Nightlife
After a fun day at the beach or touring a historic shopping district, you may be ready to check out the lively nightlife on the Oregon Coast. This chapter provides you with a variety of entertainment choices including clubs with dancing and live music, playhouses featuring local theatrical productions, and casinos with cards and slots. The entertainment possibilities are listed north to south by region and then by city.
1. Astor Street Opry Company
City: Coastal Oregon, OR
Category: Nightlife
Telephone: (503) 325-6104
Address: 129 West Bond St.
Description: A local theater troupe presents Shanghaied in Astoria. This play, with chase scenes, bar fights, and lots of Scandinavian jokes, is based on Astoria’s dubious distinction as a notorious shanghai port during the late 1800s. Call the number listed to purchase tickets and to find out the current days and times.
2. Cafe Uniontown
City: Coastal Oregon, OR
Category: Nightlife
Telephone: (503) 325-8708
Address: 218 West Marine Dr.
Description: This hot spot under the Astoria Bridge is the town’s jazz scene with both jazz and blues. Also fun are the piano sing-alongs in the bar. Call for the current entertainment schedule. There is usually a cover charge.
3. The Wet Dog Cafe
City: Coastal Oregon, OR
Category: Nightlife
Telephone: (503) 325-6975
Address: 144 11th St.
Description: This haven for both old hipsters and Gen-X types has local and regional groups playing blues to alternative rock on Friday and Saturday. This fun spot has pool tables and plenty of pasta dishes, pizza and other seafood dishes. Shark Rock Red, Frenchie’s Scottish Ale, Rye PA, Pacific Pale ale, and a Peacock Spit Golden.
4. Girtle’S Restaurant & Lounge
City: Coastal Oregon, OR
Category: Nightlife
Telephone: (503) 738-8417
Address: 311 Broadway
Description: On Friday and Saturday nights you can enjoy listening to fun dance music from the Smoke and Mirrors band. During the week you can try karaoke.
5. Bill’S Tavern
City: Coastal Oregon, OR
Category: Nightlife
Telephone: (503) 436-2202
Address: 188 North Hemlock St.
Description: This legendary lounge has emerged as the center of Cannon Beach nightlife. A hand-carved sign with a wooden crow perched on top is a relic from the original tavern founded 65 years ago. Now it is home to local blues and rock groups who take the stage once or twice a month.
6. Coaster Theatre
City: Coastal Oregon, OR
Category: Nightlife
Telephone: (503) 436-1242
Address: 108 North Hemlock St.
Description: This lively theater company runs its plays on Friday and Saturday with tickets ranging from $14 to $20. Recent productions include Sherlock’s Secret Life, Grace and Glorie, Hello Dolly and Dames at Sea.
7. Gales Bar & Grill
City: Coastal Oregon, OR
Category: Nightlife
Telephone: (503) 368-4253
Address: 165 Laneda Ave.
Description: On Friday and Saturday night, this cozy little nook offers live rock music by local and Portland bands with dinners of steaks, pasta, and seafood—particularly their popular Captain’s Platter of mixed seafood. The live music continues after dinner from 9 p.m. to 1 a.m.
8. Tidewaters
City: Coastal Oregon, OR
Category: Nightlife
Telephone: (503) 965-6960
Address: 34455 Brooten Rd.
Description: Musicians of all flavors are brought in from Portland and other urban zones to perform at the Tidewaters with no cover charge. Along with a 50-seat restaurant, there is a lounge with a festive maritime motif and a wide view of the bay at Pacific City. There is also a wild karaoke party on Friday night.
9. Chinook Winds Casino
City: Coastal Oregon, OR
Category: Nightlife
Telephone: Entertainment and bus reservat
Address: 1777 Northwest 44th St.
Description: One of the most successful Native American gaming ventures in Oregon, Chinook Winds Casino offers a variety of games including blackjack, poker, bingo, slots, keno, and a large stage and entertainment theater. Newer entertainments include craps, roulette, Pai Gow poker, Let-it-Ride, Caribbean Stud, Aruba Stud, Progressive Blackjack, and Big 6 Wheel. It all adds up to gambling fun of all flavors. Other amenities include a restaurant and lounge: The Rogue River Lounge, with live entertainment several nights each week and a sumptuous dance floor. Hours are 9 a.m. to 12:30 a.m. Sunday through Thursday and 9 a.m. to 1:30 a.m. Friday and Saturday. There is child care available, a video arcade for kids, and a gift shop.
10. Bay Haven Tavern
City: Coastal Oregon, OR
Category: Nightlife
Telephone: (541) 265-7271
Address: 608 Southwest Bay Blvd.
Description: Established in 1908, this ancient fisherman’s saloon has served all sorts of folks, including Jack London and John Steinbeck. Perhaps its greatest claim to fame was as a location in the screen version of Ken Kesey’s Sometimes a Great Notion. Nowadays and nights, its identity is as “Home of the Blues.”
11. The Newport Performing Arts Center
City: Coastal Oregon, OR
Category: Nightlife
Telephone: (541) 265-2787
Address: 777 West Olive
Description: In 1986, they burned down the historic Bluebird Cottages at Nye Beach to make room for the Newport Performing Arts Center. With its 400-seat Alice Silverman Theater and auxiliary Studio Theatre, the center is the largest performing arts venue on the Oregon Coast. While traveling through Newport, it is always a good idea to check its schedule for music, theater, or lectures. One of the popular events is a monthly Nye Beach Writers Series that runs spring through fall with two designated writers reading each month, followed by an “open mike.”
12. Port Dock One
City: Coastal Oregon, OR
Category: Nightlife
Telephone: (541) 265-2911
Address: 325 Southwest Bay Blvd.
Description: A large restaurant and lounge reminiscent of the three-story, stick-porched hostels of the Caribbean, the Port Dock One is on Newport’s bayfront next to the Underseas Gardens. Stop by in the evening for live and usually danceable music.
13. Yachats Commons
City: Coastal Oregon, OR
Category: Nightlife
Telephone: (541) 547-4142
Address: 101 2nd St.
Description: Sponsored by the Friends of Yachats Commons, this cozy little venue for jazz, acoustic, and classical music offers visitors a treat for a modest charge.
14. Florence Events Center
City: Coastal Oregon, OR
Category: Nightlife
Telephone: (541) 997-1994
Address: 715 Quince St.
Description: Here at the Events Center you can find a wide variety of evening entertainment including brass orchestra concerts, storybook theater by the Last Resort Players, rhododendron shows, and art exhibits. While in town, call for current events on tap.
15. The Lotus
City: Coastal Oregon, OR
Category: Nightlife
Telephone: (541) 997-7168
Address: 1150 Bay St.
Description: Nestled under the bridge crossing the Siuslaw River, The Lotus is a calmer night scene than the Fisherman’s Wharf but just as fun for its live music of local bands covering ’50s rock ’n’ roll and blues.