Trader Vic's Portland -- The Wait is Over.

Next week is the official grand opening of Trader Vic's Portland. We're still putting on the finishing touches, but we're nearly there. Last night we opened our doors to the media and members of the tiki Royal Family like Sven Kirsten, Humahuma and the organizers of Tiki Kon. More accurately, we opened the hole in the plywood where the doors soon will be.

A lot happened at the event. First, we launched our signature drink: Nelson's Blood. Second, we showed a prototype of the Trader Vic's mug, which Munktiki is designing for us (and, yes, there will be limited run collector editions). We also declared August as Portland's unofficial tiki month. Several cocktail bars in town will be offering special drinks to mark the occasion all through August. What's more, they agreed to share the recipes so you all can enjoy them at home.

You can read about Nelson's Blood, see the mug and view the recipes on the Trader Vic's Portland blog.

http://www.tradervicspdx.com/blog/

You can also see photos on the Trader Vic's Portland Flickr page. Please feel free to add your images there as well.

http://www.flickr.com/groups/tradervicspdx/

We're ridiculously excited that we'll have the opportunity to meet many of you in the coming days and weeks. Make sure you let your servers know when Tiki Central is in the house. Wake the kids, phone the neighbors, Trader Vic's Portland is back!

Awesome!

Thursday is the soft opening, correct?

Who wants to meet up for an Original 1944 Mai Tai or two? I'm thinking early will be better, but I'm free all day... I believe they open at 3:00.

Congratulations and best wishes!

On 2011-07-26 11:48, Lucky Jackson wrote:
Thursday is the soft opening, correct?

Who wants to meet up for an Original 1944 Mai Tai or two? I'm thinking early will be better, but I'm free all day... I believe they open at 3:00.

Doors (which will be installed by Thursday) open at 3:00.

[ Edited by: TraderVic'sPDX 2011-07-26 14:16 ]

Im sorry I missed last night. Looking forward to our many other nights planned there in August.

Had an amazing time last night! The cocktails, food, service and atmosphere are incredible!

Can't wait...salivating after checking out the blog and pics!

Those Facebook photos are wonderful people portraits, Dean! They don't look flashed at all. I am more of an art and architecture photographer, so my photos below will complement yours nicely.

I felt very fortunate to be invited to the in-official opening of this Tiki Temple. And it is very gratifying for me to be able to proclaim it as such! This place has struck the ideal balance between traditional and modern, it seems to me. While it is open to the street on two sides, with lots of light coming in thru tall windows (modern), it's space inside is layered and complex enough (lik a classic Tiki bar) to not be stark and boring. And the floor-to-ceiling textures provide that escapist urban island experience that makes Tiki style what it is.

One great concept of Trader Vic's Portland is that it has its bar in the center:

Hostess stand with bar in background

The bar is open from three sides, and the restaurant radiates out from it in circles...

Happy Tiki revelers

My favorite seating would be these two booths, slightly elevated, with a view thru to the kitchen behind them:

And what a yummy view to that is! The concept of many Tiki Tapas (appetizers) is just what a menu needs in this economy:

The perfect food to complement your cocktails!

Here is happy bar manager Josh introducing the "Nelson's Blood" cocktail (mentioned in the blog above), wearing the brand new Shag designed Trader Vic's Aloha shirt!:

And here are the bar Menehunes busy at work:

There are many beautiful sections to the place, like this row of seating, alongside the back of the bar:

I especially like this Tiki:

...the guardian of the bathroom hallway:

The canoe above hails from the Vancouver Vic's, I believe:

Even the backside of the bar is enticing looking:

[ Edited by: bigbrotiki 2011-07-27 11:28 ]

Wow, beautiful pictures!

Thank you so much.

Glad to provide. And here we have the Portland Trader Vic's logo mug, based on one of the giant Tikis that will stand guard outside, designed by no other than the talented folks from Munk Tiki:

Left and right of it are two other classic creations by them. Munktiki is now based in Portland, and we got to visit them:

With Thatch and the Alibi already in place, Portland is turning into a real Tiki Town!

Of course Trader Vic's has its own family of mugs:

...which are all lined up for everyone to see above the bar:

One more important element to complete the island escape illusion was provided by another local talent:

D.J. Drew Groove spun some excellent Lounge and Exotica. Never thought I'd hear the esoteric musings of Eden Ahbez at a Trader Vic's!

On the wall behind him we can see some interesting blow ups of vintage cocktail illustrations which I had never glimpsed before in any Trader Vic's menus:

Love this "Tortuga" illustration. I must have channeled it when I shot one of my recent 10 Y BOT-mug photos. :)

But the Zombie one is especially curious, as it mirrors the theme of the famous Zombie Village menu cover!:

Which one came first, the chicken or the egg?

And here's another sneak at the new Trader Vic Shag shirt, illustrated with scenes from the classic menu cover - plus some Suffering Bastard bottles (as seen above):

Last not least, check out this authentic Papua New Guinea dance mask (which is now hanging in another corner):

I also love the mid-century modern vaulting of the ceiling in the background. What a great environment!

I was unable to photograph the exterior entrance, simply because it was not built yet. Someone else has to do that this week. I am looking forward to seeing the big Tikis gracing the storefront, beckoning the rain-weary Portlander to escape to this exotic port of call!

Great pictures! Excited to go there tomorrow night.

It was a true honor simply to have you and your lovely wife in attendance at the Tiki Temple Trial run. This report and your photos are icing on the cake. Thanks much.

sven...

your pics reveal some really nice decor there! it looks as if there's even some vintage tiki roaming about the place. (how'd they slip through my fingers???)

it's nice to see this.

i enjoy the LA LIVE TV's but felt that it lacks somewhat in the total tiki-immersion one would expect from TV's. whether new or refurbished, i think tiki joints should always feel settled/aged a bit.

from the pics, it appears Portland is more like what you'd expect from a Vic's.

also love the concept of the "Nelson's Blood" cocktail. do you know if they got that huge oil portrait of Lord Nelson that was at the TV's warehouse sale?

i wish it the best and hope lots of drunks stumble across its gangway!

[ Edited by: tiki1963 2011-07-27 16:29 ]

Sven,

Excellent report and pics. This one looks to be a must see. The mug and shirt are bound to be instant classics.

As for those framed drink illustrations, did they actually come from an old Trader Vic's menu or restaurant? Never seen anything like that before.

DC

I am looking forward to being in Portland at the end of August and will make the new Trader Vic's my first stop! Hope you'll let this gal from Tiki Magazine snap a few photos while I'm there!

Thanks for sharing your photos and experience, Sven. Glad to hear you had a good time. Portland is one of my favorite cities.

Wow...this place looks like they're doing it right...

I'd love one of those shirts, very cool!!

OMG.
That shirt is AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!

Geez, did everybody score an invite on Monday except for me? Now I have to cry myself to sleep...

But why? YOU are in Portland, many here are not! We should cry. After all:

On 2011-07-20 16:10, TraderVic'sPDX wrote:
Want to be among the very first to try the new Trader Vic's Portland? You can now make reservations on Open Table. The Grand Opening is Aug. 1 but you can get in one of the soft openings as early as July 28.

I am looking forward to seeing many more photos from those lucky Portlanders/Mainlanders/Islanders visiting this Tiki Temple in the future here.

I am especially curious to see the entrance and Tikis on the exterior!

On 2011-07-27 16:37, Dustycajun wrote:
Sven,

Excellent report and pics. This one looks to be a must see. The mug and shirt are bound to be instant classics.

As for those framed drink illustrations, did they actually come from an old Trader Vic's menu or restaurant? Never seen anything like that before.

DC

Those illustrations are from the original Trader Vic's.

The Trader Vic's in Emeryville also has a number of those illustrations in the lounge.

[ Edited by: Ken Kanaka 2011-07-28 10:53 ]

As a reminder to all, the Grand Opening is scheduled for Monday. However, we actually are opening to the public tonight (in "soft opening" mode). Doors WERE scheduled to open at 3:00 today but, as of a few hours ago, we now ARE going to open at 5:00 today - Sunday. If you'd like to have dinner, we recommend setting up a reservation through Open Table or the good old-fashioned electronic speaking device.

The Grand Opening is Monday and doors open at 3:00. Those who are there when the doors open will get a little special treatment. The Facebook page is the best place for breaking news on that, but I'll saunter over here as well.

big fan of Portland. Must go soon

Tossed a few back at Vic's tonight with some friends... the place is amazing! Can't wait to go back!

Here's a couple pics of the tikis at the entrance.

Those big guys look cool. They could use some big planters with tall bamboo behind them, or similar tropical greenery.

Here's one more photo of the various Tiki textures inside:

I am looking forward to pics from the grand opening tomorrow!

[i]On 2011-07-28 22:32, Lucky Jackson wrote:

The Tikis provide a nice street presence, similar to the Trader Vics @ LA Live.

[ Edited by: christiki295 2011-07-31 12:02 ]

...SO glad to welcome and be welcomed by the new PORTLAND Trader Vic's! A wonderful cast of Tiki-folks who did many things 'right' in preparing their foray back into the city, congrats!

...not as good as Sven's or others posted, but here's a few snaps taken before the Nelson's Blood overwrought my own: http://bit.ly/TVinPDXopening

...One thing to note: T.V.'s PDX might wish to follow rather than lead the charge to proclaim August 'Tiki Month' here in PDX...it's JULY! In July we have our long-established TIKI KON weekender (featuring the Original Home Tiki Bar Tour) --> http://bit.ly/TikiKonMasons and http://bit.ly/TikiKonSunday, and also Elroy Artspace gallery's annual TIKI ART SHOW! --> http://bit.ly/ScootikiElroy

Welcome Home to PDX, T.V.'s -- you've been missed!

I wouldn't worry about which month is tiki month. Tiki Kon is always changing months. It's been in June July and August. Plus, August is the month with international tiki day in it. Let's just be happy we keep getting more tiki in Portland!

Trader Vic's Portland is great. I've been there 3 times already and will be back again tomorrow night. Every night has been different and tons of fun. Both the dining room and the lounge have different menus and both are tasty. So happy this place has finally opened, after knowing about it for so long.

WOW! That place looks GREAT!!
I wish you well.
If this one does not make it don't know if any can.
The decor it righton, You got your own mugs, And Shag shirts.
The one thing some places miss, forget is service.
Not just fast accurate service, but make it fun, make each customer
feel like they are your best customer.
Being a large or some may say fat guy I get bad service from a lot
of the places I go.
But then how do people get fat? they eat and drink a lot.
That's more money at your place.
When I had my diner, on the slow days the customers that would come
in and save that day were the "oh crap not that person" type.
Wait staff at times get into a only the likable or pretty people get good service mode.
You give an ugly the time of day and he will be your customer for life.
The in or cool folks need to go to the hot spots, so when the luster wears off of
your place he's gone.
My place had like 85% regulars.
Vic knew all of this, And I would guess you do to.
But people forget this HUGE point in this biz.
In this economy you need every edge to make a go of it.
Great job!!!
Good luck!!!

On 2011-07-31 11:57, bigbrotiki wrote:
Those big guys look cool. They could use some big planters with tall bamboo behind them, or similar tropical greenery.

Here's one more photo of the various Tiki textures inside:

I am looking forward to pics from the grand opening tomorrow!

Good call, tall bamboo behind them would really set the mood!

Great photo! I love that tiki! I think he may be my favorite one in there!

Well, as if anyone hasn't heard, The Portland Trader Vic's is open and it's fabulous.

Today marks the 'official' opening date. There will be surprise prizes for the first 50 people through the doors, which open at 3pm. Portland Mayor Sam Adams will be on hand tonight, as well as DJ Drew Groove spinning lounge, jazz, surf, and tiki, exotica records throughout the evening.

Sounds like the making for grand and tikilicious time! Hope to see you.

I created a little facebook event for the evening,
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=251082958243159

and of course information can be found on the Trader Vic's Facebook as well as regular website.
http://www.facebook.com/vicspdx
http://www.tradervicspdx.com

Right on and Mahalo!

[ Edited by: drewgroove 2011-08-01 12:13 ]

Alright! DJ Drew is IN the house! :D

Thanks everyone for the nice comments on the design. This was a fun space to work in. I really think the central bar works great as well. Never too far from that next Mai Tai!

What was the gift the first fifty people got?

A free Mai tai put in our hand the second we walked through the door and a fresh orchid lei. It was a great opening!

[ Edited by: Tiki Kupcake 2011-08-02 16:19 ]

On 2011-07-28 22:32, Lucky Jackson wrote:

Nice! Those tikis could really benefit from some bleaching from the sun. They will hopefully turn a nice silver over time, but hopefully stay free from rot. Is that redwood or maybe cedar? From what I can recall, that photo angle may be the northern exposure (I could be wrong) so maybe not all that much sun. Can't wait to get out again and pay a visit!

The tikis are Redwood

I just wanted to note that TV'S PDX accomplished the pretty cool feat of having the MAYOR of Portland officially declare August as TIKI MONTH!:

http://www.tradervicspdx.com/blog/

By the way, the grand opening was Monday, today is Wednesday: WHERE are the photos of the event?

You can find pictures from the grand opening here: https://www.facebook.com/#!/media/set/?set=a.237708896252572.56962.206038212752974 I took a bounch of my own pictures, but haven't had time to upload them. I have been at Trader Vic's for the past two nights.

Thank you, Kupcake, looking forward to the pics... (and what'd I say earlier about Facebook?)

With August being the official Tiki month in Portland now, all you'd need now would be a KON-TIKI to open..

...and things would really be hoppin' - just like in 1959, when both Vic and Steve Crane opened their places in Portland :)

Oh well, I guess I won't get to see anymore photos of the place until I go there personally again. Sigh.

Here's a local Portland newspaper article from today aimed at spreading the Tiki spirit, with some quotes by yours truly:

http://www.oregonlive.com/foodday/index.ssf/2011/08/portlanders_get_out_your_umbre.html#incart_mce

It's nothing new or genius, and any Portland Tikiphile could have answered those questions, but I guess Trader Vic's gave them my name to talk to. Hope it gets folks to go and check the place out instead of staying home all scared to spend money.

[ Edited by: bigbrotiki 2011-08-10 09:31 ]

Well, since nobody else is posting pics... I guess it's up to me :wink:

Here is an update on those tikis outside... They moved them back, and put them up on bamboo platforms. They also installed up-lighting in the sidewalk.
They look great! Sorry for the crappy pic, I only had my phone on me last night.

Looking in from the front door!

Mask in the bathroom hallway.

Looking into a booth from the side.

The Bar!

Seating behind the bar.

Upper lounge area.

THAAANK you, finally a sign of life! And alive it seems, good. Not jam-packed, but lively, which is great for any establishment that opened right at the onset of another economic plunge. I say let's escape all the harsh realities outside, and drop anchor at an exotic port of call such as this!

Wow, based on these pics, they at least got the decor right.
Really looks like a Vic's should!

I'll be there next week to check it out!