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We’ve long said that Portland loves a themed bar, and the newest one may have the boldest concept yet: Drinkers are invited to check into the Overlook Hotel with Jack Torrence and its many ghosts (or his hallucinations).
That’s right: HallwayPDX, located at 20 NW 3rd Ave., is a shrine to the 1980 Stanley Kubrick film The Shining starring Jack Nicholson, Shelley Duvall and Oregon’s very own Timberline Lodge, which (briefly) plays the part of the spooky mountain inn.
The karaoke bar was founded by hospitality industry vet Zac Webster and his son Tristan this past spring, but has seemed to mostly fly under the radar. The elder Webster has overseen several Pizza Schmizza locations in the past and currently runs Yard Bar presented by Traveling Taphouse on North Mississippi Avenue. He also used to operate Little Taco & Tequila out of the same space where HallwayPDX is now situated—the former restaurant closed during the pandemic. Unlike other business owners who’ve vacated downtown and Old Town Chinatown, Webster was committed to the area and held on to the space.
“I wanted to get back to the entertainment district and help revitalize the neighborhood,” he tells WW. “This also happens to be my son’s first bar as he has been following me around being a barback. As I was looking at the spot for a different venture, Tristan said, ‘Hey, Dad, how about we do this one together?’ And I said, ‘You know, family always kills each other in business.’ He said, ‘I don’t care, let’s do it.’”
So what prompted The Shining theme? Turns out, it was the shape of the venue. At 11 feet wide and 87 feet long, Webster explains that it felt like walking into a hallway. And fans of the movie will recall that plenty of pivotal moments took place in the lengthy hallways of the hotel.
“We thought about how when you walk into a narrow, long room, you begin to imagine the Grady Twins at the end of the hallway, which is exactly where we got our name,” Webster says. “Then we needed to figure out how to build around that particular moment, which prompted us to create a bar entirely themed after the film.”
There are plenty of elements that are immediately recognizable—from a recreation of the hexagon-shaped, hedge maze-like patterned carpet to Danny’s big wheel to bartender uniforms that are a nod to the outfit worn by Lloyd—he’s the “best God-damn bartender from Timbuktu to Portland, Maine—or Portland, Oregon, for that matter.”
Webster has been collecting memorabilia to add to the bar ever since it opened. Should you visit, keep an eye out for a typewriter that’s the same brand as and only one year older than the one Jack uses in the film, as well as a replica of the knife Wendy picks up to defend herself during the ax scene. There is also a can of Calumet Baking Powder that makes multiple cameos in the film. And Webster says they’ve duplicated The Gold Room where Jack’s dialogue/monologue with the ghostly bartender Lloyd takes place.
Now, if you’re interested in the karaoke part of the business (we get it if Shining fans just want to hang out, order a bourbon and try their best “Heeeere’s Johnny!” impression), you can sing your heart out from 8 pm to 2:30 am Thursday through Saturday, or Sunday through Wednesday by appointment. There are no private rooms; so expect an atmosphere more akin to The Alibi than Voicebox. TVs that display lyrics are displayed around the bar and the max capacity is 49 people.
Drinks include a lineup of seven Shining-themed cocktails (Redrum, Room 237, Wendy’s Revenge), which you should most definitely try because we all learned from Jack what happens when there’s all work and no play in your life.