Bar Review: Grandma’s

A blonde woman and a young man in a hat are singing a duet: “I put your picture away/ Sat down and cried today/ I can’t look at you/ When I’m lyin’ next to her,” while the backup band jams on an inflatable blue guitar and a few middle-aged couples slow-dance. Thursday through Saturday, it’s karaoke night at the elfin, underground refuge that is Grandma’s (4515 SE 41st Ave., 774-1822). Surrounded by log-paneled walls and a décor of beaded old-lady purses, a wagon wheel and three portraits of Marilyn Monroe, my Reed friends and I have spend many, many nights drinking the big booth under the Last Supper-esque carved-wood scene—one of many carvings that adorn the walls. Grandma’s is your living room, but with really cheap happy-hour drinks; thick, tasty fries; pool; darts and Turkey Hunting USA. Most of all, it’s a place to sing and be sung along with by the friendliest crowd in town.

Published 2006.