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Trader Vic's Portland Oregon (New), Portland, OR (restaurant) |
tigertail777
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Nov 25, 2004
Posts: 504
From: Oregon
|  Posted: 2012-06-06 01:32 am Permalink
Name:Trader Vic's Portland Oregon (New)
Type:restaurant
Street:1203 NW Gleason Street (at 12th)
City:Portland
State:OR
Zip:97209
country:USA
Phone:503 467 2277
Status:operational
Description:
Forgive me if this is already posted, I searched and searched and did not find anything on the new location, only the old one at Benson Hotel, thus the (New) in the location name to differentiate it.
Website: http://tradervicspdx.com/
Personal description from my visit on June 3 2012:
Two large tiki's guard the entrance to the door, so imposing they can be seen from well across the street. Flanking the sides of the building are two flame torches artistically encased in wire mesh and glass. Upon entering through the doors the first thing you see is a rock wall with a thin sheet of water cascading down it and over the metal lettering that spells out "Trader Vic's". Once past this if you turn to your left there is a very large and almost comical looking tiki mask surrounded by tea light candles that are set in niches in the rock wall around it. If you are looking at this mask, you are walking on a small arched bridge beneath which water gently flows. Walk farther across the bridge and you will enter the wooden floored area of the restaurant where they serve "Happy Hour" prices. Small tables are arranged all over this area with plush seat booths backing one side of the tables, and hard wood/bamboo chairs backing the other sides. There are various tiki masks on the walls, and colored glass floats hanging from the ceiling. If you face straight forwards there is a giant wood KU tiki statue. Walking past the KU, you will enter a narrower sort of "hallway" dining area above which hangs a tiki style canoe. Take another left past another smaller tiki statue and you will enter a narrow dimly lit hall that leads to the bathrooms, and set in a alcove and lit from above is a large tiki mask. If you go back to the main "hallway" and continue forwards you will see another "totem" style tiki, and then turn to another dining area on carpeting (no happy hour prices on the carpeted areas, they are mainly for dinner dining). There are two large and wonderfully lit booth areas with some kind of jade looking designs roped together forming part of the partition. Both have seashell lamps, and various tiki brica brac that are very nice. Back around this booth area (as in behind it) is the entrance to the kitchen, and glass walls through which you can see the famous custom built Chinese wood fired oven in action making delicious smoked meats. If you turn and face forwards you will continue to go back towards the entrance doors (the path of the restaurant is in a general square so we are going back towards where we started at this point). There is a wide open dining area on carpeting here, with tables on the side with the windows, and booths opposite. Behind the booths is a bamboo frame partition that essentially makes this space more enclosed and "cozy" feeling, on this frame hangs about 6 tiki masks and various tiki sundries. If you continue forwards and go down one step you will make it back to the front desk which is kitty corner to the water bridge at the beginning. Now if you go straight forwards without turning the main "island" bar surrounded with bar stools and a few tables and mini booths will come into view. Over top the bar "island" is a bamboo rack containing all the famous Trader Vick's mugs and bowls in which your tropical libations are served.
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tigertail777
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Nov 25, 2004
Posts: 504
From: Oregon
| Posted: 2012-06-06 02:08 am Permalink
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arriano
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Jun 13, 2006
Posts: 1121
From: Birdland - San Diego
| Posted: 2012-06-06 08:35 am Permalink
Well, there was this thread:
http://www.tikiroom.com/tikicentral/bb/viewtopic.php?topic=40723&forum=1&hilite=vic's portland
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tigertail777
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Nov 25, 2004
Posts: 504
From: Oregon
| Posted: 2012-06-06 3:14 pm Permalink
Hmm thanks for that... I really cannot understand why my searches don't seem to turn up things correctly I looked in all threads and then focused particularly on locating tiki. The only thing I found in the other threads was about it coming and rumors so its possible I may have glossed over that one discounting it as yet another "unfulfilled" thread. Well, whatever... anyone can feel free to merge the threads or whatever works best for TC, I was just trying to contribute. 
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bigtikidude
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Aug 10, 2004
Posts: 8252
From: Anaheim,Ca.
| Posted: 2012-06-06 3:47 pm Permalink
Considering that the other extensive thread is in General and not in Locating.
I don't think that its bad to have this thread here.
Jeff(btd)
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arriano
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Jun 13, 2006
Posts: 1121
From: Birdland - San Diego
| Posted: 2012-06-07 08:08 am Permalink
Quote:
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On 2012-06-06 15:47, bigtikidude wrote:
Considering that the other extensive thread is in General and not in Locating. I don't think that its bad to have this thread here.
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I feel the same. I wanted to add it mostly so that the two threads were connected.
Tigertail - I simply used the "Search" function linked in the upper right of the page and typed in "Vic's Portland" (no quotations) and it popped right up. Thanks for adding all these photos, by the way. Looks great
[ This Message was edited by: arriano 2012-06-07 08:08 ]
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TraderVic'sPDX
Tiki Centralite
Joined: May 04, 2011
Posts: 29 | Posted: 2012-06-14 10:16 am Permalink
Glad you liked it and thanks for posting. We just finished a blog entry with some information on some of the items on display at Trader Vic's Portland we thought you might want to check out.
http://tradervicspdx.com/the-art-and-artifacts-of-trader-vics-portland/
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tigertail777
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Nov 25, 2004
Posts: 504
From: Oregon
| Posted: 2012-06-15 6:52 pm Permalink
Thanks TraderVicsPDX, very cool to hear more about the different pieces. I was sort of hoping for some kind of printed piece that did this when I went into the place, a placemat or booklet or something so I am gratified you have it on the site now. I had a wonderful time, it was my first visit ever to ANY Vic's and it was very generous of your establishment to not only give me a free drink, but also a free dessert. This really put a lasting and happy impression in my mind of the place thanks to your manager. I just wish the special anniversary mugs had not sold out, but you can't win 'em all. I'll always remember my 40th Birthday fondly thanks to the kind folks at Vic's.
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TraderVic'sPDX
Tiki Centralite
Joined: May 04, 2011
Posts: 29 | Posted: 2012-06-18 4:28 pm Permalink
You can find the LE mug on ebay from time to time. Keep an eye on the Facebook page as well, as a new LE mug will be coming out Augustish.
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heylownine
Grand Member (first year) 
Joined: Oct 05, 2008
Posts: 472
From: Agoura Hills, CA
| Posted: 2012-10-21 1:35 pm Permalink
A couple of weeks ago Val and I traveled to Portland for the second time and made a couple of return visits to Trader Vic's Portland. Looking back over this thread and the one in General Tiki, I'm a little surprised that I hadn't posted any of my photos from 2011. In any case, our return in 2012 was just as nice as our 2011 visit...maybe even a bit better. We went for happy hour on a Monday, and then returned Tuesday for happy hour/dinner/night cap on Tuesday (as you do). Courtney was our bartender both Monday and Tuesday and she was awesome (she even gets a mention in James Teitelbaum's new book "Destination Cocktails"). Courtney had a keen interest in matching people to drinks they'd like if they were undecided, and an enthusiasm for talking about tiki cocktails in particular.
October is Zombie month at Trader VIc's Portland and we navigated though most of their Zombie offering between the 2 nights. The Zombie menu included a couple of variations I had not seen before and they were interesting takes on the drink. The vibe at this Trader Vic's is what I'd like them all to be. I'm happy to have a Trader Vic's close to me (LA Live) at all, but the differences between the two are vast. A DJ was spinning exotica and hawaiian music all night on Tuesday (I believe that's a regular Tuesday happening). It was a great way for us to spend our anniversary.
Keep up the good work, Trader Vic's Portland people! We hope to be able to visit you many more times in the future.
Higher resolution versions, and some from 2011, are available on Flickr.
kevin
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