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Wednesday • October 21, 2015
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photo by M ark W ashington /t he p ortland o bserver
Reo Varnado, the long-time Portland chef and barbecue lover, is reopening his Reo’s Ribs restaurant in the Hollywood district, moving into the iconic old Hollywood Burger
Bar at the intersection of Northeast 42nd Avenue and Sandy Boulevard.
Barbecue Never Tasted Sweeter
Local chef re-opens
at iconic location
by o livia o livia
t he p ortland o bserver
Reo Varnado, uncle of hip-hop legend
Snoop Dogg and long-time Portland chef
and barbecue lover, has reopened the doors
to his popular rib shack at an iconic new
location in northeast Portland.
Formerly home to the Hollywood Burg-
er Bar for over 61 years, Varnado and his
business partner Myra Girod, have an-
nounced plans to make the historic North-
east 42nd and Sandy site the new home for
Reo’s Ribs.
Varnado said the building’s unique ar-
chitecture and beloved location called out
to him to focus on the future and not the
past as he makes a fourth move to posi-
tion his business as a staple in Portland’s
restaurant scene.
With an end-of-October opening date,
there’s not much time to spare.
While he has glowing praise for his bar-
becue favorites and sides, he has no plans
of leaving burgers off the new menu at the
historic burger bar
“We’re going to have grits, eggs, bacon,
ham, and Mississippi sausage, omelettes,
hash browns, hushpuppies, greens, yams,
sweet potato, okra, banana pudding cakes,
and peach cobbler,” Varnado said. “I’m
taking them back all the way to the root,
with gumbo of course, but we’re going to
have the best smoked or grilled burgers
you ever had, too.”
Reo’s critically acclaimed ribs have
pleased more than just Snoop Dogg, who
Vernado occasionally cooks and caters for
privately.
In 2005, food writers Michael and Jane
Stern wrote up Reo’s in Gourmet Maga-
zine, and foodies have long reviewed the
Reo’s barbecue sauce as being more sweet
than spicy, and despite the struggle for a
permanent location, loyal customers say
online they’re eager for the new restaurant
to open up.
“I know we gone make new friends
here,” said Varnado. “And I want people to
come and know we’re giving our best to
the neighborhood.”
Varnado shared that over the past de-
cade that he and his business partner have
struggled to find the perfect restaurant site
in the Portland metro area.
C ontinued on p age 2