Portland has a complicated relationship with speakeasies. On the one hand, they’re weird, which we tend to like. But on the other hand, they create an arbitrary barrier to drinking, which we tend not to. Cities like Seattle and New York have more formally embraced the concept, and some of those bars really commit to the bit with elaborate rituals for entry and interiors that often resemble period film sets. And there’s certainly an appeal to both the illicit parlor games of the Prohibition era and their more modern escape room-y incarnations. Portland drinking dens have traditionally avoided that level of complexity. Often they’re just back rooms or sub-bars
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