Joey Harrington is familiar with the typical vanity-project restaurants of some famous athletes.

"All those other restaurants feel like Ruth's Chris with a different name," Harrington says. "You get the same list of Napa cabs, the same choice of filet or porterhouse, the same sides you can share. You slap an athlete's name on the side of it, and you've got yourself a money pit."

You also get something that could never fly in restaurant-obsessed Portland.

This fall, the former Oregon Ducks and NFL quarterback plans to open his first restaurant in the former Pearl District home of upscale cajun spot The Parish. Working with ChefStable restaurateur Kurt Huffman (Ox, St. Jack) and top bartender Ryan Magarian (Oven & Shaker, Hamlet), the new restaurant won't come saturated with sports memorabilia or blaring televisions, and it won't feature Harrington's name on the side.

In a twist for athlete-backed restaurants, Pearl Tavern's focus will be the food.

"I'm at the age where I don't want to go to Buffalo Wild Wings," Harrington says. "If I want to hang out and get a good meal, and maybe catch a game, where am I going to do that?"

Looking to fill that need, Pearl Tavern will offer salads, fish, steak, craft beer and fine spirits in a family-friendly environment. After a remodel, the space will reopen in November with brown-leather booths, dark green walls and a long, curved bar home to cocktails from Magarian, the Aviation Gin co-founder. Wine will come from former St. Jack sommelier Joel Gunderson, and Huffman is bringing over chef Roscoe Roberson (Racion, Cooper's Hall) to run the kitchen.

According to Huffman, he and Harrington first tried to open a restaurant together about five years ago, making a run at the Perry's on Fremont space in Northeast Portland. After that fell through, the project cooled off, but they stayed in touch. When Magarian mentioned The Parish space might be on the market, they pounced.

Pearl Tavern won't be a steakhouse, but the aim is to serve a steak as good as Ringside's, only in a more casual room, Huffman says. Pearl Tavern marks a change for the ChefStable restaurateur. Until recently, none of his restaurants had TVs. Pearl Tavern will have five, though the flatscreens will be built into the bar shelving, and the sound will be turned off, save for big games.

"We have a giant 14-foot screen and a high-def projector that will come down for the Super Bowl, for when the Ducks return to the National Championship and for when the Blazers are in the NBA Finals," Huffman says.

Sports decor will be similarly understated, though Harrington plans to bring in some choice memorabilia for a private back dining room.

A Portland native and three-year starter at Oregon, Harrington was picked third overall in the 2002 NFL Draft by the Detroit Lions, where he played for four years. After his pro-football career, Harrington has worked as a college football commentator for Fox, while helping oversee his charitable nonprofit, the Harrington Family Foundation.

Three percent of the restaurant's profits will go to the foundation, which provides scholarships for Oregon students seeking to stay in-state for secondary education. Proceeds from the sale of a barrel-aged red ale that Harrington helped brew at Full Sail in Hood River will go to the foundation as well.

Harrington, who will lean on Huffman, Magarian and the rest of the team for restaurant operations, thinks he can bring in a potentially overlooked demographic -- mature Portland sports fans who happen to love good food.

"If you just want to make a couple of bucks, you find a place in the base of a hotel, you call it Harrington's and you ship in some Omaha steaks," Harrington says. "What I love about this project is that it's food- and community-based. I want this to be a place where people are comfortable, to be as much of a neighborhood establishment as it can be in the Pearl."

Pearl Tavern hopes to open in mid-November at 231 N.W. 11th Ave.

-- Michael Russell