Bachelorette party in Portland?

May 8, 2007 4:47 PM

Where can a group of girls go for a classy, non-skanky, dancing/drinking bachelorette party in Portland, Oregon?

My wife's helping throw a stagette for her soon-to-be-married friend, but said wedding is happening in the city of Portland. Unfortunately, we're in Calgary, AB. We need the help of Portland Metafilter folk to help choose a place for the evening: what's your vote for a hip, respectable venue for five or so girls to spend the evening partying before the big day?

posted by Milkman Dan to food & drink (4 answers total)

Ugh... Well.. depends on what's going on. See, I'd say someplace like Fernando's Hideaway for Salsa, but ... you end up having a whole bunch of latin lover-wannabe's hitting on you. Rock Bottom is ... generic, and is not the Best of Portland, but would be 'respectable'. Kell's would be fun, but isn't hip and may or may not be respectable. Dixie is usually good for dancing, but it's a 'meat market' club... if they aren't sorority girls, they may or may not like it. ;) Plus, the wait to get in is heinous.

Your best bet would probably be to look at Wilamette Week's events calendar and see what's coming up on that day, and if there's anything that looks like fun. Otherwise, ... well, I dunno. It's been a year now since I lived there, and I could probably still put an evening together but my taste trended more towards brewpubs, tea houses and vintage wool sweaters than it did clubbing.
posted by SpecialK at 6:50 PM on May 8, 2007

PS. Willamette Week is wweek.com
posted by hollisimo at 7:05 PM on May 8, 2007

From my sister who lives in Portland and has been in a billion and 2 weddings/bachelorette parties:

"I don't think there are a lot of great dancing places in Portland, but some people like Aura on Burnside near the Pearl district. I would say Oba and Vault have good drinks or Bluehour. All are classy. There is a new bar in the Pearl that is supposed to be good. Citysearch Portland has lots of reviews and info about bars and is also a good place to look. "

I should note that I have been to Vault and Blue Hour and both are great cocktail bars. Drinks run about 9-12 dollars but are very tasty. They're good places to go while dressed up. As far as dancing goes, I've not had much luck finding a place I really liked.
posted by nerdcore at 8:58 PM on May 8, 2007

I've been trying to plan the same thing for my sister and its been tough as I'm not much of a party-er these days. For dancing, I have gotten recommendations for Aura and I hear that Betty Ford might have good music (it's a couple blocks from Aura). If you think they might be interested in Fernando's, call first as last time I walked by there they were doing renovations.

For drinks downtown, Bluehour and Oba are good recommendations. Also, Saucebox, Andina and Vault have good drinks -- all in the Pearl, close to Burnside area -- Andina is known for their small plates and ceviches. Saucebox also has food and a pretty fun atmosphere. Also, nearby for cigars and a great spot is Ringler's Annex, I think -- it's a McMennamins bar in a flatiron building (avoid the bar under the Crystal Ballroom a block up at all costs).

For typical bachelorette party shenanigans, you could do dinner at the Greek Cusina in their Taverna (look at their website to see if this is the kind of thing they want to do) or take in a drag show at Darcelle's -- amusing for sure and leaves you with plenty of time for more drinking and dancing.

One of the things I wish we were doing for the bachelorette is a table at Noble Rot (on the East side) -- they have terrific wine flights and very good food. Classy and really not unreasonable pricewise. Afterwards, you could stay on the East side and go see music at the Doug Fir or do Karaoke -- there's a few bars over there.

Okay, that's all I got.
posted by amanda at 9:30 PM on May 8, 2007