The Whey Bar

This little bar is attached to ox and I had a better experience here than at ox! There was an outdoor seating area with several tables. The staff was very friendly. The cocktail menu was similar to that of ox with a few differences. I got the dirty grandma Agnes. I never thought pickle juice and vodka could be so good! It was like a dirty martini with pickle instead of olive. I also got the homemade ricotta crostini. It was a perfect snack while waiting for dinner. My friend got 6 oysters and she was not disappointed. Overall this was the most enjoyable portion of my dining experience.

This is the waiting bar to Ox. I wasn’t expecting anything but like they say, promise little and deliver amazing. The drinks and the shrimp ceviche was quite honestly the best ceviche I’ve ever had.

This place is a tiny renovated one car garage that serves as Ox’s waiting room. Decent selection of high end drinks and the tenders are really friendly. But seriously $ 6 for a Steelhead rootbeer in the bottle?
Oysters are good, service is a little slow, but hey if you are waiting for Ox, theres really no place else to wait. So meh, well, you know.

I love the Whey Bar! We’re one of those couples who come to the bar at 4pm to get a table at Ox at 5. The oysters are tasty and fresh (I favor the Shigoku), but what really blew my socks off was the prawn cocktail with popcorn (of all things) on top. YUMMY! The cocktail sauce was excellent and the prawns fresh. Instantly fell in love.
Their cocktails are as good as ever; the one with grapefruit (forgot the name) was my favorite.
All in all I like this little bar as the perfect waiting spot for Ox.

Adjacent bar to OX where you can grab a drink while you’re waiting.
I ordered a Grandma Agnes cocktail which has pickle juice + vodka. This was ridiculously good.
From what I can understand, you can use The Whey Bar to kill time while you wait for a table at Ox, or you could dine in and order from their small selection of appetizers. In any case, I’m sure seating is limited come rush hour. As soon as your table is ready, the hostess from next door will come get you, quickly close out your tab at the bar, and whisk you over to the restaurant. Ingenious setup.
Curious about Ox, but you don’t want to commit a full meal there? Come here instead.

What can I say, as long as your oysters are edible, it’s hard to be a total hater. Their selection is completely formidable, and because I rarely have the patience to shuck a dozen after a long day, I’m one of those suckers who will throw $ 36 at $ 7 worth of food.
So let’s accept the fact that it’s easy for places to get away with charging whatever they pull out of a hat for oysters (nice places range from 1.95−4.00 ea for the same stock, it’s like playing a reverse scratch it!), let’s accept the fact that because you are conjoined to one of the city’s most popular steak joints, you’re going to be busy, and busy necessarily equals slow (most times). Let’s accept your drinks are absurdly priced for all the same above reasons. That’s all fine and well, those are the restaurant laws of nature, but what isn’t written into those laws is a need to be overly pompous about what you vend out of a window-​less supply shed– sorry glorified garage.
The drinks were great, the oysters were fresh, but I felt like the service was too, while the location wasn’t, and that’s why I’ll be hitting my old time favorite (bar avignon) before I drop another 3 dozen dollars on one dozen oysters ;)

A life saver when waiting for a table at OX and you’re starving. We enjoyed 4 – 5 different types of oysters on a half shell, a few drinks and roasted corn nuts — DELISH!
The evening that we visited Whey bar it was a bit chilly. It would be a nice investment for the bar/​restaurant to purchase some heat lamps for their patrons comfort. There is a nice covered seating area but seating is limited. Overall it’s a nice place to grab a drink/​nibble and relax till your table is ready.

Great, really interesting cocktails. These people take their drinks very seriously and it shows. The Whey Bar is run by Ox, next door, which is arguably the best restaurant in Portland right now. You can get Ox cocktails (the Ox Blood is damn tasty) and appetizers at The Whey Bar, which had no wait when I visted on a Thursday night.
PRO TIP: Interested in eating at Ox but you aren’t flush in the cash department and you don’t like waiting 1 — 2 hours for a table? I recommend coming for happy hour or just drinks and snacks at The Whey Bar instead. You can get a taster of Ox fare without the long wait. It’s certainly a much cheaper route as well. And if you stop here while you wait for a table at Ox, you can carry your cocktail or wine right on over with you.
My only complaint is that The Whey Bar is to Ox as the Whiskey Soda Lounge is to Pok Pok. That is to say, it really is a wait station for diners waiting to get into Ox (and Ox doesn’t take reservations for parties smaller than six, so there are always people waiting). People’s stay is dictated by how long it takes to get their table.

Save yourself time an just get a whiskey sour. Depending on who makes it, it might come out a bit different, but it’s always the best whiskey sour in portland.

This was a stumble or actually a trip find… meaning we were after a glass of wine/​pint of beer before having dinner elsewhere in PDX… We knew OX at 7 pm on a Saturday would be packed but decided to give t a whirl. we entered OX, and even at the bar there was a 90 minute wait… were told to try their new «Whey Bar» in a separate small building adjacent.
We said whaaa?
This place IS hidden… its small and feels a bit like someone converted their garage into a bar… however, although a bit cramped. a full bar, table seating and frankly the best selection of fresh oysters in town… The oyster bar isnt wide enough to hold 12 oysters… but what the hell… they were awesome!
The staff VERY friendly… and did a great job not knocking people glasses and oysters over in this «petite» space.
Glass of Cava… glass of Pilsner, perfect.
We’ll certainly re visit… perhaps later… on a weekday… I’m 6’4′…she’s 5′ 10″. I’d say anyone under 5’9′ …will be just fine:) …will be back leg cramps and all

Not bad… Not bad at all. $$$ though.
three drinks, and 6 oyesters… $ 45.00 Not my ideal start to a dinner at ox which is next door but we went H.A.M. and were prepared to not hold back.
The first drink I tried was their pickle martini which was basically a dirty martini but with pickle juice. It was refreshing and unique. I enjoyed it. It was a nice lead up to my actual dirty martini. The oyester sampler was awesome and served on the rocks with three different sauces all three complimented the oyesters in theri own special way.
Great idea for the spill over and wait time for their other business «ox» I’m starting to see this theme more often. No reservations, lets herd you over to our next door neighbor bar (that we own too) serve you up some drinks and apps… Clever… Might as well! I hope to be back sooner rather than later.

So, Ox doesn’t take any reservations, and there is really nothing around the area to do if you have to wait, so being able to go to the Whey Bar is convenient and awesome.
The Whey Bar is literally a remodeled garage, so it’s pretty small and it can be a pretty tight squeeze trying to get to and from the door. When we went we had a seafood salad (can’t remember exactly what it was called) that had squid ink. That was pretty unique. If they offer it again and you order it, be careful. Your lips just might turn a little black. :) We also had the salted pistachios with truffle oil, which were dangerously addictive. They also have oysters, and as the name of this place would imply, drinks. :)
I can’t speak to any of the drinks because I pretty much stick to water, but everything else we had was good, and having a snack here sure beats having to sit around and wait (and salivate) in a restaurant as you longing look at delicious plates of food passing you by!

Love Ox… not so impressed with Whey Bar. My complaints are maybe small (about as small as the bar itself) but I really think it pales in comparison to the experience that awaits next door.
I find the drink menu relatively un-​intriguing but that’s just me. The oyster bar is kind of cool but I don’t do oysters so its lost on me. Really, my main gripe centers around the fact that you have to close out your tab before hopping next door to enjoy your meal. I guess I am not 100% sure that they are truly connected and not two completely separate entities (as you wait for your reservations in the bar and they come get you when the table is ready) but I really feel like my tab should carry over to dinner. People took the drinks next door but not the tab. It created confusion when the host comes to get you then you try to scramble to pay etc… just awkward.
Anywho…maybe a small complaint to some. Fix that and the whole experience is instantly better.

From the peeps at Ox, it’s great for the wait to their restaurant. And they have smoked jalapeño corn nuts!

This is spot where losers need to hang out if you have to wait for your table for Ox. The drinks are fairly expensive for Portlandia. The jalapeño corn nuts were over salted. They should just expand the space and serve a bar menu based off the Ox food.