United States of America

Oregon

Portland
Located at the confluence of northern Oregon's Columbia and Willamette Rivers, is the largest city and metropolitan area between San Francisco and Seattle, Washington. The city itself has a population of roughly 400,000. The 4-county (one of which is in Washington State) Portland Metro is 1.7+ million. An old city by western standards, Portland's growth in recent years has been fueled by sportswear
manufacturing (Nike, columbia, etc.) and a burgeoning "silicon forest" high
tech industry. With a significant, active gay population, Portland is a
quite liberal oasis in a desert of outlying religious fundamentalism.

Vis a vis the two gay restaurants listed below, I should note that Portland is an exceptionally good dining town for its size. A "northwest cuisine" is celebrated. We have several restaurants (including gay-owned, general market Zefiro) celebrated by national reviewers. The two gay restaurants below are largely gay-patronized and not in the top rank.Hobo's Inn also has a popular at-the-bar menu offering some appetizers (escargot, clams, brie) and a few heartier entrees (halibut, prime rib) in the $6 to $10 category.

Following are notes on the lesbian/gay "chamber of commerce", PABA, and three venues with a reasonable patronage aged 45 upwards. While there are other locales that are Gray-accepting, these predominate.

Bar/Restaurants
Hobo's Inn
120 NW 3rd Avenue, Portland, OR 97209. (503) 224-3285.
A large bar & restaurant located in an historic brick building in "Old Town"
downtown. Pianist in lounge plays background music from 8:30pm most
evenings (level 1-2 on your scale).
Gray 25%; Admirer 15-20%; Rent 0%; Music 1-2; Cruise factor 5; Elegance 5. Sunday evening's drop-in pinochle-playing group and Thursday's 6:00pm after-work "EOB" (end-of-the-bar) informal gathering of anywhere from 20-30 people both have a higher Gray & admirer component. Both pinochle and "EOB" and open to anyone who shows up. Both are no-host and without admission charge.

Restaurant: same as bar, except Gray is perhaps 30%, elegance a fraction higher and music one notch softer.

Hobo's is Portland's most popular and oldest quasi-professional people's gay/lesbian establishment. The restaurant books solid for holidays like Valentine's and Halloween, and the large lounge with fireplace will be crowded.

Starky's
2913 SE Stark St.
Portland, OR 97214.
Tel: (503) 230-7980.
A more neighborhood-oriented restaurant & bar, located on the east side of the Willamette River 2 miles east of downtown. Occasionally a pianist in the restaurant section will play background music (level 1-2) on weekends, though this isn't a piano bar like Hobo's.
Gray 30%; Admirer 10%; Rent 0%; Music/noise 2-3; Cruise 5; Elegance 3(flannel shirt & jeans level). Most patrons live on the east side, and friends tend to gather after work and on into the evening. Owners are a gay couple in their 50s.

Restaurant: Gray 40% or a bit more; Admirer 15-20%; Rent 0%. A reasonably upscale restaurant, and patrons are often destination-oriented, rather than people who've come to dinner from the adjacent cocktail lounge. For lunches and dinners they attract more of the older diner crowd.

Fox and Hounds
217 NW 2nd Ave
Portland
OR 97209.
Tel: (503) 243-5530.
Gray 25-30%; Admirer 25%; Rent ?10%: Music/noise: not meaningful; Cruise factor, 7+; Elegance 9.
Portland's gay scene has a high (too high) component of "grunge" attire. That is much in evidence at Fox & Hounds, a popular, smallish hang-out for older, blue collar men. They have some amateur weekend drag shows and a minimalist, greasy spoon-type restaurant. Prime Timers often have local gatherings here. There are a fair number of cross dressers (perhaps 10% of patrons). This is a friendly, non-threatening, down-market spot.

Fox & Hounds in "Old Town" downtown is a definite sartorial and atmospheric step down from Hobo's Inn, a block away ... or even from C. C. Slaughter's, which is located on NW Davis St. between Hobo's and Fox & Hounds. (See also Seattle Slaughter's). Portland, the original one, has a fairly modest complement of Gray gays, is not threatening, but really caters to the 30s age group