Dive Bar Challenge: ‘Reel M’ In Tavern

Now that the holidays are safely past, it’s time to get back to the Dive Bar Challenge.  Recap: this series is a barometer to determine just how far good beer has seeped into the crevices of supposedly good beer cities.  I’m testing the waters here in Portland, but if enterprising bloggers elsewhere felt their cities stacked up against Beervana, we could have a friendly competition.  Either way, the idea is that good beer towns should be measured by the places you are least likely to find good beer, not the best.  (Read more here.)

Today’s entrant is the oddly-punctuated ‘Reel M’ Inn Tavern.  It is located along the no longer scuzzy segment of Southeast Division Street, but stands testament to what once was.  (Indeed, after the inaugural Challenge, Bill Night suggested it as a “true dive”–and challenge accepted.)  At some point in the not-distant future, we’ll get into the philosophical nature of the term “dive bar,” but I think ‘Reel M’ Inn (henceforth “the Reel”) passes muster.  It i …