Jenny Nguyen
The Sports Bra | Portland, OR
JULY 2023
Before she started in the restaurant industry, basketball was Jenny Nguyen’s greatest passion. While attending Clark College in Vancouver, Washington, Nguyen was on the pre-med track and playing on the basketball team, but after rupturing her ACL, she had to step away from the sport. Looking to keep herself busy, she decided to tap into another interest: cooking. She began hosting dinner parties in her dorm room for her friends, and discovered that a culinary career resonated with her more than being a doctor. After graduating college, Nguyen moved back to her hometown of Portland, Oregon and enrolled at the Western Culinary Institute. She went on to work the line at Bistro 51 and Lucy’s Table before accepting a job at Bon Appétit Management Company, where she stayed for the next 12 years.
In 2018, Nguyen and her friends went to a sports bar to watch a game, but were frustrated with how hard it was to get the bar to show women’s sports. It was a formative experience for her, and Nguyen decided she should open her own space: one where women’s sports were on and celebrated all the time. Working as an executive chef at Reed College at the time, she put in her notice and started developing the idea for her restaurant. After crowdfunding, Nguyen opened The Sports Bra in 2022, a safe space for women and the LGBTQ+ community. Nguyen highlights not only women’s sports, but also looks to support women however she can, from hiring a mostly woman staff to featuring selections from women-owned distilleries on the backbar. At The Sports Bra, Nguyen also focuses on inclusivity by catering to those with dietary restrictions that are often overlooked at traditional sports bars, offering gluten-free, dairy-free, and vegan food options.
