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The recently opened Fifth Avenue Night Lounge (125 NW 5th Ave., 477-8626, fifthavenuelounge.com) wants to bring a little of the Vegas Strip to Old Town. The self-proclaimed "best nightclub in Portland," this venue employs velvet ropes and a mob of dress code-enforcement bouncers to keep the riffraff from Backspace and Theo's diner at bay. After a week of Vegas clubbing, I dropped by Fifth Avenue to find a glass container filled with free condoms branded for a book called Arousing the Buy Curious: Real Estate Pillow Talk for Patrons and Professionals. Shortly after, a flat screen behind the bar was flipped from graphic news footage of burn victims to SportsCenter. The bar features liquor-infused ice cubes ($1) and popsicles ($3) along with a selection of cocktails such as the Portlandia ($9), a mix of local spirits, citrus, seasonal berries and light beer that tasted like limeade with pieces of citrus lodged in the straw. The crowd was a mix of middle-aged men and younger women teetering on rhinestone stilettos. There are four neon-glowing "VIP" areas, one of which is identical to the rest of the club, but on an elevated platform. Later in the night, fog machines were going, lights were flashing, bass was bumping and people were twerkin'. A valiant effort, but what happens in Vegas should probably stay in Vegas.
WWeek 2015