doesn't love a happy hour that starts at 2 p.m. and goes until 6 p.m.? It's called adult hookey time, and those of us with flexible hours love it.
Throw in free pool on Tuesdays and Sundays and a rocking juke box, and you have my new favorite bar. I just wish it was down the block and I didn't have to drive. I haven't ate any meals here, but the fries rock and with some cold beer, that's all you really need while playing a good game of pool.
Tip: Beer and well drinks are only $2.50 during happy hour.
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