Dante's — Restaurant in Portland

Sinferno is freaking excellent, but now I've been I can see why this place isn't as popular as it truly deserves to be! Insane!!

The talent is truly top notch, actually shockingly so, but here's the thing : the way the event is organized was a confusing mess.

People don't like being confused and they definitely don't enjoy being scolded for breaking rules they didn't know existed, so the Mc REALLY needs to work on his act. I think he was trying too hard to be likeable and funny, but as a result the audience missed most of what he was trying to get across to them. The result was confusion instead of fun.

For instance, filming and photos are absolutely not allowed, yet one guy at the front was filming the whole aeriel act. Turns out he was apparently staff (without a staff shirt on...) , so when one of the audience members tried to film, security walked right up and took her phone.

Don't get me wrong, it's fine to have strict rules to protect the live acts but please have strict CLEAR rules that are posted and announced BEFORE the show, not half way through it.

Another example: the MC encouraged everyone to throw tips all over the stage, then immediately brought out the fire juggler so security had to run up and stop people from doing exactly what we were told to do: throw money all over the stage.

After seeing others get scolded, unsurprisingly people were wary to approach the stage and yet he seemed confused as to why...

Last thing : the air in this place was toxic. No smoking was allowed indoors yet the front door was open all night, blowing smoke in, and unfortunately it had nowhere to go, so it just built up until it became intolerable. We left early because I was going into asthma attacks, but we really wanted to stay.

Anyway all gripes aside, this place is something truly special.

I would probably go back at LEAST twice a month and bring all my friends too. Actually yeah, I'll go back if the air ever becomes breathable. I'll just explain the rules to my friends myself so they won't be totally confused like our audience was.

A business can't expect customers to be willing to do that much work for them, though. If Dante's wants to have the tip covered stages and sold out shows their performers deserve, they'll have to start communicating way...

Edit: I made a review here about the situation below but my partner, who was with me, actually emailed them and got a very good response. They seemed to really care about the situation and went far-and-beyond to try and make it right. Thank you for taking the time to read into this situation and being so helpful. ^^

I visit from time to time for a couple drinks and to view the Sinferno show (which I love). However, my last visit here (Sunday night August 19th 2018, some time between 9-11 pm I think) was extremely uncomfortable and I don't think I will be coming back (at least for a while).

Me and my partner were going to order a slice of pizza, but I had never ordered pizza from Dante's before and I never paid attention to it (since I have a dairy allergy and can't eat it anyway), but my partner wanted a slice so we went to order from the outside window.

No one was in line and I wasn't paying attention and didn't know the customs to ordering a pizza here and I accidentally started to open the order door thinking I had to walk in and order (at the time the employee who was working at the window was on break talking to someone on the sidewalk corner, so not seeing someone on the other side confused me and my response to do this was automatic, with no malicious intent). I had my hand on the handle and by the time my partner corrected me to not open the door, and that you order standing outside, the door wasn't even fully opened and I immediately took my hand off the handle and let it close (I'm already embarrassed at this point but mistakes happen, right?).

As I said, the employee was on break talking to someone and I had no idea he was an employee anyway. He saw the mistake... And his response to this was completely inappropriate and aggressive and only worsened my humiliation.

Instead of understanding it was a mistake (I even apologized for it, of course) he started aggressively yelling and berating me and my partner in front of everyone and refused to serve us, then told us to leave. My partner became quite angry as we left, and it seemed a lot of the employee's agression was targeted twords him after chewing me out (which was baffling).

I was so confused by this reaction and it just made no sense to me but I left feeling very uncomfortable...

I must say, being from the north east, I expected better from this place. Portland is known for a great adult entertainment vibe however, If you're here for the Sunday cabaret, you better be in the mood to have 0 security and no organization what so ever. We came an hour early as the website mentioned that seats are first come first serve. The guest next to me had come back after 3 years and he mentioned that organization was way better the first time. Even if you get a seat, people are still allowed to stand in front of you obscuring you view completely if you're sitting. The security they gave is only to make sure that people don't stand in front of the stage. The servers however are very helpful. There was another guest who was rude to our party and the server " seven" went out of her way to try and neutralize the situation. She also made great drinks ( if you want a proper beverage, ask for her) After the half time ring show, the area was a little more manageable but the frustration will be there if you are here from the beginning and from out of town (I feel the regulars run this show as an audience more then others) . Other then that, the show has been going on for 21 years.. the performers are phenomenal and if there was with a little more organization, they would be able to appeal to a more diverse crowd. If you're in the mood for a great cabaret with the flexibility of moving around, this is your place, if you're visiting with a group or if you expect a sense of order at any point, There's a few places in the area that might give you a better...