Elegantly divey, in the way its very best old school patrons are elegantly wasted--no puking, please--the Matador has a long, pickled history. Rumored to have originally been called "The Freeway," this hole in the wall bar on N.W Burnside changed hands after a shooting death occured during a robbery attempt. They say dead men tell no tales--maybe that's why no one seems to know whether or not the place was actually called "The Freeway." (Drunks are no better than dead men when it comes to remembering such shit.) Renamed the Matador in 1961, the bar is now 46 years old but drinks like human livers grow on trees and has the fuck-the-future-let's-get-shitfaced swagger of a 22 year old whiskey dickin' it on a Wednesday night sans condom and common sense...Again, no puking, please. Feel free to whip your dick out, but only if you're Deitz. Elegance is the key to everything--the poetry that keeps the cops away. Yeah...Don't try it, kid.
Casey Maxwell and Rebecca Wolfe, having both spent years in the bullring, which is to say, as iconic employees behind the bar, are now the proud owners of this sorid historic Portland jewel nestled oh so precariously in the uptown snatch of our increasing yuppified, condo-luvin' city, and they are committed to keeping it real
sleezy, that is.
Thus the Matador remains true to form: Legendary. Like the cockroach and Keith Fucking Richards--and Laura May after 30 some years slinging drinks--you just can't kill it.
Then again, some Zombie Christian Vampire corporation could very well buy the entire block. Dress it up in clothes from the Gap and Clear Channel it straight to hell.
Let's hope that never happens.
Either way, let's have another drink, and love the place while we can.
May the Matador live to be 98, while retaining nearly complete control of its bowels.
Cheers!
Check out THE MATADOR BAR WEBSITE
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Every Saturday and Sunday Return to:
THE SCENE OF THE CRIME
$4 Breakfast
Build-Your-Own Bloody Mary Bar
Free Jukebox
12 Noon - 4PM
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THE OFFICIAL MATADOR DJ LISTINGS:
mondays:
HATE Of The CITY w/KEEBLER + MINGUS
~PunK, MoD, GlitteR, Pub RocK.
tuesdays:
DON'T DO What DONNY DON'T DOES - D.J. DONNY DON'T
~EclectiC MesS AbouT.
wednesday:
ROCK 'N' ROLL PARTY GIRLS - HANNAH + SHELLEY
~All The Hits You Love To Love And Hate to Hate.
thursdays:
D.J. I ? You
~SensitivE NakeD MaN IndiE SouL PoP.
friday:
HIGHWAY TO HELL w/ D.J.'s TRIXIE DOLL + SARAFINA
~PunK, RocK N RolL, MetaL, GotH.
saturday:
D.J. MOiSTi
~ElectrO, DancE, New wavE, Hip hoP.
sunday:
THE RETURN OF D.J. GREGARIOUS
~Strange psycH, Power poP, Glam madnesS.
