Mary’s Club is a Strip Club Time Machine Back to 1954

Few things have changed since the early days when the club catered to merchant marines.

129 SW Broadway, 503-227-3023, marysclub.com, 11 am-2:30 am Monday-Saturday, 11:30 am-2:30 am Sunday.

Founded: 1954

As a repressed, conservative teen, I often dreamed about what could be entailed by the "All Nude Revue" advertised by the weathered sign outside Mary's Club. Seeing it as an adult, the tiny club is everything I imagined and more. Few things have changed since the early days when the club catered to merchant marines, as evidenced by the semi-homoerotic mural of strapping men carrying loads of bananas in some tropical locale. Dancers pop and grind on the lone stage, and they pick their own music using a binder full of songs that can be summoned from a neon-glowing jukebox mounted on the wall.

On weekends, Mary's is packed with a rowdy crowd that ranges from roustabouts to sauced C-suiters, all swilling the same cheap beers and well drinks. But Mary's really shines in the intimacy of a weekday night, when the dancers have time to give you attention for as long as your cash lasts.

Bar Story: Mary's came into its current state when it was purchased from the eponymous Mary after she'd won the bar in a divorce settlement. Also, Courtney Love danced here back in the day, and there's a signed picture to prove it. 

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Zach Middleton

Culture Writer Zach Middleton writes about food and drinks, books, movies, and oddities. Originally from Central Oregon, he now writes out of the University Park neighborhood in North Portland.

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