Bachelor Party Ideas....other than the obvious (Portland, Burns: neighborhood, wedding)

[decker352]

So my brother's getting married in Portland in August and I'm the best man. I live in Chicago and I've only been to Portland once, for about a day and a half (attended a wedding at Voodoo Donut).

Based on my limited familiarity with the city, I was hoping to elicit suggestions from locals for my brother's bachelor party, which I am charged with planning. We will be staying in the Hawthorne District, which I understand is lined with pubs to wander in and out of, but other than that, I just don't know.

So, if anyone could suggest any idea, I would appreciate it. Our party will consist of a small group of mid to late 20-somethings with a possible middle-aged uncle or two joining up.

As this will be a bachelor party, strip clubs will be involved. In providing suggestions for such places, please advise which establishments will/will not be overflowing with the shiny shirt/greasy haired element as I would like to avoid such venues (if possible). Also, suggestions besides bars and strip clubs are encouraged (although suggestions for bars and strip clubs are not discouraged).

Thanks!

[BLAZER PROPHET]

The Hawthorne and neighboring Belmont districts are gay areas (predominately, anyway) and the bars are fairly seedy, overall. I mean, there are always a couple of decent ones anywhere, but that area would be close to last on my list.

Lets start with strip clubs. Portland has a ton of them. I suggest going on line to Exotica or better yet, get a copy of their monthly publication as it highlights strip clubs. You can call and get a good idea of the layout. Avoid any strip clubs in the Northeast part of town. Seedy & deadly. McLaughlin Blvd (running it's entire length) has probably your overall safest strip clubs (with about 8 places in a 4 miles stretch) and there are some OK local bars more or less along the way.

As for bars in general, the downtown area is probably the best, but not for strip clubs.

We're it me, and I wanted this type of party, I'd hire everything in.

[Dom1964]

I have never tried this myself, but it might be worth looking into depending on the exact date of your bash...

BarFly Bus Tours! Pub crawls for pros!

[EnricoV]

Originally Posted by BLAZER PROPHET

The Hawthorne and neighboring Belmont districts are gay areas (predominately, anyway) and the bars are fairly seedy, overall. I mean, there are always a couple of decent ones anywhere, but that area would be close to last on my list.

Lets start with strip clubs. Portland has a ton of them. I suggest going on line to Exotica or better yet, get a copy of their monthly publication as it highlights strip clubs. You can call and get a good idea of the layout. Avoid any strip clubs in the Northeast part of town. Seedy & deadly. McLaughlin Blvd (running it's entire length) has probably your overall safest strip clubs (with about 8 places in a 4 miles stretch) and there are some OK local bars more or less along the way.

As for bars in general, the downtown area is probably the best, but not for strip clubs.

We're it me, and I wanted this type of party, I'd hire everything in.

You seem to know your strip clubs. But not much else.

Hawthorne & Belmont are not "gay areas." And it's McLoughlin. You'd think someone could spell the name of the "Father of Oregon" correctly.

But, to the OP.

Barfly's website has a list of strip clubs.

Grand Central Bowl (between Belmont & Morrison at about 9th) might be somewhere you'd be interested in for a more "organized" event. There is a strip club across the street--Sassy's. And another nearby on Hawthorne. The cart pod at 13th & Hawthorne is open late, and a real late-night hangout. No strippers or booze, but barfood.

[Deezus]

Originally Posted by BLAZER PROPHET

The Hawthorne and neighboring Belmont districts are gay areas (predominately, anyway) and the bars are fairly seedy, overall. I mean, there are always a couple of decent ones anywhere, but that area would be close to last on my list.

Hawthorne and Belmont are not predominantly gay areas by any means... There's plenty of non-seedy bars as well, although there are a couple divey, but fun locations like Claudia's or the Belmont Inn. Hawthorne does get a lot a lot of people from the suburbs and tourists visiting on the weekends though.

[Deezus]

Originally Posted by decker352

So my brother's getting married in Portland in August and I'm the best man. I live in Chicago and I've only been to Portland once, for about a day and a half (attended a wedding at Voodoo Donut).

Based on my limited familiarity with the city, I was hoping to elicit suggestions from locals for my brother's bachelor party, which I am charged with planning. We will be staying in the Hawthorne District, which I understand is lined with pubs to wander in and out of, but other than that, I just don't know.

So, if anyone could suggest any idea, I would appreciate it. Our party will consist of a small group of mid to late 20-somethings with a possible middle-aged uncle or two joining up.

As this will be a bachelor party, strip clubs will be involved. In providing suggestions for such places, please advise which establishments will/will not be overflowing with the shiny shirt/greasy haired element as I would like to avoid such venues (if possible). Also, suggestions besides bars and strip clubs are encouraged (although suggestions for bars and strip clubs are not discouraged).

Thanks!

If you're staying around Hawthorne, the best strip clubs in the area are Union Jacks up on Burnside and Sassy's on Morrison. Union Jacks is close to the Doug Fir, which is itself is a good place to see a show and is decent to check out for a drink. As Enrico mentioned Sassy's is close to the Grand Central Bowl and the food carts, which are both decent stops on an itinerary. Both clubs are pretty friendly places that get a mixed crowd---but there's not a big representation of the "shiny shirt/greasy haired" element.

[Minervah]

Originally Posted by BLAZER PROPHET

The Hawthorne and neighboring Belmont districts are gay areas (predominately, anyway) and the bars are fairly seedy, overall. I mean, there are always a couple of decent ones anywhere, but that area would be close to last on my list.

Lets start with strip clubs. Portland has a ton of them. I suggest going on line to Exotica or better yet, get a copy of their monthly publication as it highlights strip clubs. You can call and get a good idea of the layout. Avoid any strip clubs in the Northeast part of town. Seedy & deadly. McLaughlin Blvd (running it's entire length) has probably your overall safest strip clubs (with about 8 places in a 4 miles stretch) and there are some OK local bars more or less along the way.

As for bars in general, the downtown area is probably the best, but not for strip clubs.

We're it me, and I wanted this type of party, I'd hire everything in.

Not even close. The only grey about these areas is the weather. There are some really nice bars on both streets. If you like blues and jazz there is the Belmont Inn on about 34th and Belmont that features local artists.

[BLAZER PROPHET]

Originally Posted by EnricoV

You seem to know your strip clubs. But not much else.

Hawthorne & Belmont are not "gay areas." And it's McLoughlin. You'd think someone could spell the name of the "Father of Oregon" correctly.

I'll disagree with you over Hawthorne & Belmont areas. As to my bad spelling, meh.

[BLAZER PROPHET]

Originally Posted by Minervah

Not even close. The only grey about these areas is the weather. There are some really nice bars on both streets. If you like blues and jazz there is the Belmont Inn on about 34th and Belmont that features local artists.

In every area of town there are always a couple of nice places. Geeze, what a bunch of gay grumps.

[EnricoV]

Originally Posted by BLAZER PROPHET

I'll disagree with you over Hawthorne & Belmont areas. As to my bad spelling, meh.

Don't you live in Vancouver? I live on Belmont. I think I know my neighborhood.