After a pandemic and a fire, an 81-year-old Portland institution emerges from the ashes

RingSide Steakhouse, one of Portland’s oldest family-run restaurants, is open again after a four-month closure due to a kitchen fire.

The family-owned establishment has operated since the 1940s and offers a dining experience beloved by generations of Oregonians.

RingSide has survived two fires 50 years apart, a pandemic, and, in a rapidly changing world, has managed to evolve while remaining a classic beacon of nostalgia.

Stepping into RingSide feels a little like going back in time. The restaurant opened its doors in Portland in 1944, across the street from the current location.

The name originates from boxing matches held at a stadium nearby in Northwest Portland. If you sat ringside, you had the best seats. Boxing gloves still hang from the rafters above the bar as an homage. They moved into their current space, which was originally a Piggly Wiggly, in the early 50s.

Geoff Rich, who started with RingSide 12 years ago as a lunch bartender and has worked his way up to Director of Operations, says all 80 staff members were kept on the payroll during the four-month closure.

“The history and legacy and tradition of people’s experiences in the restaurant is so strong,” said Rich. “The generations continue to both have meaning and value in this place, but they also imbue it with that meaning and value as well.”

Rich said people won’t notice any changes to the dining room, “and that was definitely the intention.”

For Albert Spor, the Sous Chef who has been with RingSide for 48 years, this wasn’t his first RingSide fire.

“When I first started here, probably 77-78, I was still a busboy,” Spor said. “I rode the bus up and people on the bus were saying ‘hey the RingSide’s on fire.’ Apparently, the chimney of the fireplace had caught on fire. Back then, one of the busboys’ jobs was to bring in wood for the fire — it was a real fire. What surprised me was people were still sitting in the booths even though there were firemen and hoses and smoke everywhere and eating.”

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Spor says customers won’t notice much of a change in the menu either.

“The onion rings, the chicken, the steaks of course, the house dressing, thousand island dressing,” he said. “Some things are just timeless and classic.”

RingSide’s kitchen is a well-oiled machine. There are 33 dishes on RingSide’s menu and two items that can only be ordered to-go: steak bites and the steakhouse burger. In one month, they go through 8,000 pounds of potatoes, 5,000 pounds of onions, and so many steaks.

There are 3 hosts, 10 servers, 3 managers, 2 prep-cooks, 12 dinner cooks and 3 chefs who serve anywhere from 200 to 350 diners in just 5 hours.

Kitchen lulls are rare here. On the first day back after the fire, the crew rallies through to 9 p.m. when things finally start to calm down. They’ll go through a closing list, clean, haul the garbage, and lock up. Then they’ll come back tomorrow and do it again.

Chef Carter Vaughn has been at RingSide for 3 years and can already feel how special this place is.

“You say it around town and it’s like, people have some kind of memory, you know, of their family coming here or something like that,” said Vaughn. “I’m from the East Coast and I don’t know a whole lot about this area, but you just mention it and people are like ‘there’s so many good memories,’ you know.”

In the rapidly changing restaurant world, the American steakhouse remains an icon. In his upcoming book “Steak House,” comedian, actor, and writer Eric Wareheim mentions RingSide Steakhouse as one of the best in the country, and that’s not the first time the restaurant has gotten national attention.

Geoff Rich, the Director of Operations, points out that RingSide thrives because it evolves while remaining the classic restaurant loved by generations of Oregonians and visitors alike.