Shanghai Tunnel-Portland's Creepiest Bar

Location:211 SW Ankeny St.
Corner of 2nd and Ankeny
Portland, Oregon 97204
Hours:5pm-2am

This place is to bars what Bruce Campbell is to horror films. Simply put, they'll kick the hell out of your old watering hole. If you're trying to find that warm and fuzzy feeling from this place...move on.

Located on a dark secret corner in Old Town, Shanghai Tunnel grips your soul from the second you walk in. You can't help but wonder what tragic events have gone on inside these four walls over the past century and a half. From ghosts to glowing drinks, the creep factor is always high...but that's ok you can seek comfort and soul refuge within the baddest underground bar in the North West.

Shanghai Tunnel has a lot of history, while hanging out in the underground of Portland you may encounter a ghost. Creepy...but possible. Just ask the bar's owner.

Long before Shanghai was a bar and eatery, the illegal act of kidnapping or Shanghaiing was a regular occurrence. Ship captains paid bartenders to drug single intoxicate men that hung out in the Portland waterfront area in order to lure them into the dark tunnels.

Other bars in the area also had this practice, using trap doors or "deadfalls" to drop the unsuspecting victim into the Portland Underground-the series of tunnels linked to the basement of various buildings. These tunnels contained cells that the unfortunate victims were locked in until such a time came that they were sold to a ship captain. The term "shanghai" was commonly used as most of the ships involved in this act were destined for the Orient. Like specks of of dust men and women would simply disappear.  It took men about six years to return to Portland from their ordeal. Unfortunately women, were never seen again.