Classic Punk Bar B-Side Tavern Has Officially Reopened [Updated]

Dive bar legend B-Side Tavern has reopened on East Burnside, Willamette Week reports. The bar opened without announcement May 6, sticking to the schtick it was known for before it closed in 2017.

In September of 2017, a fire started on the deck and traveled through the interior of the bar, forcing owner Tanya P. Frantzen to close. The bar remained closed for a year with relative radio silence, until the team finally announced plans to reopen and filed permits to begin construction on a new patio. The patio isn’t back quite yet, though a Facebook post says it should open “soon.” As the alt-pub notes, B-Side’s biggest claim to fame is likely as the setting of this Red Fang video starring Fred Armisen, in which beer-drinking zombies descend on the bar.

It’s not the only Old Portland institution pulling a phoenix: Willamette Week also broke the news that Ye Olde Towne Crier will reopen on the corner of SE 41st and Holgate. This restaurant has been closed far longer than a year — the Colonial-themed spot shuttered in 1996, but it’ll reopen as Towne Crier with much of the original charm intact, including the prime rib and Yorkshire pudding, complete with a “campy” bar hiding in the basement. In April, owner Tacee Webb said the spot should reopen in August.

Updated May 13, 2019, 11:45 a.m.
This story has been updated to show B-Side has reopened.

• B-Side Tavern -[Facebook]
• Beloved Punk Dive Bar B-Side Tavern Has Finally Reopened Following a Long Recovery from Fire Damage [WWeek]
• East Burnside Punk Bar B-Side Tavern Is Officially Reopening Following Fire [WWeek]
• Fire damages Portland’s B-Side Tavern [KGW]
• “Blood Like Cream” by Red Fang [Youtube]
• A Long-Shuttered Portland Restaurant Is Coming Back in Its Original Building [WWeek]