A Southeast Portland Strip Club Has Given Out-of-Work Dancers a New Way to Make Money

In the span of two days, Brodie Grody went from propelling her body around a pole like an acrobat to delivering a bag of steak bites to a woman in Beaverton.

After getting lost in the customer's sprawling apartment complex, the food arrived late and lukewarm, and juice from the meat had begun seeping through the bag. But the woman wasn't upset. Instead, she was beaming—a pair of strippers had just shown up on her stoop.

"She just started bouncing as soon as she opened the door. Then me and Toxic sang her a song and did a little boob flex," says Brodie, who goes by her stage name. She begins twerking her breasts to illustrate. "She was so happy."

Like thousands of businesses in Oregon, Brodie's employer, Lucky Devil Lounge in Southeast Portland, has been forced to adapt in order to keep operating in the wake of isolation measures meant to quell the spread of the novel coronavirus. Owner Shon Boulden's solution? Pivoting to food delivery. It would not only keep the performers working, but give the bouncers a new role as well, as drivers and onsite security. He came up with a catchy name, too—Boober Eats.

"I originally did it at first as a joke," Boulden says, "and it got 150 shares on Facebook—like nothing we've ever had before. So I was like, 'Well, shit, why don't we just try to do this?'"

After WW first wrote about it last week, the service has gone viral, getting featured in the New York Post and Rolling Stone. Wait times for delivery have climbed to two hours at points. On a recent Friday night, the venue at the east end of the Ross Island Bridge looked more like a war room than a strip club, with a large poker table commandeered by staffers hunched over laptops updating the business's website with new menu options and fielding calls from the media. Rows of insulated delivery bags lined the bar, while dancers milled about, most in carefully placed pasties and booty shorts.

While they may not be able to get much practice in, most are just relieved to have an alternative source of cash. The average fee is $30 on top of food prices, and tips are pooled and split.

And while there's little that's inherently sexy about food delivery, the women of Boober Eats give it a go. They offer a song and dance, and even pose for photos. Just keep the standard strip club guidelines in mind—do not touch.

"The only issue I have heard is customers not respecting our social distancing rules and attempting to hug us," says Kiki LeMeow, who was working her introductory shift delivering meals. "We can't allow that at this time."

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A Southeast Portland Strip Club Has Given Out-of-Work Dancers a New Way to Make Money—Topless Food Delivery

It not only keeps the performers working, but gives the bouncers a new role as well, as drivers and onsite security. It has a catchy name, too—Boober Eats.