Sapphire Hotel
5008 SE Hawthorne Blvd
Portland, OR 97215
(503) 232-6333
$$ (we made it out of there spending $40 for 2 people, 1 drink each)
Sapphire Hotel is a dark, red, asian-themed bar/restaurant in the lobby of what was once a traveler's hotel, brothel and sailor hangout. They have a small but really good menu with vegetarian as well as meat eaters dishes. On their menu they have a few paragraphs about the history of the place and they really like to promote "kissing" as a past-time in the place. Needless to say, when I was there no kissing was going on, so I felt I had to indulge just for their sake. In addition to what seems like standard fare at most bars these days (exotic specialty cocktail menu) they also have daily-made lemonade in mango or marionberry flavors! Yum!
One nice side-note is that there is a sign in the bathroom that says, "We like you to feel at home here, so if you or your friend has had too much to drink we'll call you a cab, and we'll even pay your fare out of our safe streets fund." Ahh, how sweet! We wonder how much that gets taken advantage of, but it's a good sign that they really care. They care that we don't drink and drive and they care that we kiss, what could be better!