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2007 | piedmont
Eagle Portland isn’t related to the other gay leather bars called Eagle found across the country, but it might as well be. Tin Shed serves everything from breakfast burritos to biscuits and gravy and has been featured on the Food Network and in the New York Times.
Blow Pony
white owl social club
Blow Pony—Portland’s longest-running freaky monthly queer dance party—has been too big to contain since its grimy warehouse days.
(Friendship Kitchen, 2333 NE Glisan, 2764 NW Thurman, saigonsingapore.com; Stem Wine Bar, 3920 N Mississippi, stemwinebarpdx.com)
Kann
Top Chef star Gregory Gourdet's celebrated wood-fired Haitian restaurant Kann, which was named Best New Restaurant at the 2023 James Beard Awards, serves delightful dishes like akra (crispy taro root fritters), coffee-rubbed steaks, and twice-cooked griyo (Haitian fried pork).
The bar hosts a calendar of drag shows, game nights, and dance parties to unite the LGBTQ+ community’s full spectrum, like the Nu-Glitter queer comedy open mic and monthly tarot evenings. (4641 NE Fremont, redsaucepizza.com)
Sammich
Those in search of Chicago Italian beef or Montreal-style pastrami sandwiches to die for (see: the Pastrami Zombie) head to Mel McMillan’s East Burnside sammich shop.
may be substituted for any menu sauce at no charge
This list is by no means exhaustive, as parties are always starting up in Portland, but it’s a great start for your queer nightlife adventures. Most of the city’s dozen-plus queer bars opened in eras hostile to the queer community. (1015 SE Stark, speed-ocappuccino.square.site)
The Sports Bra
Chef-owner Jenny Nguyen opened this women-focused sports bar and restaurant with a name inspired by a long-standing joke between her and her friends.
1981 | old town
Though technically on the outskirts of Old Town’s Entertainment District, CC’s is very much at the center of the queer downtown Portland scene. (3312 SE Belmont, lospunales.com)
Related: At Taqueria Los Puñales, Excellent Tacos Are Served With Queer Joy
Tin Shed Garden Cafe
Christie Griffin and Janette Kaden run this homey eco-friendly and dog-friendly cafe, bringing longtime Shed employee Eric Pottenger aboard as a co-owner in early 2025.
At venues like Statera Cellars’s event space and the subterranean cocktail lounge Voysey, drag queens and DJs keep the party moving while revelers drink magnums of champagne and slurp caviar.
Kit-N-Kaboodle
Kit Kat Club
At the personal behest of Old Town club king Frank Faillace, queer nightlife staple Nikki Lev founded this weekly all-genders, all-bodies night to break the gender binary at strip clubs.
Today, the upstairs lounge hosts biweekly karaoke and plays music softly enough to comfortably hold a conversation, but it’s tough to drown out the bass from down below. The welcoming, unpretentious vibe extends to all members of the LGBTQ+ community. 1981 | old town
Portland’s longest-running male strip club started life amid a string of ’60s gay clubs, one of them in the building that now houses McMenamins’ Crystal Hotel.
2014 | old town
In the former home of LGBTQ+ institution Embers, Badlands is helping to rebuild Old Town’s once thriving queer scene. (2512 NE Broadway, thesportsbraofficial.com)
Taqueria Los Puñales
Brian Aster and David Madrigal’s Belmont taqueria specializes in soul-satisfying guisados made with a variety of proteins, like cachete (braised beef cheeks), chipotle-sauced soy curls, mole poblano shredded chicken, and cochinita pibil.
It hosts various events throughout the week such as karaoke, BBQs, and movie screenings, plus dance parties with DJs and often a theme such as uniform. The vegetarian bowl-style dishes have names inspired by her customer base, like "I Like to Cha Cha" (seasoned rice, citrus slaw, black olives, mild salsa, cheddar, and cotija, topped with avocado, crushed Juanita's tortilla chips, salsa lizano, pickled red onions, and cilantro) and the "Verbal Tipper" (lemon pepper couscous, Italian pickled vegetables, marinated artichokes, cherry tomatoes, cucumbers, crumbled cotija cheese, crispy quinoa, and a balsamic drizzle).
If you don’t meet the city’s coolest leather daddies, gaymers, leather-clad lesbians, or at least one person in a pup hood, go back and try again. In the years since, it’s grown a community that regularly shows up for karaoke, game nights, salsa and bachata dance nights, and dance parties spun by some of Portland’s best DJs.
Featured Events: Queeraoke, queer country nights
Back 2 Earth
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