Downtown Destination

The rumors are true: Less than a week after the Green Room [1] closed, Sue Bette, owner of Bluebird Tavern [2], signed a lease to move her gastropub to the St. Paul Street building.

“We are trying to be part of the downtown scene,” Bette says. “What we do at the Tavern will be a great fit for downtown.”

That includes accommodating casual diners in a separate bar section, which, like the Green Room, will stay open late. Bette says chef Michael Clauss [3] will prepare business-style lunches, a dining option he didn’t find viable in the current Riverside Avenue space. Clauss will also take advantage of the new setup to create a more extensive raw bar. The open kitchen will allow for intimate chef’s-table dinners.

The new location is closer to the Bluebird Coffee Stop [4], meaning Clauss will be able to ramp up the service of prepared foods there. Expect more sandwiches, soups and other goodies.

Bette says the current location will stay open until the St. Paul Street restaurant starts serving, around the holidays. By spring, she hopes to have opened a restaurant with a new concept on Riverside Avenue. She hasn’t settled on a cuisine yet, though barbecue is in the running. Whatever she chooses, Bette says, the new Riverside eatery will have “a roadhouse, fun style.”