A new sports bar with a Louisiana twist has landed in Roseway, serving up fried catfish and gumbo alongside a dozen screens for game day. Checkpoint One soft opened Saturday, November 7, at 7325 NE Sandy Blvd, bringing Southern food and a motorsports-inspired theme to the stretch of Sandy Boulevard.
The bar describes its menu as “hot, crispy fried seafood and Louisiana flavor,” according to Bridgetown Bites. Diners can expect fried wings, catfish, shrimp, and oysters, along with gumbo, a large chicken option, and sides of coleslaw or potato salad. The bar rounds things out with cocktails, rotating-tap beer, wine, and soda, and there's seating set up specifically for watching games on the dozen screens scattered around the space.
A Checkered Flag and a Neighborhood Finish Line
Checkpoint One leans into a racing motif, using a checkered flag in its logo and the tagline “your neighborhood finish line,” per the same outlet's report. Oregon Secretary of State business records, cited in that report, indicate the bar is backed by Krystl Arruiza, Daniel Preston, and Mary Lincoln.
The building itself has some history behind it. It was built in 1926 and remodeled in 2023, and the outlet notes it appears to have changed hands in 2022, crediting Loopnet for a photo of the property. Before Checkpoint One moved in, the space was home to Blue Fin Bar & Grill, a Vietnamese restaurant that served pho and bun before closing — a closure the Bridgetown Bites report says its author wasn't surprised by.
From Rockwood Market Hall to Sandy Boulevard
Mary Lincoln isn't new to the Portland food scene. She previously ran Hank's Place Southern Cuisine, a soul food operation that served fried chicken, jambalaya, smothered pork chops, oxtails, fried shrimp, and catfish at Rockwood Market Hall from spring 2022 to spring 2024. An OregonLive photo gallery identified Lincoln as the owner of Hank's Place at the market hall, which held its grand opening May 6-7 at the site of a former Fred Meyer near 185th and SE Stark Street.
That Southern food background appears to be carrying over into Checkpoint One's menu, with familiar dishes like fried catfish and shrimp now paired with a sports-bar format and a dozen screens for catching the game. For Roseway residents, it marks a new option on Sandy Boulevard following the departure of Blue Fin Bar & Grill from the same address.
