Shanghai Tunnel Bar

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Shanghai Tunnel Bar
Shanghai Tunnel Bar logo.jpeg
Portland, Oregon (July 2023) - 133.jpg
The bar's exterior in 2023
Shanghai Tunnel Bar
Restaurant information
Owner(s)Phil Ragaway
Food type Asian
Street address211 Southwest Ankeny Street
City Portland
County Multnomah
State Oregon
Postal/ZIP Code97204
CountryUnited States
Coordinates 45°31′21″N122°40′21″W / 45.5226°N 122.6725°W / 45.5226; -122.6725
Website shanghaitunnelbar.com

Shanghai Tunnel Bar, or simply Shanghai Tunnel, is a dive bar and Asian restaurant in the Old Town Chinatown neighborhood of Portland, Oregon. Named after the city's Shanghai tunnels, the underground bar serves Asian-themed cocktails and foods such as BLTs, Chinese chicken salad, miso and noodle soup, quesadillas, and veggie burgers. Owned by Phil Ragaway, Shanghai Tunnel is known for its inexpensive drinks and pinball machines. The bar closed temporarily during the COVID-19 pandemic, and later offered street-level service.

Contents

Description

Named after Portland's Shanghai tunnels and located near Burnside Street in Old Town Chinatown, [1] [2] Shanghai Tunnel Bar has been described by Willamette Week 's Suzette Smith as a "gruff but lovable" and "dank, brick-lined basement" dive bar with pinball and "friendship" (side-by-side) toilets in the women's restroom. [3] [4] The Oregonian 's Grant Butler said the subterranean bar has an "almost dungeon-like feel, with glowing lanterns meant to evoke the early Portland era when underground tunnels were home to all sorts of criminal enterprise". [5]

The business serves Asian-themed cocktails such as the Crouching Tiger, named after the film Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000). [5] According to a Rough Guide published in 2004, the bar is popular with hipsters and serves Asian-style soul food. [2] Food options in 1998 included BLTs, Chinese chicken salad, miso and noodle soup, quesadillas, and veggie burgers; the drink menu included beer, wine, and bourbon and Scotch whisky. [6] In a 2015 overview of Portland's underground bars, Jon Shadel of the Portland Mercury described Shanghai Tunnel as a "bro-ish" dive and wrote:

At ground level, the bar may appear dead and a bit sketchy, but wander downstairs and you'll discover a dungeon-like liquor haven lit with paper lanterns. The bar has become a weekend institution on downtown's frat-party circuit ... Half a dozen pinball machines line a wall, and flannel-clad guys wearing Blazers caps chat up girls in miniskirts sitting around tables sticky with spilt PBR. [7]

For the newspaper's similar overview the following year, Thomas Ross wrote, "One full floor underground, the only hint of daylight is the blazing digital sun in HD on the Buck Hunter screen." [8] In 2021, a Willamette Week article said: "It's possible that Shanghai is the last chill bar in Old Town where you can hole up—waiting out the weekend warriors—to play a little pool, pinball or Big Buck Hunter Pro." [9]

History

Shanghai Tunnel is owned by Phil Ragaway. [10] [11] In 2004, the bar was hosting Rock Bingo on the last Sunday of each month. [12] Shanghai Tunnel was the starting point for villains participating in Power Struggle, a "heroes-vs.-villains" pub crawl hosted by the Alter Egos Society as part of Stumptown Comics Fest and Portland's Comics Month, in 2010. [13] In 2017, the bar had at least five pinball machines. [14]

It closed temporarily during the COVID-19 pandemic, reopening in May 2021. [3] According to Willamette Week, "As it reopened this summer, Shanghai's focus shifted from its basement to the small street-level bar and patio—located next to the breezeway of the front door." [9]

Reception

The bar's sign in 2022 Old Town Chinatown, January 2022 - 06.jpg
The bar's sign in 2022

In her Portland Happy Hour Guidebook (2008), Cindy Anderson said that the bar had the "best pot stickers [Chinese dumplings] ever". [15] In Thrillist's 2014 guide to Old Town Chinatown, Katherine Vetrano recommended Shanghai Tunnel "for end of the week annihilation" and wrote: "You've had the week (or day) from hell, and your plan is to hole up in the dark and drink the memory of it away: Shanghai is your spot. Drinks are strong and cheap ($2 wells during happy hour), and you'll want to order their Zapata for eating — it's house-made chips with both chew and crunch, dipped in hot queso." [16] In 2015, the Portland Mercury's Jon Shadel recommended visiting in mid-week (to avoid crowds) and wrote: "An Asian-themed food menu offers a nice respite from the typical burgers-and-truffle-fries fare found in other nearby establishments—the panko-crusted tofu with noodles in peanut sauce satisfies drunk hunger quite nicely." [7] In her 2016 Moon guide book of Portland, Hollyanna McCollom wrote:

The dark, seedy journey into the bowels of Old Town is part of the novelty, but it's also a pretty good bar. Skip straight to the narrow staircase to the basement, where the cocktails are stellar and pool is $0.50 a pop. Shanghai isn't classy, but that's okay because it never means to be. [17]

Thrillist's Pete Cottell wrote in his 2019 overview of "what to do after dark" that Shanghai Tunnel "has plenty of pinball machines and cheap tallboys to kill an hour or two". [18]

See also

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References

  1. ↑ Dresbeck, Rachel (March 1, 2011). Insiders' Guide to Portland, Oregon (7 ed.). Rowman & Littlefield. p. 105. ISBN   978-0-7627-7477-7. Archived from the original on December 27, 2021. Retrieved December 26, 2021.
  2. 1 2 Cook, Samantha; Ward, Greg; Perry, Tim (2004). The Rough Guide to USA. Rough Guides. p. 127. ISBN   978-1-84353-262-0. Archived from the original on December 27, 2021. Retrieved December 26, 2021.
  3. 1 2 Smith, Suzette (June 25, 2021). "Desperate for a Cool, Dark Place to Ride Out This Weekend's Heat Wave? Here Are Six Currently Open Basement Bars to Hide Out In". Willamette Week . Archived from the original on July 17, 2021. Retrieved December 26, 2021.
  4. ↑ "The Top Five Places to Get Drinks in Portland This Week". Willamette Week . July 11, 2021. Archived from the original on July 17, 2021. Retrieved December 26, 2021.
  5. 1 2 Butler, Grant (June 29, 2018). "Raise a glass to 30 great Portland bars that are still going strong". The Oregonian . Advance Publications. ISSN   8750-1317. Archived from the original on December 30, 2020. Retrieved December 26, 2021.
  6. ↑ Turnquist, Kristi (April 10, 1998). "Cool scene, some cuisine". The Oregonian . p. 20.
  7. 1 2 Shadel, Jon (June 10, 2015). "Basement Boozing". Portland Mercury . Archived from the original on July 26, 2016. Retrieved December 27, 2021.
  8. ↑ Ross, Thomas (June 1, 2016). "Subterranean Bars for the Sun-Phobic". Portland Mercury . Archived from the original on October 25, 2021. Retrieved December 26, 2021.
  9. 1 2 "Where to Drink This Week in Portland". Willamette Week . September 22, 2021. Archived from the original on October 24, 2021. Retrieved December 26, 2021.
  10. ↑ Korfhage, Matthew (December 21, 2015). "Portland Is Getting a New, 4,000-Square-Foot Video Game Palace at the Former Alhambra Theatre". Willamette Week . Archived from the original on December 5, 2018. Retrieved December 26, 2021.
  11. ↑ Skinner, Marjorie (September 30, 2004). "Portland's New Rock Block". Portland Mercury . Archived from the original on December 27, 2021. Retrieved December 26, 2021.
  12. ↑ Williams, Lee (July 9, 2004). "Plugged in Scene and Herd Barrett Bingo". The Oregonian . p. 13.
  13. ↑ Turnquist, Kristi (April 9, 2010). "Costumed tomfoolery – Heroes and villains". The Oregonian .
  14. ↑ Singer, Matthew (February 7, 2017). "Yes, Portland Has More Pinball Machines Than New York and Los Angeles". Willamette Week . Archived from the original on December 30, 2020. Retrieved December 26, 2021.
  15. ↑ Boyd, Thomas (July 25, 2008). "Cindy Anderson". The Oregonian .
  16. ↑ Vetrano, Katherine (May 20, 2014). "From Ground Kontrol to Remedy: it's our collars-down guide to Old Town/Chinatown". Thrillist . Group Nine Media. Archived from the original on September 14, 2021. Retrieved December 26, 2021.
  17. ↑ McCollom, Hollyanna (May 10, 2016). Moon Portland. Avalon Publishing. pp. 155–156. ISBN   978-1-63121-279-6. Archived from the original on December 27, 2021. Retrieved December 26, 2021.
  18. ↑ Cottell, Pete (September 17, 2019). "Portland Nightlife: What to Do After Dark". Thrillist . Archived from the original on January 22, 2021. Retrieved December 26, 2021.
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