St. Pete Has The Bends – The Bends Bar, That Is

Part Mandarin Hide, part the Emerald Bar, St. Pete’s newest bar — The Bends — is a pleasant mix of the two. But there's also a strong nautical and New York City theme.

“We say it’s a classy dive bar,” said owner Matt Kaye.

Kaye is a St. Pete native but moved to New York City where he tended bar for 10 years. In New York, he said, no matter what bar you went to, there was every walk of life. 

Unfortunately, Kaye did not find that blend in any St. Pete bar. Now that he's back in St. Pete, Kaye hopes The Bends is a place where folks can dress up, dress down and just come as you are. 

“Everybody there in New York was intermingled. You’d get everyone from high-class, low-class, black, white, gay, straight, everything,” Kaye said. “We wanted to make something where everybody could go to. No pretentiousness at all.  It’s a bar where you can get original cocktails but you can also get a $2 PBR.”

Kaye runs The Bends, located at 919 1st Ave. N, with friends Chris Stone and Craig Dragoonis and fiancé Victoria Rozzi.

The four, along with help from many friends, transformed the old ArtPool retail space into The Bends in four months.

Kaye said The Bends is a, “reinvented nautical take” on a bar. The bar top itself is made from the old John’s Pass Pier. Continuing with the nautical theme with NYC influences, a local artist painted a mural in the back room of the Bends. It is a take on the Beastie Boys Licensed to Ill album cover, but instead of a plane crashing into a wall it’s a submarine.

In a non-descript part of town, on First Avenue North near MLK, The Bends has seen a surprisingly fast start since its soft opening on Sept. 1, according to Kaye.

“When we were opening it up there was already kind of a buzz,” Kaye said. “Right from the beginning we had a pretty strong opening and it’s been going ever since. We couldn’t have even wished for a better crowd. The people that are coming in, and keep coming, everyone in the community has been so supportive.”