Bubba’s Sulky Lounge

Oh Bubba’s, what can I say? Come here with your bandanna and 80s glasses, you won’t have to pay the $ 5 cover charge. The crowd is. interesting and older than your normal dance club. One night, my friend constantly got hit on by a mother trying to hook him up with her daughter (horrified-​ly dancing next to her mother). If you are up for some cheesy fun 80s dance night with a harmless crowd, this is your place! Don’t forget to bring cash.

This place is awful and so are the old hag bartenders that work here. Don’t waste your time they are mean and not hospitable that apparently have better things to do than serve young people. The bouncers are lucky they don’t get assault charges. I’m reporting this place. It is dangerous and should be shut down for many reasons… But that’s just my opinion coming from BedStuy brooklyn.

I think my friend visiting from North Carolina said it best. «What IS this place???»
Bubba’s is what The Silence of the Lambs would look like if directed by Tim Burton. With their new (at least to me) displays of mannequins, this is the creepiest, weirdest night club you may ever come across. Anywhere.
Yet I feel the need to update my review to 5 stars. Something about this hall of horrors just works. Friday night is the night to go, and DJ Jon makes the experience. If he ever leaves, drop Bubba’s a couple stars. The DJ plays 30 – 60 second snippets of classic songs (it’s different, not annoying to me) with the corresponding videos on the tvs around the light up dance floor. Who even knew that all of these 80s songs had videos? It’s a crazy eclectic mix of music, which represents the crowd well. It’s the best people watching in Portland.
As you can tell from the reviews, you’ll either love or hate this place. The service is pretty bad. The mixed drinks are overpriced. The $ 3 PBRs are the best deal and fit the mood. Do not come here sober. Bring cash, because that’s all they accept. Dress foolish in 80s attire if you want, as there’s a $ 5 cover if you don’t. If you want to approximate an acid trip without actually taking drugs, here you go. Enjoy!

First of all, $ 8 for a mouthwash cup size drink is ridiculous. The fact that the drink was gross made it even worse. Decided to switch to a cheaper, $ 3 beer. They have them sitting in a plastic box in front of the bar. Quite sure my Mich Ultra was skunked. Second, the bartenders are TERRIBLE. The old, haggard one with the Beatles haircut is just miserable. Between my boyfriend and myself going to the bar, she was tipped once and only because she was standing there. No pleases, thank yous or even one crack at a smile. Rude. I asked my boyfriend to order us some kamikaze shots. He walks back with two red things. I said what are those? He said he told her kamikazes. Those are a pale green. Not red (?!). He went to order two more (I just wanted to get drunk) and they said no. I went up, the other old lady bartender hemmed and hawed and decided to give them to me. After dancing we tried to get more in the bar out back. We were told no shots after midnight. DUMBEST RULE EVER. Third, the bathroom was gross, ran out of soap and never refilled it and the hand dryer is definitely on its last leg so you’re forced out of the bathroom with wet hands. Fun.
We did have fun playing pool although it is surrounded by antique ice chests, stoves and Hoosiers and some girl decided to take it upon herself to ransack them ALL in the middle of our game. Going through each cabinet, drawer, nook and cranny. REALLY ANNOYING. I agree with the other Unilocalers in that it’s a buzzkill when a great song comes on then after 30 seconds the dj changes it to another great song, then 30 seconds so on and so forth. I did have fun but with no help from the place. Other than the gross imposter shots and the fact they had a pool table.

First: What is a sulky lounge? This question has plagued me since dancing the night away at Bubba’s last night. [UPDATE: Thanks Todd D. for letting me know a sulky is a a cart pulled behind a harness horse!]
Second: Can I give a place 7 stars on Unilocal?
My friends were staying with us in Bridgton for New Years and after quitting skiing early, we headed to Portland to get dinner at Eventide. I have long been curious about Bubba’s and somehow convinced my Boston friends and an exhausted DD Jeff M. to «drop in and look around». After we found out there was a cover, we decided that $ 5 is not a deal breaker.
As we’re driving there, my Bates-​alum friend asks the car, «Is it safe in South Portland?» Emboldened by a fantastically buttery lobster roll and an Aviation, I don’t know or, particularly, care.
What a wonderfully weird, cavernous oddity. The rooms just keep going. The décor is a rabbithole of bizarre and there are lots of scary Santas overseeing the dance floor.
The people watching was stellar. The crowd ranged from a foursome straight out of the cast of Girls to some older ladies, some couples, and a few of the professional drinking types that likely showed up in 1961 and never left. The vibe is very welcoming.
We sat down for all of 2 minutes, and proceeded to rock out to 80s music on the candy-​colored, lighted dance floor until much later than we should’ve stayed out. I can’t speak to the cocktails but I am sure they get the job done.
I can’t wait to drag my friends from New York here; we might join the Bubba’s regular crew who just doesn’t ever leave.

I LOVE IT! Bubba’s is one of my all time favorite places. I’ve celebrated a lot of really great moments here & even had my 30^th here!
Staff is great & attentive to watching «creepahs»
Fridays are the best with 80’s Night-​where if you go dressed head to toe you get in free (why wouldn’t you?) I do miss when DJ Jon would let my favorite songs play for more than a few minutes. That’s my only problem – don’t stop them so soon please.
I also like the age range & don’t feel like it’s meant for any certain group or age.
If you haven’t been –go now

We had a great time and can’t wait to go back! Best dance party I’ve ever been to; especially appreciated not being groped by strangers. Just a bunch of drunk people having a good time surrounded by flea market trinkets!

This place is AMAZING
It is so hilarious and absolutely wonderful in every strange, unpredictable way.
Highly recommended!

If you’re looking for somewhere to go out at night, and thinking to yourself, «Self, where can I go out that is both the most bizarre place I’ve been to and also the most amazing?», well, then you can just go to Bubba’s in Portland, ME. If you’re into dancing, you’ll definitely want to check this spot out, mainly because they have a lit-​up dance floor, made for dancing. And, you don’t have to be a good dancer either (although I did witness some pretty decent breakdancing), you just need to have fun.
There’s also a back bar and separate room, for more dancing. And, if you’re not really into dancing, there are cushion swivel bar seats and booths near the main bar area. Oh, and, it’s hard not to notice, upon entrance and throughout the entire bar, all of the insanely random and weird $h!t all over the place. We’re talking puppets, metal lunch boxes hanging from the ceiling, old antique items, frames, lamps, pretty much everything. Basically, it’s amazing.

I will start out with the fact that I had a delightful evening for the most part. My 9 friends and I went to Bubba’s to end my bachelorette party with drinks and dancing.
Was it a little creepy? Yes. Were there mannequins? Yes. Is there a light up dance floor? Yes.
But. DJ Jon is not only annoying by only playing 1 – 2 min of each song, but after one request, he apparently thinks it’s alright to insult you and your friends out of the bar. He also had the balls to ask when my wedding was, and then say, oh, I’m booked. Did I ask you to play my wedding? No — and why would I when you give me attitude for a song request? When I went to complain to the manager because he tried to ruin our evening, they just sat there as he came out front and continued to berate me. Definitely professional — NOT.
I will never recommend this place to anyone as long as they expect you to pay a $ 5 cover to subject yourself to DJ Jon (which by the way, is the most either unoriginal or egotistical DJ name I’ve ever heard). Feel free to take your chances with this scumbag.

Are you visiting Portland? Are you looking at the reviews for this place because you’re not sure if you should go there? Well, guess what? Kill yourself. Why? Because you should be there right now, that’s why.
Stop doing whatever you’re doing and just go there right now. It’s amazing.
You’re welcome.

The best mish mosh of all walks of life grace the door of this highly entertaining establishment. Always great fun, good music, and they pour the drinks out with a wonderful heavy hand! Never a bad time!

Fun dancing spot. Don’t go until after 10pm. It comes alive then. Dj Jon plays mostly disco-​ish music. Michael Jackson, Chaka kan etc

Bubba’s is fun becuase you can do plenty of drinking and dancing on the cheap. The establishment is large and can accommodate a good number of people. Bubba’s is a great place to go out and hang with friends. I can especially the value in going during the winter when you feel shut in.
My wife and I went in on Saturday 7.13.13 for some drinking and dancing. Bubba’s was the first place I have been to in Portland that collected a cover charge ($ 5). My PBR pounders were only $ 3 each. I was a little bothered that there was no tap water available and that bottle waters were $ 2 each.
Saturday night was not very busy. I was mostly surprised by the number of creepy old men that were watching girls dance from afar. I even saw one dude making his own videos on his cellphone… his persistence is what eventually creeped us out enough to leave.
Finally, there was a bacherlotte party and one of the guys (not sure why there were guys at a bacherlotte party) kicked broken glass everywhere when someone dropped a bottle on the dance floor. Twenty minutes later, another guy in the group was escorted off the dance floor for being too drunk and grabby by the bartender. As soon as he made it off the dance floor, he vomited all over a table.

This place is AMAZING and hilarious and absolutely wonderful in every strange, unpredictable way. Think dive bar meets disco meets old ski lodge.
Be warned: this is not a club. And I guarantee it’s pretty much unlike any bar you’ve ever been to. But if you want to dance, this IS your place. I promise! I mean, there’s a light-​up dance floor.

Fridays are 80’s nights and they rock! We were passing through and decided to check it out. We had a great time! Staff were friendly, music rocking. I hate the bars in Maine shut-​down at 1:00am, but that’s not Bubba’s fault. Great atmosphere here too. Check it out!!!

I absolutely hate bars and try to avoid them at all costs but some friends roped me into going here one night and I’ll say that I really liked the set up at Bubba’s. The place is huge and all the different rooms and alcoves had the most interesting, unique decorations and designs. It was 80’s night but barely anyone else dressed up, and while the DJ did play a lot of good 80s music, he also mixed in Destiny’s Child and 70s rock and soul music. I would have liked it better if it were solid 80s.

This is the most eclectic, random bar I’ve ever been to… think of your crazy relative who has a house full of old, but mildly interesting crap, and then throw a dance club in the middle, and you have Bubba’s. The$ 5 cover seemed a little silly, but after awhile, I felt like I was simply paying admission to a weird museum. We had fun roaming the deceptively big place (there are several connecting rooms), looking at all the stuff. The lunchbox collection is pretty impressive (I had no idea there was a Facts of Life Lunchbox!?) the center room is basically a dance club, complete with a light up floor (think Saturday Night Fever). The DJ was pretty good, playing lots of 80’s faves.
Definitely worth a look if you’re in Portland. There’s no other place like it!

I’m kinda torn about how to review this bar cause I had a kick-​ass time here, but definitely not because the people at Bubba’s know how to run a bar. $ 5 cover wasn’t too bad. It is huge and pretty interestingly decorated though… it’s like being in a giant bar maze. I will preface this review by saying Yeah, I was pretty drunk, but the following things definitely did happen:
1) There’s a humorless 50-​something year old b%#@$ with a bowl cut wearing a Christmas sweater serving at the bar who a) does not accept any profanity in her bar (um what? it’s a super loud bar!) and b) takes forever to serve drinks
2) my boyfriend and I standing at the bar having a COMPLETELY coherent and normal getting-​to-​know-​you conversation with two guys up for the weekend from Boston, who are both completely sober and we’re talking about Portland and their jobs and stuff. All of a sudden this psycho chubby bouncer comes up and is like «You two are gonna have to leave» and kicks our new friends out. What? For real? We start telling him that the two guys are completely sober, and he acknowledges that, and then shrugs and says that the above mentioned old lady bartender heard them curse and did not appreciate it (I think it was something like, «Yeah Boston is f$%#ing cold»)
3) I swear to God this is true: There is a little niche near the dance floor that holds a giant stuffed horse. Next to the horse is a little holster with a brush in it that is attached to the horse by a cable. In front of the holster is a sign that says «BRUSH MY MANE. I COME TO LIFE.» Um… yeah. OF COURSE I’M GONNA TRY TO BRUSH THAT FUCKING HORSE’S MANE. So I did. And the bouncer immediately ran up to me and told me to stop touching the horse or else I was getting kicked out. When I pointed out the sign and told him I was just following directions, and my friend pointed out that the sign in fact implores you to brush the horse’s mane because it COMES. TO. LIFE! the bouncer relented and said I could stay as long as my friends didn’t let me have any more booze and I didn’t «stumble again.» Of course my friends immediately went and bought me another Jack. Thanks guys!
Okay, so the copious amounts of booze and fun and stories actually made this a pretty epic night, so I’d be willing to go back to Bubba’s, but the place is pretty ridiculous. Someone needs to tell all of the chubby staff here to lay off the power trip.

Alright, I know that 80’s night is a little bit… cliché? Over-​done?
Whatever, seriously Bubba’s 80’s night was the most fun I’ve had in a long time.
I did not enjoy the extremely pricey drinks, or the fact that they came in tiny plastic cups — so get your drink on before coming.
After that? Being able to cut-​lose to hits from the 80’s on a light-​up dance floor? Yes, please. Bring your friends, get your 80s getup on, and check out Bubbas.
Sidenote: Bubba’s is good for 80s night, and 80s night only. Beyond that, beware.