Blue Goose Tavern, a Port Orchard bar with 1940s roots, has been updated by local restaurateur Frank Tweten, who is pitching the waterfront spot as an affordable, community-minded, and quality place to eat, drink, and watch the game.
Located on Bay Street beside Sinclair Inlet, the updated Blue Goose offers a more polished yet still affordable dining and bar experience for those 21 or older. The menu features familiar American breakfast, lunch, and dinner items, and its seven large televisions cater to sports fans. And it’s open 8 a.m. to 2 a.m. daily.
Community to the Core
Blue Goose is Tweten’s first restaurant since selling his last one in 2008 to focus on general contracting. When the tavern went up for sale, he realized he wanted to be a part of downtown Port Orchard’s planned development and growth.
He purchased the tavern and building in 2020. Renovations took roughly 18 months, mostly due to permitting delays, and the bar reopened in October 2023. In early 2025, he opened the connected restaurant next door, Dino’s Pizzeria.
While Tweten may be the visionary behind the redesign, he credits much of the day-to-day success to Laura Haney, the general manager of both Blue Goose and Dino’s Pizzeria. With 20 years of experience managing a restaurant in Tacoma, Haney had a career in home appraisal before meeting Tweten. She was drawn back to the food industry.
“Starting something from the very beginning, you really put so much sweat, tears, love — everything — it really almost feels like a child,” Haney said.
Exploring the Menu
The tavern offers a variety of dining and drink options, including gluten-free options.
She wants hungry patrons to enjoy great-tasting food while feeling safe about the food they’re eating.
The staff accomplishes this by communicating about a guest’s dietary needs — cooks use new gloves and separate pans to prepare food, aiming to prevent cross-contamination as much as possible. In addition to gluten-free options, the team is planning to expand its vegetarian/vegan options.
Haney said a good gluten-free breakfast is The Goose Grits and Eggs, since it’s prepared in one pan. Being a family recipe of hers, it also happens to be one of her favorites. It features stone grits mixed with cheddar cheese, bacon, sausage, sautéed onion, and Cajun seasoning, topped with eggs.
Other fan favorites include New York steak and eggs, loaded burgers, and a variety of fresh salads. For seafood lovers, the clam chowder and steamed butter clams — served with garlic bread for soaking up every last drop of the savory, aromatic broth — are a must. It’s not uncommon for diners to tell Haney that the steak “is the best tavern steak they’ve ever had,” a compliment she never gets tired of hearing.
Sourcing ingredients from local suppliers, like Minder Meats in Bremerton, is part of the kitchen’s approach to quality. The difference is noticeable, especially in customer favorites such as the Reuben sandwich, which is so beloved that one fan regularly drives from Oregon to eat it.
For drink lovers, Blue Goose offers the classics and a rotating seasonal cocktail menu. The best seller is a cocktail called “Cupid’s Arrow,” another of Haney’s family recipes. It’s a fruit-based drink made with Chambord (raspberry liqueur), vodka, fresh orange juice, and a splash of soda water. The bar features 10 beers on tap, including local breweries such as Silver City and Rainy Daze.
Family Dining Next Door
Dino’s Pizzeria, which shares a connecting hallway and bathrooms with Blue Goose, is the newest addition. There’s a communal handwashing station in the hallway for both men and women.
Unlike Blue Goose, which is for guests 21 and older, Dino’s Pizzeria is family-friendly and a place to bring the kiddos to enjoy pizza. Guests can also order and enjoy food from next door at Dino’s. The restaurant staff can make up to 100 pizzas an hour thanks to their custom-built, double-tiered rotating pizza oven, which helps cook pie to perfection.
A True Neighborhood Spot
As part of updating the Blue Goose, everything — from the plumbing to the roof — needed to be redone. Now, large windows flood the space with natural light, showcasing the waterfront view. The once-low ceilings have been raised to expose handsome wood beams, and the entrance to Dino’s Pizzeria is framed by rich, repurposed trim salvaged from a secondhand store. Other pieces came from the original Nordstrom in Tacoma, adding layers of local history to the decor.
Frank and Laura want everyone to feel like a regular. From greeting folks by name to remembering their favorite drink, providing excellent customer service every time is always at the forefront of their minds.
For Tweten, Blue Goose represents the culmination of his lifelong career in the food industry.
Growing up, his parents owned a series of restaurants, and at just 14 years old, he was flipping patties at his parents’ hamburger stand in Seattle in the ’60s. As a child, Tweten struggled with traditional schooling, so he focused on making a name for himself.
He opened his first business, The Sunset Grill in Gig Harbor, at age 34. He moved on to own a series of businesses, including restaurants, a catering company, and a contracting firm. Over the years, he ran The Club House Grill (which grew to three locations), Tweten’s Lighthouse, and The Sportsman in Bremerton.
With regular events, sports viewing, and an evolving menu, Blue Goose has positioned itself as an increasingly popular gathering spot in Port Orchard.
Watch the calendar for fun special event nights like Bunco, trivia, karaoke, and more.
While Tweten may see this as his final major project, the ongoing development of both Blue Goose and Dino’s Pizzeria suggests there’s likely still more ahead for this downtown corner of Port Orchard.