Sissy Bar (Portland, Oregon)

Sissy Bar is a gay bar in Portland, Oregon. Truman Cox and Derek Palmer opened the video lounge in southeast Portland's Buckman neighborhood in 2022, near another LGBT establishment Crush Bar. Sissy Bar hosts drag shows, dance parties, and other themed events, and plays video montages from films and music videos by popular recording artists. The bar serves Colombian cuisine such as ajiaco, arepas, and empanadas.

Description
Sissy Bar is a gay bar on Morrison Street in southeast Portland's Buckman neighborhood, near the LGBT establishment Crush Bar. Sissy Bar's name is a reclamation of the slur "sissy". The bar hosts themed events, drag shows, and dance parties.

Interior
According to Eater Portland Brooke Jackson-Glidden, the interior pays homage to Barracuda Lounge, which she described as "a classic New York drag bar with low lounge lighting and a lengthy bar". Sissy Bar has a similar backbar and long banquette, as well as illuminated cubes described by Willamette Week Andrew Jankowski as "the color of panels on the electronic memory game Simon."

Walls display photographs of "gay divas" such as Paris Hilton, Jennifer Lopez, Madonna, and Dolly Parton. Televisions play video montages from films and music videos by artists such as Azealia Banks, City Girls, Grimes, and Megan Thee Stallion. According to Jankowski, "The volume of the music videos is loud enough so that you can enjoy the songs, but not so noisy that conversations need to be yelled."

Menu
Sissy Bar uses recipes from the Colombian family of the husband to one of the bar's owners. In addition to cocktails, the bar serves Colombian cuisine such as ajiaco, arepas (chicken and hogao), croquetas de pescado (Colombian fish croquettes), empanadas, frijoles antioqueños, and sudado de pollo (a spiced chicken stew). The nachos have Juanita's chips with cheese, jalapeño, sour cream, and tomato, and the avocado salad has guacamole with cucumber, lime, and scallion.

Among the "fruit-forward, pop culture-packed" cocktails are: the Baby Got Back; the In the Heat of the Night; the She's All That, which has tequila, elderflower, and berry syrup; the Sissy Galore, which has grapefruit and lemon juice with orange bitters and Aviation American Gin; the Sissy Mule; the Sissy MANhattan; and the Will Smith Punch, named after the Chris Rock–Will Smith slapping incident (2022).

History
In December 2021, Jackson-Glidden described plans for Truman Cox and Derek Palmer to open Sissy Bar in February 2022. Both owners experienced bullying in their youth and said the bar's name was to reclaim the pejorative slur "sissy". The bar opened in June, shortly after Portland's annual pride parade and festival.

Among events the bar has hosted are Ingenue, a lesbian dance party by DJ Lavender Menace's, and Shape of Drag, described as a "high concept" show by Silhouette. In June 2023, the bar hosted Lacefront, a three-day drag show and charity event showcasing local drag performers, including Imperial Sovereign Rose Court titleholders.

Reception
Andrew Jankowski of Willamette Week compared the bar to nearby establishment Crush Bar, writing: "Although run by different teams, Sissy Bar and Crush seem like sister bars, serving comparable menus and clients. Both dish out Instagrammable entrees and fruity cocktails, and play queer-friendly music from across the ages, but Sissy Bar's crowd seems to trend younger than Crush's." Jankowski said Sissy Bar's drinks "pair well with picturesque, savory Colombian dishes", which he said "are comfortably filling, but would benefit from a dash of additional seasoning". Separately, the newspaper has recommended the Will Smith Punch. In 2023, Willamette Week Thom Hilton said the nachos were the best snack for a group in his "Pride Fuel Guide".