Rhinestone Celebrates One Year In Portland Tonight With a Pop-Up (Just Like Old Times)

The Rhinestone Cowboy cocktail from their first pop-up. — The Rhinestone Cowboy cocktail from their inaugural pop-up a year ago. Will we see it again? Photo credit: Rhinestone.

As you probably know, Rhinestone opened a bar last October in Southeast Portland (in the old Houston Blacklight space), but they started their life as a pop-up. So, why not celebrate a year of the concept … with another pop-up‽ Tonight’s the party and you are invited to stop by to help them celebrate right there were it all started—at Too Soon.

Why the Date of the First Pop-Up?

Because why not! A lot of places might want to save the marking of that one-year point to the date of opening the brick and mortar bar/restaurant—but Rhinestone is different. When they would reach out to alert me about one of their pop-ups, they were always upbeat with a generosity of spirit. I can see how they’d like to take the opportunity to have a party and share it with everyone.

And frankly, we are living in challenging times, so celebrate the achievements where you can. And I’m in the mood to tell you about a party after the chilly rain and wind we had over the weekend that was a drag.

“Rhinestone Was a Dream”

That’s the sentiment from the founders, that this whole project was a beautiful dream that started as a one-night pop-up at Too Soon, where they served bacon-wrapped hot dogs, fried chicken chalupas, totcho waffles, BBQ cheeseburgers, fritters, and a fajita taco. Plus cocktails, of course.

It led to another pop-up on April 27, this time at Deadshot (RIP) with a crunchwrap and a Mexican pizza on the menu. Then July 20 with an esquites and pork rind combo, SPAM slammers, queso fundido, and chicken fried baby back ribs. It is clear that these guys like to fuse things together on their menu.

Plus, always, creative cocktails—the Rhinestone Cowboy, Get Blasted, and Dirty Rotten Scoundrel, to name a few.

The Party Tonight

“The anniversary marks a major milestone for the team,” said the rep from Rhinestone. “What began as an electric night at Too Soon has since grown into one of the city’s most distinctive new bar spaces.”

Tonight’s party from 9pm to midnight celebrates their debut on the Portland food scene with:

An ’80s-theme (“Think Depeche Mode meets New Order doing shots with Mötley Crüe.”)
Guest bartending by Nick Flower, the co-owner of Too Soon, doing Fernet Branca
Limited-edition merch—T-shirts for sale.
Flash tattoos from Oddball Tattoo
Giveaways (like the aforementioned T-shirts).
A chance to hang out late in Portland.

I hope you will have a chance to stop in and wish the good folks at Rhinestone there at Too Soon all the best as they continue to add their own special mark on Portland’s bar scene.

Rhinestone First Pop-up Anniversary Party
Monday, February 23, 2026.
Too Soon, 18 NE 28th Avenue, Portland
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