Our story

Built for the nights
that actually matter.

Tandem started with a simple goal: planning a great night out in Portland. Creating a perfect itinerary can take hours of planning, creates significant mental load, and can leave you anxious hoping everything works out. We wanted an easier way.

Dylan and Laney at Jenkins Estate

I built Tandem to give my girlfriend the perfect date night. Then I figured other people might want it too.

I'm Dylan. I've lived in Portland for two years and fell in love with it quickly: the food, the weirdness, the fact that you can pet a therapy llama at the airport. While Portland is rich with fun experiences, they can sometimes be hard to discover.

My girlfriend and I are both young professionals with full work schedules, leaving us with little time to plan a proper date night. Every time we tried to plan one, we'd spend 45 minutes on Yelp, get lost in all the options, and end up ordering pizza and staying home. We imagined a perfect evening, where everything was planned and seamless from the moment you left the house.

So I created Tandem, designed to take care of every facet of your experience. Just pick an experience, date, and time: Tandem will handle the bookings and make sure every stop is memorable and exciting. By booking with us, you'll save on experiences compared to booking each separately. A perfect date night, planned and booked within minutes.

— Dylan Kangas, Portland
What we believe

What a great night out should feel like

Here's what we consider when designing our experiences:

01

It should feel effortless from the moment you leave the house

Spending hours planning an itinerary can be frustrating and detract from your experience. With Tandem, we'll handle the logistics, leaving you fully present to enjoy Portland together.

02

The stops should build on each other

We think hard about sequencing: what energy you'll arrive with, how that leads into the next stop, how the night ends. Each experience is designed so that the whole is greater than its parts.

03

Portland deserves better than generic ideas

While some might call Portland weird, this city is unique — The food scene, the eclectic community, the landscape. Every Tandem experience is built around what makes Portland great.

04

You shouldn't have to spend more to do more

We pre-negotiate with every venue so a Tandem experience costs less than booking each stop yourself. It's an excellent way to enjoy the city without spending a fortune.

Why Portland

There's no better city to fall in love with.

Portland gets written off as a city of coffee shops and rain. That's fine. The people who actually live here know what they have. World-class restaurants run by chefs who moved here specifically to do something they couldn't do anywhere else. Art installations everywhere you look. Neighborhoods with their own distinct personalities: the Pearl's galleries and cocktail bars, the quiet coziness of Sellwood, the hustle and bustle of downtown. We even inspired the food cart culture now copied in cities across the country.

What makes Portland great for a night out is that something enjoyable is around every corner if you know where to look. In a single evening you can go from a wine bar to a kayak on the Willamette to a candlelit dinner, without driving an hour or walking three miles between stops.

Tandem is designed for couples and groups who want a cohesive, thoughtful experience. It's perfect for those who are visiting from out of town, and also for locals who want to explore their own neighborhood in a different way.

For venues

Partner with us

We work with a small number of Portland venues whose quality we can vouch for personally. If you run a restaurant, bar, gallery, or experience worth including in a curated evening, we'd love to hear from you. We bring pre-committed guests who are already in the mood to spend, and we handle all the coordination so your team doesn't have to.

📅
Guaranteed bookings Every guest is pre-committed before they walk in. No no-shows.
💰
Volume pre-payment We settle with venues in advance. No chasing tabs at the end of the night.
🎯
The right customers Guests on a curated experience are in a different headspace than a walk-in. They spend more and tip better.
🤝
Low lift for your team We handle the guest communication, timing coordination, and any special requests.

Get in touch

Prefer email? Reach us directly at info@tandem-pdx.com

Ready to go?

See what we've built

Curated experiences designed around Portland's best nights. Each one ready to book.

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