The restaurant spot at 31 Water Street has been an Ashland favorite for years, and when Sean Marc Nipper and Julia Rowland heard it was available in May 2021, they jumped at the opportunity. And thus Local 31 Pub was born. “The location has changed hands many times over the last 30 years,” Sean said. “The most memorable was the original Rogue Brewery and the Siskiyou Micro Pub. When it was the Micro Pub, I remember it being a music venue, hosting amazing bands from local talent to touring bands traveling up and down the West Coast. Local 31 Pub was built with the Ashland Community in mind. We wanted to recreate my memory of playing music for the locals and recreating the memory of having a place where I could join my friends and enjoy wonderful craft beer and fantastic food.”
Sean has lived in Ashland since 1976 with a stint in Hawaii and the Bay Area in the early 2000s, where he worked for Peet’s Coffee & Tea before changing career paths and going to the Academy of Art University for Motion Picture Television. Film making and music are Sean’s two passions. Last year he decided to combine the two and open a movie-centric venue. He also has a history in the restaurant industry.
Julia grew up in Hood River and moved to Ashland in 2006 after spending a year teaching in Honduras. She moved to Ashland to be near her brother and to attend SOU as a psych major.
“I got a job at Alex’s Restaurant in 2008 as a bartender and quickly fell in love with the industry and the live music scene,” she said. “I worked there until it closed and would probably still be working there today if our town hadn’t lost that wonderful piece of history.”
Local 31 Pub is a slight departure from other restaurants at this venue. In addition to their bar menu, they’ll have live music three (and sometimes) five nights a week, with Karaoke on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. There will also be a pool table, massage chairs, and a vending machine with quirky novelty items. Sean and Julia have instructed their staff to always make sure any PCT hikers get a free massage chair session if they stop in.
“Our staff is inviting and engaging,” Sean said. “We have a small intimate staff that has all become family to us. We are open every day from 11:00am until 1am serving our entire menu from lunch up until closing. Serving late night food is something we feel has been lacking in this town. We want to make sure that there is always somewhere to eat, whether you’re driving through town late, getting out of a play or just having fun enjoying our live music.”
Sean emphasized that they are not a sports bar. “We’re happy to throw on the game if someone asks, but we prefer to play movies,” he said. “There are fun movie posters all around inside the pub, some that you may not recognize right away. It’s fun to have patrons realize what the posters are while they are watching new and old movies in the bar.”
Sean and Julia are in the process of expanding the outdoor seating on both sides of our building, both under the Water Street bridge and also a small portion of Bluebird Park.
“Our hope is that by having additional seating outside, specifically in the park, we can bring attention to what we have to offer and show someone that may not have known that we’re here,” Julia said. “We have three young kids between us and are passionate about incorporating a family atmosphere as well. We plan on doing a kid-friendly pumpkin carving and Halloween costume contest in October.”
For more info, the phone number is 541-708-6813. You can also see them at local31pub.com, and on Facebook and Instagram.
