Trader Vic's Portland Is Gone for Good; Wildly Unique Bible Club Speakeasy Opens

THE PEARL—€”The buzzkill is confirmed: The Trader Vic's location in the Pearl is permanently closed, as a result of the fire that broke out earlier this month. The tiki-themed Trader Vic's franchise kicked off in the 1930s, bringing a taste for high-proof rum and a thoroughly tacky and tropical atmosphere to locations throughout the U.S. Today, the franchise has locations around the world, but the Portland location was one of the last remaining bars and restaurants in the U.S. It opened back in 2010.

SELLWOOD€—"It's a pre-Prohibition-era museum that you can drink in," says Ryk, the man behind the newly opened Bible Club, one of the most unique bar/restaurant/social club "museums" to ever open in Portland. Inside, almost everything, from the portraits of presidents to the juicers and corkscrews the bartenders use, is American-made before 1930. It's sort of like stepping into your great grandparents house—€”if your great grandparents drank craft cocktails out of hand-etched crystal glassware, ate food prepared by Anthony Cafiero (Racion), and stayed up until 1 a.m. See inside.

HAWTHORNE—€”Blair Reynolds' Americano, the restaurant where house-roasted coffee and craft cocktails meet, will open its doors this Thursday, March 24, to serve coffee, cocktails, and food from 7 a.m. to midnight, daily. For the project, the tiki bar master teamed up with Ian Christopher (Coco Donuts). Celebrated New Orleans chef Chris DeBarr (Green Goddess) is preparing a menu of "bitter-circus" cuisine, and Kate Bolton (Eater San Francisco Bartender of the Year 2012) will helm the bar.