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Halloween, Portland parties

Halloween Happenings Part I

All dressed up? Here’s some places to go!

Posted by: Rebecca Waits on Oct 20, 2011 at 10:00AM Speech Bubble4 Comments

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If you’re anything like me, you probably just rolled groggily out of bed to realize that Halloween, the best, most decadent, and darkest of holidays is less than two weeks away. Initiate freak-out sequence! Once again, the surreal changing beauty of October foliage has allowed the days to creep right past us like mischievous black cats, and all of a sudden, the stores are packed with candy and cheesy orange-and-black decor, and your neighbor’s place looks like the house from Texas Chainsaw Massacre.

So, what on earth are you going to wear?! Do you go for topical (e.g., dress as an oil spill? A sinking ship painted with the word “economy”? An “Occupy” protester?), or desperately throw together a conceptual costume salvaged from discount bins that you’ll have to explain to everyone? (“I’m the ghost of Andre the Giant, you cretin!”) Most importantly, you don’t want to be all dressed up (especially as a juggalo) with nowhere to go. So what’s a weirdo to do on the weirdest night of the year in a town so regularly preoccupied with its own weirdness? Furthermore, where’s the spirits to match the spirits, the booze to match the boo’s? Though Halloween itself falls on a Monday this year, not to worry. We’ve assembled a handy go-to-guide of more “adult” events, as well as concerts and dance parties to keep you busy and scaring up trouble all over town. So get out your calendar and throw on your wackiest threads to keep Portland haunted well past the witching hour. Bonus! We’ve got so many recommendations we have to split them into two posts, this being the first. If you know of any other crucial Halloween parties on the horizon, just leave the info in the Comments section.

Massacre: Curves of the Damned
Friday, Oct 21

Booze, sex-positivity, edgy performances (fire, contortion, aerial, burlesque) and a big ‘ol dance party? This lust-fest is decidedly not for the kiddies.
Bossanova Ballroom, 722 E Burnside. 9pm. $12-15.

A Big Zombie Variety Show
Saturday, Oct 22

How much awesome can you cram into one room? And by “awesome”, we mean “zombies”. You might wanna sit down for this one: Grammy-nominated recording artist Amanda Richards will be on hand to sing about zombies. Mini Marilyn Manson will be vamping up a storm while lip-synching the hits. Plus, burlesque (probably zombie-themed), and stand-up comedy from local faves Whitney Streed and Jon Washington. This event is also the setting for The Official PDX Zombie & Monster Pub Crawl Awards, which is apparently a thing. You’ll want to have all your fake wounds looking particularly disgusting for this undead soiree of frightening proportions.
Someday Lounge, 125 NW Fifth Ave. 8pm. Free.

Zombies & Monsters
Saturday, Oct 22

Live bands, movies, scary treats.
Star Theater, 13 NW Sixth Ave. 5pm. Free!

Trader Vic’s Trick or Tiki Party
Saturday, Oct 29

With exotic music from Sneaky Tiki and The Lava Lounge Orchestra to set the scene, Trader Vic’s should be a most desirable drinking and dancing destination. Among the specials are $2 off “Nelson’s Blood”, the signature tiki cocktail invented for the event, as well as $6 off the group-sized Blood Bowl version. There’s also a costume contest for the following categories: Best Embodiment of “Keep Portland Weird”, Best Tiki, and Most Original. Trader Vic’s, 1203 NW Glisan. Doors open at 3pm, costume judging at 7. For reservations, 503-467-2277.

Night of the Living Ales
Saturday, Oct 29

A celebration of spirits should not exclude our own beloved beer contingent. For the second year in a row, Night of the Living Ales provides a party for folks more interested in brews than Bit O’ Honeys. It takes place at Burnside Brewing Company and includes live music from Ascetic Junkies and Boy Eats Drum machine, as well as spooky burlesque from Meghan Mayhem and Hai Fleisch. Oh yeah, and you can sample from eight special Halloween-inspired beers brewed for the occasion by Widmer, Oakshire, Ninkasi, Fort George, Old Lompoc, 10 Barrel, and host Burnside Brewing.
Burnside Brewing Company, 701 E Burnside, 8pm. $8 cover.

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Tags: Halloween, Zombies, Trader Vic's, Burnside Brewing, Burlesque, Someday Lounge, Night of the Living Ales

Behind Bars

New Bars in Town

Whether it’s umbrella drinks or an underground vibe you’ll find a stool.

Posted by: Max Gelber on Jul 26, 2011 at 11:00AM Speech Bubble6 Comments

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So many new bars, so little time. In order to properly guide you to your next watering hole we sent out the “street team” (i.e., intern Max Gelber) to gather some intelligence on a quintet of new Portland joints. And that was the last we saw of him. Seriously, if anyone knows of Max’s whereabouts, please clean him up and stuff him in a cab. Sigh. Good help is so hard to find.

The minds behind Dig A Pony (736 SE Grand Ave.) are trying their best to make a name for themselves by sticking with classic themes, and a “classy but not classist” motto. Taking over the space that formerly housed Niki’s Diner on the corner of SE Grand and Morrison, the dingy old carpets were soon jettisoned and the hardwood floor was restored to its original glory. The food will focus on classic American comfort stylings with a regional bent and will shift seasonally, due to the owners heavy focus on sourcing their food locally as much as possible. Prices will range between $5-$10. The local sourcing mind set is also present in the beverages, with local beers on taps rotating both seasonally and with the changing preferences of the customers. House-infused liquors will be a big focus, with the possibilities of extras like house-made bitters to come. Drinks will float under the $8 price tag, with drafts at about $4.

Nestled in the quiet Sellwood ’hood is the newly opened Portland U-Brew (6237 SE Milwaukie Ave). One part home brew store, one part watering hole, and one part training ground for beginning brewers, P.U.B is the brainchild of Jason Webb, who got his start at the now-defunct Saxer Brewing as a brewer and cellar man, and amateur home brewer Aaron Gillham. Housed in a two-story building, the second floor contains a fully fortified beer and wine supply store and a NW/British influenced bar with eight rotating beers on tap and a wide bottle selection of beers and ciders. The first floor houses a brewing area with six 20 gallon kettles that P.U.B will use to brew their own specialties, as well as renting out to locals to come in and use for their own concoctions. Webb and Gillham also will host beginner brewing classes every Saturday ($35, 10 percent off for couples), teaching everything about the science of beer to the brewing process itself. And after a 2 to 3 week fermentation process, students will be able to keg or bottle their new frothy inventions on site.

Once the home for one of Portland’s rare off-track-betting establishments, the Rialto Poolroom transformed its basement space into the Jack London Bar (529 SW 4th Ave). Out with the old betting parlor, in with a dimly lit space that gives off the vibe of a subterranean Portland dive (except much cleaner and with functional toilets). If you’re itching to find a new place to dust off your dancing shoes, the space includes a healthy amount of open hardwood space just screaming to be danced all over, paired with at long list of dance nights and revolving DJs (including DJ Gregarious on Fridays) with an emphasis on vintage vinyl. If that’s not your bag, the bar has some comfy looking couches and lounge chairs generously sprinkled around the space. Comedy showcases every first Thursday are also on the docket. Tuesdays will feature presentations by historian Doug Kenck-Crispin, the man behind the website Kick-Ass Oregon History (orhistory.com). And mustachioed man-about-town Sean McDonald (a.k.a., Seantos) will be in the house on last Thursday for Seantos Showdown, which he describes as “a little bit variety, a little bit talk, and a whole lot of awesome.”

And just as summer has finally chosen to grace our city with its presence, two bars (one newly inspired, the other an old friend returning home) are keeping the rum flowing with tiki-inspired concoctions. The folks in charge of Beaker & Flask recently soft-opened their new sister bar Rum Club (720 SE Sandy; rumclubpdx.com) to the public, while the Tiki behemoth Trader Vics (1203 NW Glisan; tradervicspdx.com) will reopen to the Portland faithful August 1 with an overflowing menu of over 80 tiki drinks. Even if we only have a few months to drink cocktails with tiny umbrellas without feeling too ridiculous, we’ll take it.

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Tags: Beer, Rum, Trader Vic's, New Bar

Behind Bars

Trader Vic’s in the Pearl?

Tiki titan’s return in the works

Posted by: John Chandler on Dec 09, 2010 at 10:00AM Speech Bubble16 Comments

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Jeff Manning at the Oregonian is reporting that a local group of investors headed by J. Clayton Herring, president of real estate firm Norris Beggs & Simpson, is doing some legwork to bring Trader Vic’s back to Portland. As town elders will recall, the famed Polynesian restaurant and bar chain had a local outpost situated beneath the Benson Hotel in the space now occupied by El Gaucho, but it closed up shop in 1996.

According to Manning’s article, the new locale would be in the 7,900 square-foot building that was home to Manzana restaurant at NW 12th and Glisan. I have calls in to some of the players involved and more details will follow as they materialize.

As anyone who knows me can attest, I love me some tiki bars. I dig the Fog Cutter and pupu platter at Thatch, and I’ve crooned Steely Dan at The Alibi on a number of occasions, despite their tendency to serve weak cocktails. While I generally don’t patronize national chains (boo!) I have to admit I have a soft spot in my head for Trader Vic’s. I was spirited there by some record company publicists upon being named Oregon Editor of The Rocket in 1995 and plied with exotic rum drinks. I remember marveling at the prices and thinking, Holy cow! Some of these cocktails cost $7!

What do you think drinking buddies? Is there room in our hearts for Trader Vic’s? Should it be in the Pearl? Are Portland’s homegrown tiki bars good enough to serve all of our tropical needs? Discuss.

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Tags: Bar Openings, Tropical Bars, Trader Vic's, Tiki Bars

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In his twenty-plus years as a roving journalist and his forty-plus years as a native Oregonian, Portland Monthly web editor John Chandler has developed an appreciation for a properly stirred cocktail, all manner of beer, smoky single malt scotch, and the odd moment of clarity. “There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamed of in your philosophy,” is his pet quote, and he’ll break it out whether the occasion calls for it or not. Rock ‘n’ roll snob, film geek, and cultural kibitzer, Chandler can usually be found perched on a local bar stool muttering to himself about “the good old days” when he was always on the @#$%&!* guest list. Approach with caution.

Follow him on Twitter. Email the editor »

Bar Pilot navigates from dingy dive bars to ritzy schmooze-and-booze affairs to brain-melting rock shows, and points of interest in between. Chandler will do his utmost to jot down keen observations, hopefully inspire a few barroom arguments, and guide his readers through another night on the rocks.

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