Rick’s Cafe American
Venue review by Devon Cromwell
This was my third visit to the fez. Dim red neon light spilling from an open door was the only indication that there was a club inside. I showed the doorman my ID, ascended the gorgeously-muraled staircase, and was thoroughly confused. "Is this right?" the stairwell kept going up but the dude at the door said second floor. This must be it.
My previous two experiences at the Fez had both been to see avant/jazz type bands. The crowd spanned several generations and the room was large and beautiful. The walls were stuccoed and painted to look like an outdoor courtyard at a Moroccan palace. The stage was quite large, I personally witnessed it hold a full grand piano and four other musicians. At other times, the it is home to both local and touring acts in all genres of music. Along the walls and in the middle of the room were couches and large cushions. A semi-private sitting area that doubled as a backstage for the bands was, as you'd expect, just behind the stage. By my estimation, the Fez could hold about two hundred fifty to three hundred people.
It might have just been the jazz crowd, but the whole room had an unusually lucid feel. The lights were brighter than most venues, and alcohol though present, was less conspicuous than other clubs in town. A small bar was tucked unobtrusively in the corner and lines to get alcohol were never very long. The venue was very clean and classy.  They even had water that you don't have to bug the bartender for in the form of a bright orange toss-it-over-the-head-coach igloo cooler.
The space I entered tonight, however, was different. It was very small. To the right of the entrance, an elegant bar spanned the length of the room. On the immediate left, a DJ was spinning some upbeat house. (I'm not even a tiny bit knowledgeable about dance music, so please excuse me.) The rest of the room was lavished with large cushions, swallow-you-whole couches, middle eastern columns, arches, and various other architectural details. Tassels abounded.
The theme was familiar. I had remembered the E.P.C.O.T Center Morocco feel from my previous visits, but the room was different. Snooping up the aforementioned muraled-stairwell yielded a locked door. It must be the third floor ballroom; the big room from my previous visit.
I asked the bartender if this were indeed the case. He was also, as it happened, the manager of this fine establishment. He confirmed my postulation. The third floor was the concert venue I had remembered. This second floor was freshly remodeled, and only a week old. It was much smaller (something to do with fire regulations) and was designed to be more of a traditional (and very well stocked) bar, as well as a venue to DJs and smaller acts. When there is a show in the ballroom upstairs, the second floor remains open, cover-free.
So that's the Fez. Its classy. Its clean. It's the Rick's Café American of Portland. They've got a big cooler of water. Look hard on 11th or you just might miss it and don't forget to tip your waitresses. I'll be here all week. Blah blah blah I'm going to completely change this paragraph but this is going to be the length, I think, so you can lay it out alright. Alright?
ed note: I couldn’t find the water cooler, man.
Fez Ballroom
216 SW 11th, Third Floor
fez@boxxes.com
Phone: 503-221-7262 x41
Fax: 503.226.7031
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