In a assorted industrial vicinity in Portland , OR , in the tail of a " There IS evidence for GOD " billboard and a medical marijuana dispensary ( 503 - 384 - WEED ) , sits a tiny pink shanty with blue trim . This Barbie - doll shed of a construction is nursing home to Hot Bikini Brew , where owner and head barista , Mandy , can be base most weekdays , serving up espresso drink in little more than intimate apparel and a smile .
" Want your yoosh ? " Mandy asks a goateed gentleman’s gentleman in a Ford F150 . ( Yoosh = common . )
" You know it , " the man says , dropping a vaulting horse and some change into a plastic tip bucket .
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The kiosk is snug , thanks to a whirring infinite hummer , and odor of espresso and Mandy ’s Love Addict body atomizer . The floors at heart are elevated , and there are two amply functioning drive - thru window , giving customers a clear purview of the 29 - twelvemonth - old ’s tanned build , sparkling abdomen chain , and pansy - and - ivy hiking postage stamp . While Mandy tamps the grounds , a steady current of dudes casts mostly surreptitious glances at her flawless , practically simple buttocks . Less - coy customers yaw openly , clear appreciative of her way with the steam wand .
" Cold today , " she say to Mr. Yoosh over her shoulder .
" Downright nippley , " he replies .
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" You have no idea how nasty masses can be to fit out baristas . My customers here are really nice . "
Bikini barista stands – like bikini elevator car washing and two-piece landscape gardening services and bikini sushi spots before them – are indeed a thing , and they ’re all over the Pacific Northwest , with the dandy concentration in the Seattle , Portland , Tacoma , Spokane , and tube sphere . One site , Bikini - Baristas.com , sport locations for 56 separate business with a unite 123 locations . That ’s the low end .
With name like Twin Perks , Peek A - Brew , Sips Ahoy , Java Jigglers , and Hot Chick a Latte , these shacks - with - a - view are contend with Starbucks for their share of the snatch - and - go coffee business . Think breastaurant , only with the form of high - quality espresso hoi polloi expect in a realm known for its beans .
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Think breastspresso .
" I ’ve been doing this for three long time , and at first it was a trivial weird , having humans gaze at me all day , " Mandy told me that nippley day in former March , " but I ’m used to it now . I do n’t even detect they ’re looking . "
How could one not seem ? The sidereal day I shadowed her , Mandy wore a black brassiere , white hip - hugging panties , and regal UGG slipper . As the possessor , it ’s up to her what she wear each day , and all she demand of her employee is that they keep it classy . Victoria ’s Secret classy . On my first sojourn to Hot Bikini Brew the week before , one of Mandy ’s baristas , a 20 - something light-haired , showed up for her shift in a two-piece that incisively matched the kiosk itself – hot pink with blue pipe .
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" attend at how devoted I am to my employment ! " she cooed .
Undress for success
Twenty mile west of Portland in the tranquil suburban area of Hillsboro , OR , 21 - year - previous Holly helms the aurora transmutation at Dream Girl Espresso , a Seattle Seahawks - colored cubicle nestled between a man ’s club and a Mexican restaurant . The dark - haired Portland Community College bookman – she ’s major in biological science , with programme to pursue micro - marine and oceanographic research – has served as Dream Girl ’s coach since January .
" Before I come here , I worked as a barista at a clothed java billet , and in earnest , those client were so yokelish , " Holly say . " You have no idea how nasty masses can be to invest baristas . My client here are really prissy . And I make a lot more money than I did at the other place . "
" People plausibly believe anyone who comes here is a degenerate . The thought ’s nice , but I ’m here for the coffee berry . "
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two-piece baristas show up to lick in everything from real two - piece bathing suits to pasties and thongs , though not all dress codes are the same ( the owner of a rack in Yakima , WA said she prefers a PG-13 approach , and count Dream Girl andHot Bikini Brewto be roentgen - give away ) . Costumes are unwashed on major holidays like Halloween and Valentine ’s Day and , of course , St. Patrick ’s Day , which render Portland’sTwin Perks Espressoan exculpation to adhesive plaster itsFacebook wallwith picture of baristas in four - foliage trefoil bras and green Mardi Gras beads .
Promotions can be fun – " Saturday is Pasty Day around here ! " Holly said – but anyone who ’s ever perused a Victoria ’s Secret or Frederick ’s of Hollywood catalogue love lingerie is expensive . For that reason , Dream Girl had to abstruse - six its " Fantasy Fridays , " which call for Holly and her fellow baristas to buy a band of theme , elaborated outfits .
" It just cost too much , " she said .
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That has n’t stopped Dream Girl fromhamming it up on societal media . One Facebook C. W. Post show a untested woman in nerd - girl glasses and swag - bearing scanty equilibrise a java cup above her crack . The caption ? " Come see our booty - full Shantel ! " The post has 137 ilk , one contribution , and this comment : " Wife and I got coffee there today , Shantel is an out-and-out dish . "
The social media aspect of the industry is n’t precisely unlike that of other food & tope presences . The difference is , restaurants tend to post sexy picture of the special of the day . With bikini coffee tree stand up , the special is the barista and her outfit , and the girls will post selfies of their daily costume .
For the stands ' following , getting a quick peek can easily get their coffee cravings percolating .
The customer is (almost) always right
For Mandy and Holly , making mochas while wearing next to nothing is no big deal , and their client – the immense majority regular who come through at least once a calendar week – would harmonize .
" This is the closest coffee workshop to my stead , " said a Isle of Man whose Hot Bikini yoosh is a six - nip mocha coffee . " citizenry believably suppose anyone who total here is a pervert . The panorama ’s nice , but I ’m here for the chocolate . If a shop without a two-piece miss were close , I ’d probably go there . "
His attitude is coarse among those who frequent bikini umber stands . And those who frequent them come in all shapes and sizes , from commuters who revolve up because it ’s the most convenient caffeine germ on their route to truckers looking to smile at something more than a pretty face . Mandy chitchat up a coy human beings with scratches all over his face about how he ’s adjusting to having a new kitten . Holly talks to a cleaning lady in a Prius about feminism . Men , women , even children are counted among the regulars .
" I ’d say the ratio is 60 % serviceman , 40 % women , " Mandy said . " And I get couples , too , and families . "
" It ’s not dirty or strange like a lot of people recall . "
It seems surreal that something as apparently sexualized is so … normal . Sure , there are the casual scumbags who whip out their junk , but the crowing surprisal is how much these roast function like regular one-time coffee bean shops , right down to the resonance . People are weirdly comfortable with a barely tog woman giving them a red-hot cup of joe .
" I love my caper , " Mandy said , making a caffe latte for a adult male in a " Fuck Yeah " lid . " I get to get a line people ’s history , discover about the ins and out of their daily biography . I just do it in half the clothing . "
Bonding with customer is Holly ’s favorite part of the job , too . " I roll in the hay my customer and they sleep together me . It ’s fun . The uniform ’s comfortable . It ’s not ill-gotten or strange like a lot of people think . "
Made in the Northwest… but why?
Bikini barista stands get their get-go in Seattle in the late ' 90s and former aughts , and can now be found in a handful of American city , include , not surprisingly , Las Vegas . But Oregon and Washington are home to the greatest concentration .
The solicitation of two-piece coffee in the Pacific Northwest is perhaps obvious to anyone who has survive through the region ’s unrelentingly gray , SAD - inducing wintertime . Also to anyone who has spent some quality time on the area ’s blustery beaches , where two-piece are about as common as sunshine . Which is to say : not very .
So , is the idea that the caffeine wakes you up from your cloudy coma , while the bikini - clad barista reminds you of warmness , of sun , of honest day go by or yet to get along ?
" I ’ve had tourists from Southern California number through and I ’ve asked them , ' Why do you cogitate two-piece coffee shops are n’t as common where you ’re from ? ' " Mandy said . " They differentiate me it ’s probably because you’re able to see girl in bikini there every day . Not here , though . It ’s just too cold . "
" Some of my skillful friend are dancers . I love them . I just do n’t hire them . "
It ’s probably not a coincidence that these stands are democratic in a part where striptease guild are also the norm . Portland is the per - capita strip club upper-case letter of the United States , with 54 clubs suffice 600,000 people . Seattle ’s not far behind , and the areas between are dotted with enough nine to make outsider blush . In a land where free - expression Pentateuch are historically lax , hoi polloi have long been comfortable in their own peel … and gaze at others ' . And with the full monty already the average , most people barely bat an middle when a female child in a two-piece offer them whip cream .
That is not to say that bikini barista stands and flight strip clubs are light bedfellow . Mandy of Hot Bikini Brew flat - out refuses to engage dancers . She has nothing against womanhood who make a living at the pole and is not averse to shop at flight strip clubs herself . She just worries that women already employed in the sex activity industry , even in the comparatively guiltless sphere of exotic saltation , might be tempted to campaign the envelope , and she ca n’t give to take probability .
" Some of my best friends are dancers , " she suppose . " I love them . I just do n’t rent them . "
Holly tells a exchangeable tarradiddle . Dream Girl has employed ex - striptease in the past , but terpsichorean have n’t endure very long in a job with other mornings – Holly opens at 4:50am – and even schedules .
" [ Strippers ] tend to be flakey , " Holly said . " They want to work when they desire and take time off when they do n’t . You ca n’t count on them . "
Scandal in the barista booth
Mandy and Holly might also be a footling leery of bringing dancer onto the payroll thanks to a malicious gossip that rock the small Puget Sound city of Everett , WA in 2013 . Former alien dancer - turn - madamCarmela Panicomade roughly $ 2 million running Twin Peaks and Java Juggs , bordello that masqueraded as two-piece barista shops . An Everett law officer acted as a friend and informant to Panico , trading selective information on police activity in return for sexual favors .
And even before Java Jugg - Gate blew up , there was Bill Wheeler Sr . and his Washington chain ofGrab - N - Go bikini umber stands , where baristas receive magnanimous tips for performing titillating acts for customers . Those customers included hush-hush cops , and soon the populace – and the court scheme – was party to taped sex show that included baristas lap whipped ointment off each other .
A slightly less risque controversy designate Dream Girl Espresso in Forest Grove , a Rockwellian suburb 30 land mile west of Portland . Dream Girl FG shuttered its window for in effect after a multi - faceted smear movement that included a Facebook page devoted to the case , an barrage of angry emails sent to city officials , and at least two concerned male citizen clandestinely snap picture to prove that the baristas were not sufficiently cover their naughty number . ( It ’s a tough job , but some dude ’s catch ta do it . )
The scandalous demeanour is n’t limited to inside the kiosk , either . Given that these stands are work by well-nigh naked women , intimate harassment is a endangerment of the job . human being have been have it away to ride up , pants down , mid - onanism , expect baristas to wait on as live figures for their intimate phantasy . That ’s why most kiosks are equipped with live - cyclosis photographic camera , and baristas are n’t diffident about calling the cops on anyone who cook them find threatened .
" The tough taradiddle are really rare , " Holly said . " I feel totally good here . "
Girl power?
The bulk of bikini baristas – likely 99.9 % – are cleaning lady . ( A notable exception is the Banana Hammock in Port Orchard , WA , where strapping shirtless men in tighty - whities do the steaming . ) Many of the kiosks are have and run by women as well , make up such shop an arguably feminist effort .
Ladies doing it for themselves , in other Holy Writ . And the majority of the shacks do above - board and scandal - loose business every daytime . No harlotry , no money laundering , no marked-up copper : just cups and cups of coffee with no G - strings attach .
But what about the fact that these abide offer one more locus for the objectification of woman in a reality already impregnate with such opportunities ? The debate about whether putting one ’s body on exhibit is an act of authorisation or just one more profits for the patriarchy will ramp as long as Kim K and Bette Midler have Twitter account .
" The kids jazz me . The little girls especially . "
But , for their part , folk music like Mandy and Holly are unify in their touch that what they ’re doing is good for them and for their sex in general , because they get paid well to love their body and promote , employ , and celebrate other fair sex .
Holly field head all the prison term from hoi polloi worried she ’s sending the wrong message to young women . While we talked , a distaff client in a Prius drove up and ordered a whitened chocolate mocha . I necessitate her why she choose to get her coffee at Dream Girl rather than at a " clothed " coffee kiosk down the street .
" It ’s a skillful halfway point between menage and employment , and sometimes you just have to treat yourself , you bed ? " she say . " And I do n’t see my come here as weird or anything . No one should be afraid to support a business just because a pretty girl is working there . Solidarity , sis , you live ? "
Bikini barista - ing is , at the same clip , a unseasoned woman ’s plot . Now that she ’s pushing 30 , Mandy is quick to hang up her bikini and work behind the scenes full time . She says she feels like a mama bear to her employee , both of whom are in their early 20s .
" I ’m sort of ancient , really , but I do be intimate the work and when I break off being a barista , I ’ll escape it . "
That include the client . The men , sure , but also the families .
" The kids love me . The little girl especially . They get so excited . They ’re like , ' Wow , you are so pretty . I want to be pretty like you when I grow up . ’ "
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