Portland Bartender Express LLC

We hired them to bartend at my wedding and they were amazing! The prices are great compared to what others charge, super friendly and easy to talk to, plus they made great cocktails. The owner is also very easy to get ahold of as I could email him late at night and get a reply back rather quickly. My husband and I aren't big drinkers so we went with their recommendation on beer and champagne and everyone loved it. I had forgotten to update them on the guest count so they had bought more alcohol than we needed and they let us keep all of it. That's big for me because I know some people who had to argue with the company they hired just to get their stuff back. Overall I'm really happy we went with them for our wedding and would definitely recommend them again.

Beware - owner Ken Black does not honor his contract and refuses to respond. I hired Portland Bartender Express and paid for the all inclusive package for my daughter's wedding. The alcohol ran out BEFORE dinner!!! They did not provide champagne for the toast, as promised. One of the bartenders was completely inexperienced. They left 2 1/2 hours early, leaving us liable, as the venue required licensed bartenders and we also had kegs. It was a disaster. Ken has not responded to any of the voicemails and emails we have left - unprofessional and total lack of integrity.

This company sucks. Ken is unprofessional and should not be in service. Hired him for my wedding and paid in advance. He didn’t bring any garnishes or ice, ran out of alcohol and did not make any of the drinks he said he would. I tried calling and emailing to complain and he completely ignored every attempt. The worst part is that my guests had to have warm drinks until they ran out three hours before the wedding ended. I would 0 stars if I could have.

Unfortunately, I have to give Portland Bartening Express a bad review. After calling the owner, Ken Black, 8 different times and sending two emails with hopes of rectifying the situation, without a single response, people need to know they should not waste their money with this sleazy company. Read this entire review before booking! Don’t make our mistake. Do not hire Ken Black with Portland Bartending Express, or prepare to be entirely ripped off. I first hired Ken in April of 2021 after contacting him in hopes of finding a bartender for my July wedding. He responded with two different packages available. I ultimately chose the “all-inclusive” package that included everything; all the alcohol, ice, cups, napkins, mixers, sodas, water, etc. When talking to Ken, I told him it was very important to me that the signature cocktails would also be made into mocktails, as many of our guests do not drink alcohol. He assured me they would do that. He told me he would purchase 4 types of wine, 3 signature cocktails and mocktails, 2 kinds of beer (one IPA and Bud Light), champagne and sparkling cider for the toast, and would have other types of liquor for those who do not like the signature drinks. I signed a contract that stated he would have licensed bartenders from 4 PM until 10 PM (with an hour set up before and an hour clean up after) and would provide everything else we needed for the bar on the day of the wedding. On my wedding day, he didn’t show up, but sent three girls to bartend instead. They arrived with NO ice, only 2 kinds of wine, no extra liquors, only Bud Light, and NO champagne. They were unable to make any mocktails. My dad had to leave the wedding to get ice, even though we paid Ken to provide that. By 7:30, ALL of the wine, beer, and liquor was gone, so when the DJ invited everyone to go to the bar to get a drink for the toast, not only was there no champagne, since Ken hadn’t purchased any and nobody even told us, there was NOTHING to toast with. Everyone had to toast us with their water glass from dinner. SO embarrassing!!!!