Side Eye, a New Bar, Will Open in NW Portland

A new bar called Side Eye will open in the Nob Hill section of NW Portland, right next to Cinema 21 on 21st Avenue. While it was most recently home to Round Here, it’s probably best known as the location of Muu-Muu’s. I spoke with Quinn Matthewstearn to learn more.

The first inkling that something was happening in this space was when a Bridgetown Bites tipster emailed me the following last month: “Serious construction and painting at the old Muu-Muu’s/Stoic/RoundHere spot on NW 21st next to the cinema. Talked to the painter he said its a new bar from some people who own multiple other bars.” Through a random series of internet searches over the course of a few weeks, it became clear to me that Side Eye is the bar that’s opening there.

The Team

The team behind Side Eye are owners Quinn, David Hall, and Ricky Gomez from Palomar. Quinn and David own Two Wrongs, Sugar Hill, QD’s and Jackie’s (which was the old Century sports bar). Joining this trio is John Denison of Le Clown, among others.

“David and I have always been nightlife-centric, Ricky is a craft cocktail connoisseur, and John really likes fine dining but also has wanted to expand into bar food,” explained Quinn. “So we all kind of thought we’d bring our own expertise and make something cool together.”

“We’ve all known each other over the years,” Quinn said. “Ricky and I met because he’s a diehard Saints fan from New Orleans. He’d come into Jackie’s every Sunday to watch the Saints game, and we all became friends. John worked at St. Jack with one of our general managers, Tony, for years and we all kind of connected.”

Why “Side Eye”?

One of my favorite questions to ask is about the origin of the name of a place, so I asked Quinn what’s up with the story behind “Side Eye.” “We were all just joking around and one of the guys hated the floors,” Quinn explained. “Whenever we’d bring up the floors, he kept giving us an evil side eye across the bar. We mentioned keeping the floors and he just didn’t want to hear it.”

He adds, “We had been struggling to find a name and we all thought it was funny. When you try to come up with a name, it gets harder.” This time, it was a natural process.

The Location

I asked how this location came to be. “I always loved Muu-Muu’s,” said Quinn. “Before I was married it was one of my go-to date spots. When I was a little kid, I’d go to movies at Cinema 21 with my dad. It’s a nostalgic place that I think very highly of.”

He continues, “We already have two locations in the Pearl, and Ricky and David and myself had been interested in finding a place in Nob Hill or Slabtown for quite some time. And I’m more interested in inheriting a space that has some funk and soul like Muu-Muu’s had in it. For me, it’s fun to take on a starting point of a place that has a rich history, rather than inheriting a new build.”

Side Eye: The Vision

During the course of our conversation, it became clear that Quinn and the team want Side Eye to be a kind of local in that corner of town. “We want to be a Nob Hill neighborhood bar. We want to be a good place for people to eat late at night, hang out with their friends and family, go on dates.”

He continued, “I’ve been so high-energy-nightlife-focused that once we opened QD’s and once it became a neighborhood bar/hangout, I really loved that. You know, there’s a lot of stresses that come with the high-volume kind of nightlife, and I think as we open up more spots, I’m more interested in opening a neighborhood favorite kind of place.

“Our goal is to have a ton of regulars where that’s their watering hole of choice, near where they live. For folks who are going out or downtown it may be a great place to get some food before or after seeing a play. We want it to just be a bar.”

The Food

They are really excited to bring on John for the food side of things. He’ll write menus, creates specials, staff the kitchen—and will work the kitchen for the first few months so that everything goes smoothly. He’ll eventually find someone to operate the kitchen.

Elevated bar food is the name of the game—with John’s twist. You’ll find snacks and shareable plates, and in particular they are looking at including a “Blooming Onion,” a Royale with cheese, fondue dip, some other fun stuff. “It’s just going to taste fantastic, whatever he does,” Quinn remarked.

He added, “I do think that with folks like Ricky and John attached to Side Eye that the food and beverage will certainly be elevated. Which is a part of Portland—when everyone’s food and cocktails are so amazing, you certainly can’t half-ass it if you want to become people’s favorites.”

The Drink

Look for classic cocktails to be a big part of the menu. “Ricky is going to do his thing,” Quinn said. “He’s an incredible bartender—he was the first ever Diageo World Class US Winner. He really likes working with the classics.”

And as far as non-alcoholic cocktails? “Oh yeah, definitely. If our goal is to be a place for everyone to hang out and feel comfortable, that goes for folks who want to meet up with people and spend time but don’t drink anymore—and that’s an ever-growing population. For sure, NA is something we want to cater to and make people feel welcome with a good offering.”

He also talked about the importance of the bar as a social space “For a lot of people— whether they are quitting drinking or not—bars are one of the last few spaces to meet people, despite our ever-growing digital era. If people are drinking less and less we don’t want to lose these social spaces. A bar is not just about drinking, it’s where people go to spend time and hang out and get together in person. It’s definitely a necessity.”

Side Eye: The Space

I asked Quinn who is designing the interior. “Just us. We do all our own interior design,” he said. They will be using luxurious fabrics on the booths, much of it in a plaid pattern. Look for plenty of lounge seating.

There will also be glowing glass blocks inside, same as the exterior as the building.

“I think we are building a beautiful room, a room that people want to hang out in,” said Quinn. “I like to ask myself, ‘Could people come and fall in love in here? Would friends want to come an hang out in here?'”

The vibe inside will be dark and atmospheric—think Muu-Muu’s ,Clyde’s, Expatriate. “At no point would a descriptor be ‘well-lit,'” quipped Quinn.

Final Thoughts on Side Eye

Quinn says they are not going into opening Side Eye with a rigid idea of what it is, or with any kind of theme in mind. “I’m always a big believer that customers tell us what we are,” he explained. “I don’t want to set any hard and fast rules or themes of what we are. What we really want to do is cater to what the neighborhood tells us they’re wanting or what is missing in the area. And that’s why we build this kind of malleable space that we can turn into what the customers dictate.”

He continues, “We all love the location, and we’re all excited to do something together. We are not too big on themes, like I said—we just want to open a bar we feel good about, and love the room and drinks. We love this neighborhood so we are really excited!”

Look for an opening sometime in December. They don’t have a hard date just yet, but will pass that on when they know it. And also: The website, sideyepdx.com, may look accurate but it’s just a placeholder right now. They’ll relaunch it with updated info when it’s ready.

All the best to the Quinn, David, Ricky, and John as they prepare to open Side Eye.

Side Eye [opening December 2024]
612 NW 21st Avenue, Portland
Instagram

Updated December 4, 2024.