Comments on: Gay Night Clubs in Portland http://www.q-portland.com/community/gay-night-clubs-in-portland/rob_mathias/ Your Guide to All Things Queer in Portland Tue, 14 Oct 2008 21:07:05 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6.2 By: drakkar91 http://www.q-portland.com/community/gay-night-clubs-in-portland/rob_mathias/#comment-61 drakkar91 Sat, 10 May 2008 02:55:18 +0000 http://www.q-portland.com/?p=175#comment-61 Portland gay nightlife is centered in 2 distinct areas - on SW Stark Street just south of Burnside Avenue, near Broadway, right in the heart of downtown. The second area is long established in the NW metro area, near NW 2nd and 3rd Avenues. You can safely walk to all locations, but stay alert and be careful on and near Burnside Avenue where it crosses NW 2nd Avenue up to about NW Broadway (7th Ave). If you have never been to a city, I would suggest using a car to move from one area to another, or use common "city-sense". I walked most of the city almost every night of my visit and did not encounter any problems. My biggest complaint for almost every bar (Boxxes, CC Slaughters, Silverado) was the hard core porn playing on monitors and TV's throughout the bars. Portland gay nightlife is friendly, and low-key. But my visit was not enough time to explore more of the culture and community. Portland has a large gay population, an annual Gay Pride Event, and the city is very open-minded. With a wide variety of restaurants and coffee shops catering to the GLBT community throughout the city and outlying areas, there was no gay Mecca, such as one might find in San Francisco (the Castro), Ft. Lauderdale (Wilton Manors) or Chicago. In some ways this was very nice. CC Slaughters: This club claims to be the best and gayest of them all. My Friday night visit confirmed it does appear to be one of the most popular. An ample dance floor was busy, and the DJ featured popular dance music, and a good light show. My biggest turn off was several video screens featuring hard core porn, so much for bringing friends who may or may not be gay. This may be intentionally for that very reason. Like Boxxes/Red Cap, a hallway leads to a quiet bar and restaurant. I didn't venture in, but it looked very classy. Drink prices were most reasonable. The club was featuring AMBER a week after my visit for their annual block party. Definitely worth a visit. Silverado: Oddly enough, this is apparently the place where everybody goes - and I found myself there on 2 or 3 occasions myself. From young male dancers, dressed in very little, and often exposing what is covered, to a small dance floor, even a bar menu, and of course, porn on the video monitors, the Silverado does seem to have it all. It's not classy, and I wouldn't bring a first date or mixed crowd here. But it's not a dump either, by no means. It just is. The bartenders are very friendly, smile a lot, and can engage in decent conversation (the norm at most places actually). You too will have to check it during a visit, before or after you stop into Scandal's across the street and down a block. Portland gay nightlife is centered in 2 distinct areas - on SW Stark Street just south of Burnside Avenue, near Broadway, right in the heart of downtown. The second area is long established in the NW metro area, near NW 2nd and 3rd Avenues. You can safely walk to all locations, but stay alert and be careful on and near Burnside Avenue where it crosses NW 2nd Avenue up to about NW Broadway (7th Ave). If you have never been to a city, I would suggest using a car to move from one area to another, or use common “city-sense”. I walked most of the city almost every night of my visit and did not encounter any problems.

My biggest complaint for almost every bar (Boxxes, CC Slaughters, Silverado) was the hard core porn playing on monitors and TV’s throughout the bars. Portland gay nightlife is friendly, and low-key. But my visit was not enough time to explore more of the culture and community. Portland has a large gay population, an annual Gay Pride Event, and the city is very open-minded. With a wide variety of restaurants and coffee shops catering to the GLBT community throughout the city and outlying areas, there was no gay Mecca, such as one might find in San Francisco (the Castro), Ft. Lauderdale (Wilton Manors) or Chicago. In some ways this was very nice.

CC Slaughters: This club claims to be the best and gayest of them all. My Friday night visit confirmed it does appear to be one of the most popular. An ample dance floor was busy, and the DJ featured popular dance music, and a good light show. My biggest turn off was several video screens featuring hard core porn, so much for bringing friends who may or may not be gay. This may be intentionally for that very reason. Like Boxxes/Red Cap, a hallway leads to a quiet bar and restaurant. I didn’t venture in, but it looked very classy. Drink prices were most reasonable. The club was featuring AMBER a week after my visit for their annual block party. Definitely worth a visit.

Silverado: Oddly enough, this is apparently the place where everybody goes - and I found myself there on 2 or 3 occasions myself. From young male dancers, dressed in very little, and often exposing what is covered, to a small dance floor, even a bar menu, and of course, porn on the video monitors, the Silverado does seem to have it all. It’s not classy, and I wouldn’t bring a first date or mixed crowd here. But it’s not a dump either, by no means. It just is. The bartenders are very friendly, smile a lot, and can engage in decent conversation (the norm at most places actually). You too will have to check it during a visit, before or after you stop into Scandal’s across the street and down a block.

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