Reno Bar and Grill coming soon to Fourth Street

The early April opening of Reno Bar and Grill may be the first restaurant venture for Shane Mathias, but the longtime entrepreneur’s experience in food service stretches back nearly two decades.

Reno Bar and Grill is slated to open April 3 in a completely renovated and tastefully decorated space at 903 E. Fourth St. The 5,500-square-foot restaurant includes a 1,400-square-foot dining area along with a prep kitchen, storage space and mezzanine office. Mathias said the large prep and storage spaces will greatly help with workflow for his other food venture, Big Blue Q catering and food trucks, which was founded 13 years ago.

“It will be so helpful for the food trucks and big corporate deliveries,” Mathias said.

Summertime visitors to Commons Beach in Tahoe City will likely be familiar with Big Blue Q, which has catered Concerts at Commons on Commons Beach on Sundays for years. That gig led to the founding of Big Blue Q barbecue and thousands of catering gigs – Big Blue Q catered 168 events in 2024 and 174 the year before, Mathias said.

Mathias said he never had a desire to open a restaurant because he didn’t want to cook the same things over and over, but that mindset changed when he met local real estate developer Josh Thieriot, principal with Chronicle Capital Management. Thieriot’s firm owns and manages more than two dozen properties in the East Fourth Street corridor. Mathias said the retail space fronting East Fourth Street was a perfect fit for a new restaurant concept.

Reno Bar and Grill will feature a variety of elevated comfort foods prepared in an open kitchen where customers can watch Mathias and his team plate scratch-made foods – there’s not even a microwave in the building, Mathias said.

“Every culture has its own version of comfort food, so I am not cornered into anything and I can do what I want,” Mathias said of the menu offerings.

“Everything at Reno Bar and Grill is made from scratch,” he added. “We make our own demi-glace, pork and chicken stocks, French fries – nothing is sent to us frozen. We also are trying to give people larger portions and reasonable prices. There are definitely some talented chefs in this town, but I will occupy a more personal niche where sometimes I’ll be out of the kitchen and talking to tables – I think that’s a lost art.”

Josh Thieriot, principal with Chronicle Capital Management, said CCM has 23 properties on East Fourth Street. Rob Sabo/NNBW

The restaurant will use as many local vendors as possible, including Bonanza Produce, Mountain Mushrooms, meat from G & S Packaging Solutions, and Sierra Gold Seafood, Mathias noted.

The venture has been entirely self-funded. Mathias said when he knew he was finally going to enter the brick-and-mortar space he began scouring online sales sites for restaurant equipment – much of his cooking and prep equipment came from the former Redwood Rotisserie on Plumb Lane.

Reno Bar and Grill employs a staff of 26. Mathias said most employees joined the team organically after finding out he was entering the restaurant business. Reno Bar and Grill is also the last business to occupy 903 E. Fourth St. along with The Block Climbing & Fitness and nonprofit Awaken. Pinecrest Construction & Development did the interior renovations for the entire building.

Thieriot told NNBW he purchased the 15,000-square-foot building back in 2012 – it was his first acquisition on East Fourth Street – and Pinecrest began renovation work of the former Firestone building a few years ago.

Chronicle Capital Management also owns the 15,000-square-foot building at 900 E. Fourth St., which Thieriot said will be under renovation in the near future. Chronicle Capital Management is also under contract to acquire four additional properties at 507, 535, 541 and 545 E. Fourth St. Two of those spaces are occupied by Reno Homebrewer (535) and Ferino Distillery (541). Chronicle also closed on 314 N. Park St. several months ago.

“When we close on these properties, it will bring us to 23 properties on East Fourth Street,” Thieriot said. “We are all-in on Fourth Street. We are excited about all the interest we have received, and we will continue to bring in new businesses and change the feel of Fourth Street.”

Travis Hansen of Dickson Commercial Group and Amanda Lavi, director of retail properties in the Reno office of NAI Alliance, helped broker sale of the various properties under contract, Thieriot said.