the ultimate strip club list

a guy's guide to strip clubs

July 9, 2008  •  Vol. 15, Issue 190

Back in Portland again. Stopped in on a Tuesday night. The club was decorated with Christmas lights and looked festive. Unfortunately it was really slow. Only two dancers in rotation. I don't understand why this club isn't more popular. The dancers tend to be natural, friendly, and fairly young. The DJ is great. Good mix of music and just the right amount of talk. They have a number of inexpensive food specials. Draft beer selection is a little light; but, there was something there for everyone. I'd love to see this place succeed. Support the little guy and give the place a try.

Started the night at the "world famous" Acropolis. Blush is a mile or so north of the Crop. Surprised that the doorman/DJ actually asked me for ID. No cover. Nice clean, well maintained club, decorated for Halloween. Two stages with poles; but, only one was operating on a Thursday night. Four dancers doing a 3 song rotation. Minimal pole work. Dancers were all pretty friendly. Bartender was hot; but not so friendly. Strange that she wasn't really pushing drinks, I had to go to the bar to get a beer. Private dance area is a glassed in area by the DJ and has a comfy couch. Nice place to spend a few hours.

This club is in the space formerly occupied by Club Cabos on McLoughlin Blvd. southeast of downtown Portland. I stopped in last Saturday evening about 6 to 7 pm. The club had only about 3 or 4 customers, and only two dancers were working (both in the 4-5 range) on one of the two stages. The club was relatively clean, but nothing fancy (relatively low-end interior overhaul of the prior club, with new paint, cheap stage materials and furniture and a few flat-panel TVs scattered around). The ad in the local strip club rags shows a very attractive dancer and suggests a much better experience than I had. Won't be back for quite a while.

I was drawn to Blush by their ad in Exotic magazine and their statement: New&Upscale. And of course the beautiful women. Most clubs simply do not live up to the ads they place. And while Blush didn't exactly live up to theirs, I wasn't disappointed when I left. To start with, the club is very clean (because it is new). There was no cover charge that I knew of and their prices on pitchers of beer were very reasonable. The music was at a comfortable listening level, so I didn't have to shout to be heard, and the D.J. was very friendly, with a good selection of music.
The dancers that I encountered were pretty much the standard strip club fare: nice to look at, but nothing that blew me away. And it seemed that they were relatively new to the industry. Their choices in music were too slow, and they were not trying hard enough to get guys to the rack. But a few bucks to the D.J. for some more aggresive music, and the whole scene changed. Those girls could really move! There was one dancer that was obviously undergoing tattoo removal, and that was highly unpleasant to look at. And they really need more dancers for the rotation. All in all, they were very friendly, and the bartender was hotter than a couple of the dancers.