Rooster's Pub: Hiding In the Barn

ROOSTER'S PUB

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

Willamette Week’s reporting has concrete impacts that change laws, force action from civic leaders, and drive compromised politicians from public office. Support WW's journalism today.