The team behind Sit Tite is opening a new restaurant in Northwest Portland. The upcoming restaurant, Say When, is bound for 305 NW 21st Ave.
Sit Tite was founded in 2023 by Pretty Good Group, operated by former Top Chef contestant BJ Smith and his co-owners Robert Thomas and Paul Francis. The group coined the term “blue-collar Italian,” serving affordable sandwiches and pastas, like its fried lasagna.
Similarly, Say When will serve blue-collar French food. Diners can get croque madames and monsieur, steak frites and French dip, food that’s “really fun, and a little bit chef-driven,” Smith says. Most importantly, Say When will keep its dishes below $20 while still giving customers a satisfying portion. Smith says, “I’m really looking forward to just cooking really good French food that’s just simple.”
The 4,400 square-foot space that Say When will occupy divides itself into two distinct areas. The front area is strictly a restaurant, with a vintage French aesthetic, where diners can enjoy their meal. The back area is more of a hangout space, with pool, pinball and DJs on the weekends. Business in the front, party in the back, if you will.
“I think this area of Northwest is really just screaming for something like this,” Smith says, no stranger to the neighborhood. In 2011, Smith launched his first restaurant, Smokehouse 21, in Northwest Portland. In a full-circle moment 15 years later, Smith’s new restaurant will open one street over from where Smokehouse 21 used to be.
“I kind of have this romantic idea of rebuilding in that neighborhood,” he says. Though his triumphant return is still grounded in reality. “E restaurant or bar that I’ve opened, what you envision initially isn’t always what the business ends up being, right? It’s your customers and clientele that dictate where it goes.”
Say, when is the restaurant opening? Glad you asked. Say When is aiming to open in mid-April.
You can find a preliminary menu below.
