GoodFoot Lounge

08/24/2008 Posted by bucknroses

Well, I've typically enjoyed the ambiance at the goodfoot and last night was no different. Drinks were good, service solid, and we left feeling ok. However, after having some conversation outside of the goodfoot with a couple of buddies, the experience was entirely different. With no warning whatsoever, we were told to "get the f@#? out of here" by a typical portland pretentious d- bag. I completely understand that it is late at night, but to our view (by our, I mean 3 guys that work in the industry) there was no one to actually disturb. That is OK, we can understand, but these guys made accusations of us talking "trash" about the employees there. I did my best to clear the air, proclaiming that we at no point had issues with the service or any employee. As I tried to rectify this, I was told repeatedly to "get the f@#? out of here". I truly wanted to make sure that there were no hard feelings and that we had NO problems with any employee there. "Manning up" with profanity laced declarations is probably an effective tactic to use against an unruly patron, but I as my friends can attest I was trying to reach out to the employees. Sure, my buddies and I only tipped like 40%, and sure they never said a word about loitering outside of their establishment previously (of course, I can't imagine that these 7 or so employees were doing anything productive inside at 4 or in the morning, hmmm?), but I wouldn't mind a little bit of common decency and honesty when going to an establishment like this. Once again, I understand that we were out late on a street in front of "your" establishment. All you had to do was say, "hey guys, could you take this conversation somewhere else, please?". I don't walk into your bar with my demands yelling "get me an f-ing drink, now!". No, I ask politely and say thank you. I suggest you give me the same respect as someone who helps you pay the rent.

Pros: Great Dancing Downstairs, Chill Vibe Upstairs

Cons: Staff will turn on you once they have your money. I'm appalled.

06/29/2008 Posted by sonicarchives

My wife and I recently moved our web design/audio engineering business to Portland, and I was excited to find a place that hosted the kind of music as some of the groups we had been working with in the Midwest. On Sat. 6/28, we went to record a live set by a band that was playing in the venue, and I set up a mic stand on our table in front of the stage. The sound person came by and said the manager would have a fit if he saw my stand there, and I explained to him that it was secure, I wasn't worried, it couldn't hurt anyone, and I'd be happy to assure his manager personally that there would be no problem. Then the manager came by and started yelling at us, not letting me get a word in, and swore at my wife and I, which is when I decided we should probably leave. Of course he only refunded us for the admission we paid, not for the drinks we had just bought - perhaps they needed the money? The bottom line was that apparently we had picked the "wrong table" to sit at - he claimed that everyone would want to set their drinks on our table, and we couldn't have our own things sitting there. If that was the case, why not put a sign there saying "Don't sit here! For dance floor use only!" or something. On the other hand, his presumption that we couldn't have been fine with dancers setting their drinks on our table was amazing. I'm in my fifties, and we've been amongst festival crowds and nightclub patrons in much larger venues for many years, and have never had any problems with other patrons. Literally, I mean - NEVER. This man's attitude was a first, in the past thirty years I've been working with audio in public venues. While most people we've met since we moved to Portland have welcomed us to the city, this venue - by letting this individual represent them to the general public - sent out quite a different message. Fortunately, I've been finding plenty of audio work in other venues, so hopefully the artists we work with will play somewhere else.