The clock tower may have quit working in the 50’s but over 800 of Portland’s finest worked it hard at the third annual installment of the Bossanova Ballroom Bash: Yelp’s Back To The Future Ball! Who needs Mr. Fusion to power their DeLorean when you’ve got three distillers, seven restaurants, seven breweries and four amazing performers on board to fuel a night’s festivities?
As the doors of the Bossanova Ballroom swung open at 6pm on February 2, 2012, the round-the-block line cruised back in time to the retro environs of one of Portland’s premier venues. Guests were welcomed with a choice of seven Oregon brews courtesy of Oregon Brewer’s Guild. Yelpers chose between Spiced IPA (Rotator Series) from Widmer Browthers Brewing, Caldera Pale Ale, Lompoc Proletariat Red, Ninkasi Renewale, Hopworks Urban Brewery Secession CDA, Bridgeport Dark Rain or Oakshire O’Dark:30. Needless to say, the beer selections were epic… just a testament to both the past, and future, of Oregon’s insane craft brewing scene.
For those more inclined to spirits there were cocktails aplenty from Portland’s finest craft distillers including Northwest Distilling’s Lavishmint Vodka (Mint Tom Collins) and Liquid Vodka (Vodka, Cran, Squirt); Big Bottom Distilling’s barrel-aged whiskey (The New York Cocktail); and Deco Distilling Rum (Classic Rum & Coke). The actual distillers were on hand tasting their spirits as well, providing just another opportunity to get straight to the source of P-town’s fabulous products.
Some of Bridge City’s best restaurants showed off their A-game to the Yelp crowd with a seriously fine selection of edibles. Skyline Burgers brought a huge selection of sliders and similarly hearty bites; Double Dragon Bahn Mi, aside from the crazy flair, stoked the crowd with savory sandwiches; Crave Bakery brought the delicious dessert with hot chocolate gluten free cupcakes; SouthPark upped the ante with heirloom carrot soup and carrot cake bites; The Original turned more than a few heads by serving up apple fritters with bacon frosting and chopped liver pate with ham salad on house made ritz crackers; Salty’s on the Columbia stoked everyone out with so-good-it’s-almost-sinful Seafood Chowder; and finally long time Yelper fave Pine State Biscuits rocked their signature biscuits and gravy! Did you like the bites? Head to the restaurants themselves and check out the fare!
But it wasn’t just all about food and drink. DJ Atom13 rocked the 1’s and 2’s on stage with classic trax on vinyl throughout the night. His set was interspersed with not one but two sets from Holly Dai (Rose City School of Burlesque), an aerialist act from Petra Delarocha of the Valloween Crew, and Evan, The Human Groove Box. For more interactive fun, folks got snappy in the PDXPhotoLounge photo booth upstairs, or posed for a candid by Tom Maxwell Photography. There was even a costume contest that came down to McFly vs. Doc Brown vs. a rad 50’s couple – with some great prizes from the Doug Fir Lounge!
As Andrew G aptly notes: “Ain't no party like a Yelp party cuz a Yelp party don't stop. Until 9pm. But it was tight ‘til then. Real tight.” We agree, and it would not have been even a fraction of how tight it was without a huge amount of support from: Brian @ The Oregon Brewer’s Guild; a slough of great breweries; Portland's local distilleries; awesome PR folks like Tim Parsons, Katie Burnett and Shannon Pratuch; the generous and hard working fellas at the Bossanova Ballroom; Meaghan, Linda, Rob, Walter, Brandon, Broc, Adam, Jamie, Michelle and everyone who brought the insanely delicious food; Crystal H, Andrea R, Emi H, Matt W and Sam – my crazy hard-working crew; Tom and Lenny – photographers extraordinaire; and of course the Portland Yelp community – the best community a Community Director could ever ask for.
Don’t believe me? Read the reviews! Add your review of the event. Check the photos!
By the way – have you connected with PDXYelp on Twitter or Facebook yet? McFLYYYY! What are you waiting for?
Until next time (which will technically be the future), see you on Yelp!
Yelp Portland Community Director
