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Drinking at This Portland Bar Is a Near-Religious Experience

Bible Club promises nude nuns, Prohibition-era speakeasy charm, and intensely delicious cocktails.

I'm confident Ricardo Huelga, also known as Ryk Maverick, would make a really great cult leader. He's charismatic, welcoming, passionate, and a little dark.

On a Saturday night in Portland, I followed Huelga down a closed stairwell at Bible Club, a Prohibition-themed bar he runs with Brandi Leigh, Kimo Easterwood, and Jade Marsh. The two-story home that houses the speakeasy was built in 1922, and all of the bar's furnishings are period-appropriate to match the concept. Almost everything inside dates back to the 1930s or earlier.

Huelga, Easterwood, and I sat in the bar's unfinished basement while the floorboards above creaked with the weight of happy imbibers. If things had gone according to plan, we wouldn't have been there—in Portland, that is. Huelga had originally planned to open Bible Club in Los Angeles, where he was born and raised. For two years, liquor license woes prevented that dream coming to fruition.

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