Three Sisters bar in Portland, OR

[Guest Pelican_Pdx]

The best strippers in the Pacific Northwest are at the Three Sisters on Stark Street in Portland. But does anyone know--is there anything there like a back room? I know their strippers give lap dances--but anything else?

[NY Observer]

Pelican,

 

Can you provide more details. What nights are there strippers? Cover cost, etc.? I thought it was more of a weekend spot, is that the case?

 

Any other spots you'd recommend in Portland and/or Seattle?

 

Thanks!

[Guest Pelican_Pdx]

Basic facts about Three Sisters

 

I should probably do a listing for it above in FAQ. But here goes:

 

As far as I know, there are no strip clubs in Seattle (I am often told they are not legal in Washington--I am not sure whether or not this is true). Portland has a higher ratio of strippers per capita than almost any other city in the nation other than Las Vegas, but for some reason this mostly involves women strippers and not men. There are three male strip clubs I know of in Portland: The Three Sisters, The Silverado (further down Stark from 3 Sisters), and a women-only bar whose name I forget on the other side of the river.

 

The strippers at the Silverado are mostly street kids--one or two dance onstage at a time, while one is in the gogo cage at the back. There is NO touching allowed at all, and some of the strippers have been under 21 (!!!) and are not even allowed in the bar after their set is over. The strippers at the Silverado are highly variable according to body type--some are quite defined and built, but many are not and some are even what you might call slightly portly. There are no lap dances at the Silverado. And though the Silverado is the busiest gay bar in portland it is primarily a cruising bar (with a tiny dance floor in back), and is pretty sleazy. And it's not what I would call a "real" strip bar since there's no touching of the dancers at all.

 

So that really leaves the Three Sisters as the only "real" strip bar for men in Portland. It's owned by a Greek family and open W-Sat (sometimes Tuesdays too). There is no cover except Fridays and Saturdays, when it's $3 to get in ($20 those night for women, whom they seem to want to discourage).

 

At 3 Sisters, strippers begin performing sets of two songs each in rotation at 10 each evening they're open, and though many leave after midnight it continues until 2 am. Lapdances are $20, and the strippers can be quite aggressive about asking you for one--they go for a set of two songs (usually), and vary highly according to who is dancing with you as to how much touching is allowed and how physically suggestive they'll be with you. (More on that in a minute.) The bar does not serve hard liquor--only beer and soda. ($3 .50 for a Corona)

 

The strippers (except for one) are quite buff, and range from college age to late Thirties. They are all generally a fairly friendly lot and mix with the crowd (mostly middle-aged and older gay men, some younger men, some women), but their conversational abilities also vary widely. The nicest and friendliest of the strippers is the oldest (and probably best built), "Diesel," a tall bald guy--he is just a sweetheart, and gets the most attention from the customers when he dances. Some of the other strippers are quite especially friendly too, including "Adonis" (short Eurasian stripper with blond hair, late 20s) and "Loren" (sweetempered college age kid who has a massive dick with multiple piercings). They will NOT let you grab them (unless you know them very well, and almost every night someone gets tossed out nor yelled at for breaking the rules against grabbing which are posted all over the club.

 

The best and most sexual lapdancers include, above all, "Neal," a mixed-race guy with a huge body and a cute snub nose. He can be very hard to talk to when he's not dancing (he sometimes dances with his brother "Neville" as a team called "Double Trouble," but lately the two have also been alternating DJing for the club while the other dances that night) , especially since when he's not eprforming he doesnp;t seem to want to be there; but he's a very flirtatious stripper, and gives the best lapdances (he'll grind and grind on top of you and let you touch him if he knows you). Another great lapdancer is "Curt," a former navy diver with a preppy face and a great tall body: he really performs like a real dancer, and sneers down in a very sexual way over you as he dances. There's also a great new guy, about 30, a Hispanic personal trainer with a fabulous body (and great butt) with glasses and a goatee named "Raphael." He's a very good lapdancer and will let you touch him pretty much as long as you don't grab. I recommend talking any of them up before you hire a lapdance so they can get to know you first--they'll let you do more if they trust you and see you're not drunk or a freak.

 

I have heard some of the guys will let you hire them privately for escorting, but I have been warned most of them call it "a private show" and will tell you they will strip privately and perform a full-body massage, and that they will have sex with you only "if the mood hits them," which almost invariably means not. They also charge quite a bit too (as much as the full service escorts in town--$200 to $300 an hour), so caveat emptor. A friend of mine had a very unsatisfactory experience with a private show with a guy the 3 Sisters later fired a year or two back named "Danger," a very handsome short guy with a trimmed beard. BTW, only a few of them ("Loren," and also "Anthony," the only one of the strippers who is not so well built) are actually gay--most of the others are just for pay.