Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
er seen
Rocky Horror,
it's worth investigating, if only for the vivid char-
acters waiting in line to buy tickets.
Across the street are two other great Portland institutions: Dots Cafe, a
dimly lit, red-brocade-wallpapered restaurant-bar decorated with velvet
matador paintings (it recently changed ownership but seems to be going
strong and largely unchanged); and Clinton Street Video, one of the last
independent video stores in town (or anywhere, for that matter). It's
owned by Chris Slusarenko, whose decades-deep roots in the local mu-
sic scene—he fronted Sub Pop Records band Sprinkler in the early
1990s and played bass on the latest Guided By Voices tour—may help
explain the store's killer inventory of all things music-related.
From here, turn left to head west along SE Clinton St. At SE 21st Ave.,
you'll reach a little hub of lively bars and restaurants that have all
cropped up in the past few years. A good choice for both food and
drinks is the Night Light Lounge, one of the groundbreakers on this
corner, with its romantic lighting, comfy couches in the back room, and
mostly enclosed outdoor seating on the patio.
Continue down SE Clinton St. to SE 13th Ave. and turn right. (Note the
perfectly typical Southeast Portland house on the corner as you turn.)
At SE Ivon St. go left, then turn right on SE 12th Ave. At the end of the
block on your right you'll come to the delightful eat-drink combo that
is Los Gorditos taqueria and Apex bar. Round the corner to the right at
SE Division St., then go on in and refresh yourself. The taqueria started
as a popular food cart, still in its original location farther up Division, at
SE 50th Ave. As for Apex, it has so many beers on tap that its computer-
ized beer menu looks like the arrivals-and-departures board at an air-
port; it doesn't serve food, but you're allowed and encouraged to bring
in edibles from Los Gorditos next door.
Continue walking east up SE Division St. and hang a left at SE 16th
Ave. to wander into the Ladd's Addition area. Notice on the right the St.
Philip Neri Catholic Church complex, part of which was designed by ar-
chitect Pietro Belluschi, whose fingerprints, you'll come to discover, are
all over the city. (The original church was built by Joseph Jacobberger
in 1913; Belluschi's addition is from 1949.)
In two blocks you'll reach the first of the funky, slightly askew green
spaces that make Ladd's Addition both wonderful and deeply confus-
ing. It's easy to lose your way in this tangled nest of streets, but on the
