Amazing taxidermy filled Safari Club in Portland area up for sale

There's a restaurant called Jen Jen's Safari Club in a small town outside Portland called Estacada. It's filled with taxidermied animals of all sizes and has dropped ceilings (like the Alibi), but it's currently for sale so it's future may be in jeopardy. Here's an article in Willamette Week that came out last week:

http://198.107.45.113/flatfiles/Culture4138.lasso

I didn't know about it until just today while looking at this excellent road trip journal by Francesca Contreras:

http://www.francescacontreras.com/roadtrip/2001/13b.html

Last time I was in Portland I didn't even know it existed. Damn! Tikimaxton and others in Portland should make a pilgrimage their before it's too late.

Yeah - there's some pretty sad news coming out of Portland these days - apparently Waddle's Cafe (the VERY googie coffee joint along the freeway, just before the Washington state line) is also up for sale and could potentially become something as faceless as a Starbucks. If you can get up there - it definitely deserves a place on the itinerary. The sign alone is fabulous!

A friend of mine just told me the Safari Club is up for sale.I grew up in Estacada and spent many many hours in The Safari Club after football games & dances, special family outings, banquets, and waiting for my best friends mom - a cocktail waitress- to get off work and drive us home. What memories! That place put Estacada over the top as one of the Lynchiest Twin Peaks kinda towns I have ever experienced. The place was built and owned by Glen Parks who basically owned the town. HIs son was the mayor. Parks was a wealthy big game hunter and had the bucks to fly around the world shooting world record trophy animals in many, many categories. Giant glass displays lined the wals and corridors showing these animals in an elaborately staged natural setting. One of my favorites had a cougar lunging from a tree sinking his claws into the side of a shocked and writhing deer, complete with blood and gore ,while other creatures like racoons and squirrels looked on passively. This place went way beyond mere taxidermy. the Alaskan scene had wolves feeding on a caribou carcass. Many animals were fighting with or fleeing from each other. All of this in the dining areas of the most expensive restraunt in town! There is a jungle/ African theme throughout the place. Fake thatch around the roof outside w/stone walls, and big beam timbers inside. I have never seen anything like it anywhere. Unfortunately Estacada remains a backwards sort of dead end town that relied heavily on the timber industry. Like most logging towns in Oregon it has become a skeleton of what it once was. New money has come into the town in the last few years, but when folks want to go out to dinner, they're usually gonna go to the City. Only the local bars and low brow diners seem to be able to stay in business there. For nostalgias sake I hope it stays open. I honestly hope someone can breath new life into that place- into that town, but I won't be holding my breath. Thanks for enduring my little trip down memory lane.
Seamus

Seamus, it has been decades since I have been out to The Safari Club but your description really brought back memories. It used to be a piece of cake to drive out that direction from Portland. Many hot summer days I would drive past Carver to some great swimming spots on the Clackamas River. Occasionally, you just had to push on to Estacada to visit the fabulous Safari Club.
Now, you have to deal with unbelievable traffic (the busiest intersection in the State of Oregon)to get out that way. Nevertheless, it must be done. Perhaps a visit on Tiki Day would be fitting. Thanks Jab, for the heads up.

Yes, It sounds as if a pilgrimage by Porntland TikiCentral ambassadors is in the cards. But I gather it has to be soon. So, MrTikiBar? TikiTronic? Kim? Sheikh Yerbouti? Seamus? Can we make this happen?

I think Tikitronic & I would be up for it, but we'd need to make it a weekday night or wait until after August 24th. We're booked up for the next couple of weekends...

It's a long haul for us, but keep me posted.
I might just be up for a bad trip down memory lane. I know my daughter would get a huge kick out of the displays.

holy crap! I remeber this place! I saw it when I was little, and thought it was a dream or something wow it really exists. I need to see this again and take some pics of the polar bear that scared the crap outta me, and caused some interesting dreams when i was young. I dont actually live very far away Estacada is a few towns over from here.

I resurrected this topic to see ask if anyone knows the status of this place.

Is it still open? If so, does anyone know their hours or phone number?

I'm wondering if I could visit it during the NW Tiki Crawl weekend.

Any news on if this place is still open for business?
The Portland crawl is coming up, and I might be up for a side trip if we have the time.
I've seen photos from as recently as 2008, so maybe there is hope!

Oh yes it's still open!
Here are some photos that my friend Jeff from Vintage Roadside took while on a field trip with Charles Phoenix last winter.

Great photos! Thank you!

A couple of FYIs on the Safari Club:

The official name is now "Hong's Lounge"...though the Safari Club signs are still up outside (second item on this page):
http://www.portlandmercury.com/portland/best-of-estacada/Content?oid=34249

And Estacada is about a 45-minute drive from downtown Portland:
http://www.mapquest.com/maps?1c=Portland&1s=OR&2c=Estacada&2s=OR&2a=116+Se+4th

I Bought the Safar Club 6 months ago & have Renovated it. Check out our website at http://www.legendarysafariclub.com

Nice to learn that an interesting joint is getting a second chance.

And now to be blunt: The website could use some revving up. It doesn't need to be an explosion of amazement but it looks a bit dismal. I couldn't locate any images of the joint and the food pictures look pretty sad. If I heard about the Safari Club somewhere and went to this site I'd be hesitant to go out of my way to visit.