Portland, Oregon: Billy Ray's Neighborhood Dive

Just as songs with “Rock & Roll” in the title usually fail to actually “rock,” it’s wise to be dubious of a place that nominates itself as a “dive.” But Billy Ray’s is the exception. Here is complete truth in advertising. The much-loved Portland hangout is fittingly low-key and welfare-check cheap. Pints of PBR are a mere $1.50 at happy hour. The A-frame structure looks a lot like an abandoned hunting lodge. There’s a jukebox stocked with country classics and punk rock. Six—count ’em—six different pinball machines. Even a ping-pong table on the back patio for guzzlers to consider after their third or fourth pint. (For those on the go, the men’s bathroom has no lock to impede nature’s call.) It’s a cash-only joint with no booze, both true dive signifiers. Should anyone get antsy for higher culture, however, the adjacent Billy Reed’s club books jazz and blues bands almost every night.

Photos: Jackie Butler