Hidden away in a red shanty in the wasteland of far North Portland, Rooster's Pub (605 N Columbia Blvd., 289-1351) feels like a place that doesn't want to be found. The two staircases visible from the street do not lead into the club, instead rising to a forbidding upper floor. The actual entrance is a little door on the side. "I've been hiding out here for a while," says one woman, part of the group huddling around the lottery machines in the back. This cash-only dive is the place to do it. Other patrons included some guys taking advantage of the free pool, a hobo spending his day's earnings on pounders of shit beer and a stripper receiving a mustache ride onstage. Thank God, the beer is cheap ($3.75 a pint). In fact, everything feels cheap at Rooster's, a place where people can sin their dark little hearts out in anonymity.
WWeek 2015