“Meet up with someone [for] a streetcar [loop]. Sitting across from a new person at a table is really socially taxing, so [being] side by side makes conversation so much easier, less loaded. As you’re looking around the city, that’s generating conversation. It invites an opportunity to get off somewhere—like, oh my gosh, I love this little bookstore, or there’s this sculpture over here in this garden that I really love, and you can just hop off and do a little side quest. If it lends itself to hanging out more, you can go from there, or you can just hop back on. You’re only committed to one full loop.”

“I like a first date to be short and sweet, where you can be in and out in 90 minutes. I’m less into booze these days but still want it to have the potential to feel sexy. I’d suggest oysters at Pacific Standard or appetizers at Eem. If you’re going boozy, I like Creepy’s. My favorite game is sitting at the bar and choosing which doll I most and least want to come to life.”

“I like a multipart plan for the built-in pauses to either call it a night or keep it going. Bonus points if it includes walking interludes, especially when each stop is on the same stretch of street. Start with a happy hour Negroni, phony or real, at the End, a quaint cocktail bar on SE Division. If you like each other enough for stop two, walk two blocks to Really Good Stuff to drop quarters in the fortune teller, player piano, Love Tester, and, of course, pinball. Definitely pet the store dog. If the Love Tester doesn’t predict disaster, stop three is sharing a cookie or slice of pie outside Lauretta Jean’s.”

“Go to queersocialclub.com and find a beginner-friendly dance class. There’s a monthly salsa class called Salsa & Swap. Queer Tango PDX does weekly classes. Landline [is] a weekly queer line dancing class. All offer sliding-scale options. If you don’t feel like dancing or it’s inaccessible, there’s also Dyke Crafts, a free monthly craft pop-up, or Dyke Pool, a sliding-scale monthly pool pop-up. Then find a cute bar nearby. Right now, my favorite spot for a good Shirley Temple is Dear Sandy, and my favorite spot if I’m hungry and want a drink is Sugar Hill followed by Nate’s Cookies.”

“I like to keep first dates in public, low cost, and ideally on the move. Walking or having an activity helps conversation flow (and makes it easier to bail if the vibes are off). N Mississippi is one of my favorite streets for window-shopping, with plenty of places to grab a coffee or ice cream to fuel the walk. I love Kate’s Ice Cream (especially the ice cream sandwiches), and both the Meadow and Flutter have lots of things to look at (as well as a range of price points if you want to shop). If the date goes well enough to add on a meal, I love Mee Sen Thai, especially the outdoor seating, so people-watching can continue.” 

“An evening dinner plus soak at McMenamins Kennedy School followed by a movie at Studio One Theaters is our personal favorite. If we’re feeling more active, then breakfast at Bertie Lou’s and a hike out in the Gorge (Punchbowl Falls) is a top contender as well.”

“Side Eye is one of our favorite places for a first date. It’s dark and romantic (they’ve done such a great job transforming the old Muu-Muu’s space), they play old movies on a projector, and their cocktails are shockingly elevated for such an unassuming spot on NW 21st Avenue. Also, they have a ‘girl dinner’ special—olives, shrimp cocktail, waffle fries, and a Side Eye martini. It’s intimate but fun (keep an eye out for the quirky ceramics they’ve curated). If things are going well, you could go next door to Cinema 21 for a movie or hit Wine Wednesday at Négociant across the street for winemaker-led tastings.”

“I am someone who does an all-day date. My first date with my now-fiancée was six hours, so I’m here for all of it. Start [at] Caseus Diem on SE Division. It’s a local cheese shop [that does] these little charcuterie boards. Then you go to Lauretta Jean’s, which is also on SE Division. Who doesn’t love a pie? I always get the key lime pie, but I just had a red velvet cake there, and it was so good. Then you walk over to Selected Stories, which is a new indie bookstore. You can pick out a book for each [other], or maybe a book that you wanna read together. Then you go to Tomorrow Theater. You watch something, you have a good time. Afterward, you can either go to the food carts [across the street] or to Kanji Fusion, a Chinese restaurant up the street. You talk about the movie, you have a nice big dinner, and then you go home.”

“I recommend Birdie Time [for] mini golf. I always have a really good first date with an activity, especially if I’m a little bit nervous. I could pretend I don’t know how to play, and, Uh-oh, the date’s gonna help me. Also, go to a dive bar—the shittier, the better. I love Tom’s Bar, Cat’s Paw, and Bar of the Gods. I think a good dive bar is really telling of somebody—how they interact with people, how they look at people, how they deal with people. Plus, I always feel like dive bars have the coolest people around.”

“First, go to Sad Valley [on N] Killingsworth. The vibes are immaculate, with a rose quartz bar counter, a coffin on the ceiling spilling out flowers, and movies like Frankenhooker and Riki-Oh playing on the screen. Then hit Miss Delta, a Black-owned, Southern comfort food and BBQ place to show your date you aren’t afraid to get messy. End the night by hitting Chopsticks for Emo Karaoke every first Wednesday, because nothing screams romance more than screaming My Chemical Romance lyrics onstage.”