Hobo's

Hobo's Restaurant and Lounge, or simply Hobo's, was a restaurant, gay bar, and piano bar in Portland, Oregon's Old Town Chinatown, in the United States. Housed in a building with rare access to the Shanghai tunnels, the establishment served as a starting point for guided tours. The menu consisted of American cuisine including steakhouse fare. Hobo's was featured on the Food Network's Rachael Ray's Tasty Travels and the Travel Channel's Ghost Adventures, before closing during the COVID-19 pandemic.

For other uses, see Hobo (disambiguation).
Hobo's Restaurant and Lounge
Black-and-white logo with the text "Hobo's" and a drawing of a man on the top right corner
Photograph of an entrance to a building with "Hobo's Restaurant and Lounge" printed on a green covering; in the window is a sign for video lottery
Entrance to Hobo's, 2017
Restaurant information
Closed2020 (2020)
Food typeAmerican
Street address120 Northwest 3rd Avenue
CityPortland
CountyMultnomah
StateOregon
Postal/ZIP Code97209
CountryUnited States
Coordinates45.52420°N 122.67323°W / 45.52420; -122.67323

Description

Hobo's was a restaurant, gay bar,[1] and piano bar[2] located at 120 Northwest 3rd Avenue in downtown Portland's Old Town Chinatown. The establishment also served as a starting point for tours of the Shanghai tunnels.[3][4]

In 2008, Willamette Week's Amanda Waldroupe described Hobo's as a "chi-chi, predominantly gay establishment" and wrote, "Coming here, you may run into the famous or semi-famous (City Council candidate Ed Garren was spotted), or see escaping sailors emerge from the Shanghai Tunnels—the entrance is in front of the bar—in need of a drink".[5] In 2009, the newspaper's Ryan Fleming described Hobo's as a "relaxed and casual place to go before heading to the more hectic clubs nearby". He said the space was "primarily a restaurant" with a bar, pool, and pianists performing live, and described the clientele as "an array of Portlanders, many of them looking to get laid".[6]

In 2002, CNN's Dmae Roberts called Hobo's an "upscale restaurant with a really full and fantastic-looking bar".[7] Christina O'Connor of the Daily Emerald described Hobo's as a "classy and inviting" lounge with candlelit tables and rare access to the tunnels, along with neighboring Old Town Pizza.[3] The tunnels were accessed by a trapdoor and stairs to the restaurant's basement.[8][9][10] Lonely Planet described Hobo's as a "classy gay-centric restaurant-piano bar" and a "quiet, relaxed place ... good for a romantic dinner or drink", with live music Thursday through Sunday, starting at 7:00 pm.[11] The restaurant, which Eater Portland's Byron Beck and Conner Reed called "spacious", had an "extensive" dinner menu, serving prime rib, crab cakes, and other steakhouse "favorites", as of 2019.[2] Hobo's served cocktails, beer, and coffee drinks.[5] Happy hour was available daily from 4:00-6:30 pm, as of 2009.[6]

History
Photograph of a black-and-white floor sign on a sidewalk; printed on the sign is the text "Home of the Shanghai Tunnels and Portland Underground Tours", contact information, and the restaurant's logo
Sign for Hobo's, 2017

Michael P. Jones, a historian, tour guide, and founder of the company Portland Underground Tours,[8] used Hobo's as an entrance to the tunnels, as of 2002–2010.[3][7][12] Jones also used the tunnel entrance is his capacity as founder of the Cascade Geographic Society, for which he also served as a tour guide.[4] Hobo's staff were reportedly familiar with his work and unfazed by his presence. O'Connor wrote in 2010:

Everyone in Hobo's seems to know Jones. Servers wave as they rush back and forth taking orders and bussing tables. He grants them a nod and continues talking. Everybody who is affiliated with the area beneath Hobo's seems to know Jones, too.[3]

Rachael Ray visited the restaurant for the seventh episode of the second season of the Food Network's Rachael Ray's Tasty Travels, which focused on Portland. According to the network, in the episode she "uncovers Portland's past with a visit to Hobo's for scallops".[13] In 2012, Hobo's was featured on the fourth episode ("Shanghai Tunnels") of the sixth season of the paranormal documentary and reality television series Ghost Adventures. During the episode, ghost hunters Zak Bagans, Aaron Goodwin, and Nick Groff "delve deep into the dingy Shanghai Tunnels to unearth the spirits that still haunt Hobo's Restaurant ... and collect some compelling visual evidence", as claimed by the Travel Channel.[14]

Hobo's closed by October 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic.[15]

Reception

Amanda Waldroupe of Willamette Week wrote that "especially on a warm night—the intimate lighting and laissez-faire wait staff make this a good place to chill out and enjoy good drinks".[5] The newspaper's Ryan Flemming said the restaurant and bar serve "good" food and "stagger-inducing" drinks, respectively.[6] In 2013, Out included Hobo's on a list of "200 of the Greatest Gay Bars in the World" and said, "Carefully exposed brick, piano leather booths and well-rounded dinner menu tell you right away Hobo's doesn't live up to its name. It's a midscale restaurant and bar that courts a more refined, casual crowd. Perfect for a casual drink."[16] In their overview of the city's "wildest gay bars and hangouts" for Eater Portland, Beck and Reed called Hobo's "one of the best and perhaps last piano bars in town ... where it's at for those who want to kick back to a few show tunes and lounge in the luxuriousness of a true old-school gay bar" and "a must for anyone who wants see what this town looked like before Voodoo Doughnuts and Portlandia."[2] In the guide book Moon Portland (2019), Hollyanna McCollom wrote:

Had Old Blue Eyes and the rest of the Rat Pack been gay, this is where they would have hung out. Dark and comfortable, each table feels a little bit private, and with the addition of flickering candlelight and the soft piano, it's downright romantic. The Hobo's staff is friendly and attentive, and it's an elegant choice for anyone seeking clandestine conversation over cocktails and delectable entrées.[17]

See also

References
  1. "On the Rocks or Blended: The Future of the Gay Bar". PQ Monthly. May 16, 2013. Archived from the original on July 25, 2015. Retrieved December 10, 2020.
  2. Beck, Byron; Reed, Conner (June 14, 2019). "Portland's Wildest Gay Bars and Hangouts". Eater Portland. Vox Media. Archived from the original on November 12, 2020. Retrieved December 10, 2020.
  3. O'Connor, Christina (May 31, 2020). "Tracing Legends". Daily Emerald. Archived from the original on February 27, 2019. Retrieved December 10, 2020.
  4. Kennedy, Sarah. "The Shanghai Tunnels". The New York Times. Archived from the original on October 27, 2020. Retrieved December 10, 2020.
  5. Waldroupe, Amanda (May 21, 2008). "Drink 2008". Willamette Week. Archived from the original on July 25, 2015. Retrieved July 24, 2015.
  6. Fleming, Ryan (November 30, 1999). "Drink 2009". Willamette Week. Archived from the original on July 25, 2015. Retrieved July 24, 2015.
  7. Roberts, Dmae (November 14, 2002). "Savvy Traveler: Portland underground". CNN. Archived from the original on February 15, 2004. Retrieved December 10, 2020.
  8. "Oregon's infamous Shanghai tunnels likely mythical". Ashland Daily Tidings. Rosebud Media. October 10, 2007. Archived from the original on December 11, 2020. Retrieved December 11, 2020. Jones starts the tours with a descent into the basement below Hobo's restaurant in Old Town
  9. Williams, Lauren (August 11, 2017). "Weekend getaway: Unwinding in Portland". The Press-Enterprise. Digital First Media. ISSN 0746-4258. Archived from the original on September 26, 2017. Retrieved December 10, 2020. The tour costs $17 for adults and lasts one and a half hours, mostly underground amid dusty silt beneath the creaking floors of Hobo's.
  10. Cook, Katherine (August 25, 2018). "Survivor's songs played inside Portland's Shanghai Tunnels". KGW. Archived from the original on November 9, 2020. Retrieved December 11, 2020. A dozen musicians climbed through the trap door and down the stairs beneath Hobo's restaurant in Old Town
  11. "Hobo's". Lonely Planet. Archived from the original on December 11, 2020. Retrieved December 10, 2020.
  12. Anderson, John Gottberg (July 29, 2007). "Keeping Portland weird!". The Bulletin. Bend, Oregon: EO Media Group. Archived from the original on December 11, 2020. Retrieved December 11, 2020.
  13. "Season 2, Episode 7: Portland, OR". Food Network. Archived from the original on December 11, 2020. Retrieved December 10, 2020.
  14. "Season 6, Episode 4: Shanghai Tunnels". Travel Channel. Archived from the original on November 1, 2020. Retrieved December 10, 2020.
  15. Kent, Kandra (October 5, 2020). "Popular nightclub, CC Slaughters, the latest to close in struggling Old Town". Portland, Oregon: KPTV. Archived from the original on October 6, 2020. Retrieved December 10, 2020.
  16. "200 of the Greatest Gay Bars in the World". Out. Pride Media. June 27, 2013. ISSN 1062-7928. Archived from the original on October 27, 2020. Retrieved December 11, 2020.
  17. McCollom, Hollyanna (May 14, 2019). Moon Portland. Avalon Publishing. p. 137. ISBN 9781640493681. Archived from the original on December 11, 2020. Retrieved December 10, 2020.
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