Portland’s dance spots are like our city — friendly, welcoming, and weird in a good way. One minute a crowd is moshing to live punk, and the next everyone will be happy to take the floor to a DJ playing ABBA. It's goofy and fun.
Here are my picks for the best dance spots around town:
Best All-Around: The Goodfoot
5 p.m. - 2 a.m. daily
Kerns
Upstairs is a bar with multiple pool tables, pinball machines, rotating local art for sale, and creative bar food options. Downstairs, the colorfully lit cave-like hallway leads to a cozy basement stage and dance floor hosting themed dance nights, live band jams, and stand-up comedy most nights of the week.
A plus: Baby Doll Pizza is right next door.
The Lollipop Shoppe. (Giulia Fiaoni / City Cast Portland)
Best for Live Bands: Lollipop Shoppe
3 p.m. - 1 a.m. (Wednesday - Sunday)
Buckman
“The food is Cajun from the Gulf Coast and the music is from Outer Space,” says the Lollipop Shoppe website. There are live local bands many nights of the week, tasty bar food options, and friendly bartenders. Keep an eye out for frequent free themed dance nights featuring local DJs.
Tip: It gets loud in there, so bring earplugs for live shows.
A plus: This club also has the best proximity to other bars, restaurants, and places to dance.
Best for Late Late Nights: The Coffin Club
8 p.m. - 2:15 a.m. (Wednesday - Saturday)
Buckman
At the year-round horror-themed bar and nightclub, everything inside is lit with black and red lighting, and the fog machines never stop. On weekends, the downstairs space is packed with people dancing to shoegaze, industrial EDM, 80s goth, and occasionally local bands and DJs. There’s a vegan food cart on the outside patio and a real coffin to lay in. It’s optional, but the more black you wear, the more you'll fit in with the goth crowd.
Tip: Stop at My Father’s Place diner to finish out the night – it’s only a block away.
Holocene. (Giulia Fiaoni / City Cast Portland)
Best for Just Dancing: Holocene
8:30 p.m. - 11:59 p.m. (Wednesday), 8:30 - 11:30 p.m. (Thursday), 9 p.m. - 2 a.m. (Friday and Saturday), sometimes open other days
Buckman
Multicolored lasers beam across two adjacent dance floors. The vast space can fill up: Live DJs and themed dance nights range from a Taylor Swift birthday dance party to an emo night to an “ethereal and euphoric” dance night. It’s a welcoming, queer-friendly place where people are free to come as they are. At one indie dance night, a group of over a dozen friends dressed as old ladies just for the fun of it – it wasn’t Halloween.
