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Portland’s bar scene is taking another hit in what is beginning to feel like a relentless barrage of closures. Celebrated psychedelic Portland bar, the Houston Blacklight, announced it was closing in an Instagram post on Monday, October 28; its last day open will be Saturday, November 2. “The truth is, we love the neighborhood, we love the bar, the team is incredible, but it has never been financially sustainable and we don’t have the resources to give it another go,” the post reads.
Owners Mariah and Thomas Pisha-Duffly opened the bar in July 2023 to widespread acclaim for its creative cocktails like lime leaf margaritas and popping boba slushies. The duo are Portland industry veterans and also operate Hollywood neighborhood restaurant Gado Gado and Southeast Division’s Oma’s Hideaway. In 2023, Eater PDX gave the Houston Blacklight its Eater Award for Best New Bar, and in 2024, Bon Appetit named the Houston Blacklight among its list of the best new bars in the country. Alongside its cocktails, the Houston Blacklight served a menu of genre-bending mashups such as French onion ramen and mapo tofu fries. Everything was rounded out by a zany space filled with bright upholstery and eclectic neon wallpaper filling the former Night Light Lounge space on Southeast Clinton.
The Houston Blacklight joins a spate of recent closures including Bar Asha and XO Bar, Cereus, and Sissy Bar. Fans can bid farewell to the Blacklight all week long, culminating in an “end of days RAGER” on Saturday.
