Photo by Theodore Williams
Richard Tang, owner of Korean barbecue eatery Char, Vietnamese seafood restaurant Girl Diver, and speakeasy Three Branches, is adding another name to his repertoire. Bar Diver is slated to open the third week in September in Westside Paper (950 West Marietta Street). Unlike sister spot Girl Diver, Bar Diver will be focused on small plates and feature a “cyber-punk, post-apocalyptic vibe.”
“This next generation of diners is more experiential,” Tang explains. “It’s not so much about the salad, soup, appetizer, and main. People want to go try five to six dishes and share family style. They want to have cocktails and enjoy each other’s company more than anything else.”
Photo by Theodore Williams
At 6,500 square feet, Bar Diver will be designed for a one-stop evening—a place people can enjoy happy hour, dinner, and drinks afterward. Expect a 6-foot-tall neon sign, black walls, wicker lighting, a graffiti mural, and vines hanging from the walls and beams. A side patio boasts a retractable roof and glass walls. In the main dining room, there will be a double-sided 40-foot bar.
Photo by Theodore Williams
Photo by Richard Tang
Tang is streamlining the beverage menus across his three restaurants enabling diners to get their favorite drinks wherever they are. Expect about 15 cocktails and an expanded wine list. Upstairs, a private club similar to Three Branches—a members-only lounge—will feature a smaller cocktail list and a concise small bites menu. Three Branches members will get priority reservations.
“These will be fun drinks,” Tang says. “The time of the 15-minute cocktail is done. No one has the patience to sit there waiting for it.”
When Bar Diver opens, it will serve only dinner for the first month. After that, Tang will add weekend brunch. The 40-plus-item menu features family recipes. Offerings include shu mai, lobster ragoon, beef gyoza, vegetable tempura, scallion pancakes, and XO crispy wings. Select large-format plates—such as shaking beef and Thai basil chicken—will be available. For dessert, there’s a fried Twinkie.
Scope the menu below.
