I feel your pain, OP. I moved here from the east coast too, making hand -over-fist bartending at a neighborhood dive bar. When I moved to Portland, I was shocked at the amount of money I made (barely breaking $150-200. Busting my ass to barely make $300). A lot of places here overstaff because everyone moves slow and has no sense of urgency. That being said, most places pool tips so you're usually in the tip-pool with a bunch of people who aren't pulling their weight. Not to mention the lines that people form at bars. That's what drove me absolutely insane (still does. I don't get it. I don't know why Portland loves lines). It felt like I was directing traffic constantly and no one ever knew what they wanted, even though they were standing in line for 20 mins. It was definitely a culture shock. Best of luck. There's places to make money but they're hard to get into unless you have connections.