ESCOVEDO STEPS IN >>>

Jobs can be like marriages at times. When they don't work the ending can be ugly and drawn out, or irreconcilable differences can be cited and the two parties can simply move on.

The second scenario describes the case with the very recent departure of general manager Brandon Escovedo from Gruv Lounge & Nightclub. Now, Escovedo joins the crew at Backstage Bar and Grill. He officially took on the role of general manager at the Sixth Avenue club on Monday, June 27.

Escovedo says that, until his arrival, Backstage owner Joy Hutt had been doing everything trying to run the place herself. "That's a lot of hold down," says Escovedo. "She'd talked to me about stepping in before; the time just wasn't right until now."

As a previous executive chef with a long history of working the culinary side of things, one of the first changes Escovedo will make as GM is to update the live music venue's menu. "Fresh quality casual" is how he describes what will soon be offered.

"Just because it's a bar doesn't mean the food should be sub par," says Escovedo. "There's a real change happening in this area in what's on bar menus."

Escovedo shares that he has no intention of pricing out the bar's clientele or creating a menu that requires a culinary dictionary to decipher. "Inexpensive doesn't have to mean cheap or blah," he tells me. Prices will range from $5 to $14. Look for slow braised riblets and other bar food items.

A two-foot chilidog, the "Tommy Dawg," is a 20-minute food challenge. That's right - power that sucker down in 20 minutes and it's free. Tongue in cheek names for some menu items support the rock 'n' roll theme of the Backstage Bar and Grill. In addition a new, non-fussy lunch and evening menu will be available at Backstage by July 5.

[Backstage Bar and Grill, Open daily 11 a.m. - 2 a.m., 6409 Sixth Avenue, Tacoma]