Old Place, New Taste: The Granary

Remember Jo Fed's? If you've been in Eugene for only a few years (like me), you'll remember it as a "hey, is that place open?" joint downtown that's been up and down, closed, under new management, and then closed again. In its old site, there's now a new contender: The Granary Pizza Co., which serves pizzas and pastas on both the upper and lower level, and still features local and touring bands.

The Granary has four parts: The wine bar, which is upstairs at the front and has first-come, first-serve seating at the bar or at any of a half-dozen very small tables overlooking 5th street; the restaurant, which takes up the back, upper level; and the bar areas that are open to the stage, both on the upper level (with the same bench-seating and small, set-back u-shaped booths in their own little no-door rooms) and on the lower level, which is slightly more nightclubbish and even with the stage and the downstairs bar. The full menu is served on all levels, though a late-night menu goes into effect at 9.

We ate in the wine bar, which also includes a few tables on the street. Happy hour runs from 5 to 7 p.m. every day, including (holy of holies) Sunday, and it's generous: $2.50 for fantastic, tempura-like onion rings or eggplant strips, slightly more for hot wings or a house salad; $1 PBRs or $2.50 drafts (Ninkasi IPA); $5 martinis. I had a $4 house wine (Willamette Valley Riesling, not bad) that wasn't much of a bargain because of a short pour, but the beer is a good value. Their pizza is also available by the slice during happy hour: spicy pepperoni, margherita, or plain cheese at $3 a slice or $5 with a beer. We didn't end up trying the pizza, but -- with a set menu of pies or a list of choose-your-own toppings -- I can imagine we soon will. It looks fantastic.

C and I went with pasta to share, and that was a good choice: I tried the macaroni(actually: orecchiette) and cheese, with broccoli (you could also add chicken). It came with a thick, salty (in a good way) sauce of Tillamook cheddar and parmesan, and a small but pleasant salad with balsamic-and-oil dressing. C ordered the pesto cream penne, and that was a lovely find: the basil pesto was clearly fresh, with an almost lemony bite, and included a generous pile of un-crushed pine nuts and soft, bitable sundried tomatoes, with enough cream added just to hold the green stuff together and coat the penne. Delicious. I was afraid I wouldn't get my half.

These seem to explain the essence of The Granary's menu: standard dishes done well, for a reasonable amount of money, with great service. With happy hour drinks and an appetizer, two full pasta dishes (we had leftovers), and a tiramisu for dessert, the meal came in right at $35. You could easily drink and dine here for less than $10 a person and come away full and happy, which -- for Fifth Street -- is an accomplishment that shouldn't be ignored.

By eight, the downstairs was starting to fill with fans of the night's entertainer -- a guitarist -- while the upstairs remained almost eerily quiet and uncrowded. I'd like to see this place succeed and survive -- and I'll do my part to help it out by showing up for Wednesday night's all-you-can-eat pasta night, with my best Carbohydrate Champion in tow to try out the marinara, Bolognese, and white clam sauces.

I'll report back as soon as I recover.

Location: 259 E. 5th Ave

Hours: Wednesday through Sunday, 5 p.m. to 11 p.m. for food -- later for drinks downstairs

A place I eat at so often they know my name: Toshi's Ramen

All right. Full confession time: I LOVE this place with a zeal that borders on the obsessive. My first year of law school, I had a class on Tuesdays and Thursdays that got out at 2:20, which was a really good time to run for some Toshi's. It's just before they close for 2 hours between lunch and dinner, and we pretty much always missed the huge lunch rush this place can get on rainy days. We ate here so often that the nice woman who runs the register during the week knows me well enough to greet me by name, and when we forget a part of our standing order, she'll remember to ask if we, in fact, want fountain drinks, etc.

It's one of my favorite places in Eugene for a bite to eat. It's quick, and it's delicious.

After two years of eating there, we've pretty much tried some variation of everything on the menu. I can say with perfect authority the things you HAVE to try, if you've never been there. For starters, try the gyoza. At 4.95 for six, they're a very reasonable appetizer to split with a fellow diner, though you might be tempted to knife your friend for their last dumpling, if you finish first.

The ramen here is very good, and you can't go wrong with any way you have it prepared, though I like it best with both butter and garlic, in either miso or shiyo broth. The noodles are not what you would expect from a packet of ramen: they're thick, hand-made numbers with the perfect toothiness. The cha-han, or fried rice, is surprisingly delicate and flavorful--not at all laden with soy sauce--and it seems very traditional. But my very favorite thing to eat here is the Chicken Teriyaki. It comes with a generous portion of sticky rice, and some spicy pickled cucumbers that were surprisingly nice as a counterpoint to the sweetness of the chicken.

So, if you haven't tried it, go on out and have Toshi's. Try the gyoza. Just don't go around 2:30 on Tuesdays or Thursdays. I would hate to have to fight you for my favorite seat.



Location: 1520 Pearl St, Eugene

Hours: 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. and 5 p.m. to 9:00, Monday - Saturday

The Unlikely Vegetarian Haven: Red Robin Gourmet Burgers

Well, I said from the get-go I don't shy away from chains, and I mean to put paid to that statement. On my top five list of cravings, Boca Burgers always hover somewhere in the top three (polenta and ice cream have at times displaced it), and at some point two years ago, I realized that Red Robin does them very well.

I long considered Red Robin to be the kind of place that you'd stop after a day spent at an amusement park, with a couple of cranky kids in tow, because inside you'd find only a slightly less circus-like atmosphere in which you could (for a price that's only slightly lower than the robbery-on-Main-Street-U.S.A. prices of Disney World) pick up some consistently mediocre food that would make the whole family happy, or at least silently greasy. And yeah, it is that place, but let me say a few words in its favor: bottomless steak fries.

I really dig steak fries.

The menu at Red Robin is pretty basic: burgers. Mostly, these are $9-$10 burgers with fries. There are variations on burgers in three sections: actual burgers, chicken burgers, and other dishes that have burger associations: salads with grilled chicken sliced on top, wraps that are just burgers in a tortilla, and sliders and a prime-rib dip. For no apparent reason except perhaps as a nod to the two people who would go to Red Robin that don't like burgers, there's now Macaroni and Cheese and a Pesto Pasta on the menu, but... why?

So, these burgers. They come with all kinds of toppings: guacamole and bacon; barbecue sauce and onion strings; fried jalapeños and pepper jack cheese; onions and mushrooms; a fried egg. You can add an extra patty to any burger, if the original third-pounder isn't enough for you. Any burger, including the chicken sandwiches, can be swapped out for a Boca patty, and this is where my love begins to bloom.

I order the Banzai Burger just about every time I visit: Boca patty drenched in teriyaki sauce, grilled pineapple, cheddar cheese, tomato, and mayo. Now, Boca patties aren't hard to cook -- they need only the slightest heat to become edible -- but they are really, really best when they've been done on a grill, and that's what happens here. Sure, they still come out looking pale and a bit squashy next to an actual beef burger, but, you know what? It's good. And unlike nearly every other carnivore-invested restaurant I can think of, the upgrade to meatlessness is free. (Which, yeah, at $9.49 for the Banzai, it should be).

My tip for dining at Red Robin without losing your mind is very simple: eat in the bar. It's open seating (so no wait, even on a Friday night); it's 21 and over (so no kids complaining about their chicken strips); no one ever goes to that side to celebrate their birthday (so no singing or visits from Red, the restaurant's costumed mascot); and the service is fast, friendly, and efficient. Do I want more fries? Heck yeah, I do, and thanks for the refill.

It's cheesy to say this, but some of the best restaurant service experiences I've ever had in a chain restaurant have been at the Eugene Red Robin. The staff is courteous and professional; they know the menu inside and out; and they pay attention. I've even had a good experience here when the place was taken over by the Eugene Police and Firemen for a fundraiser.

And -- they never scoff at my Boca order. I absolutely give them points for that.

Location: 1221 Executive Parkway -- right next to VRC at Goodpasture Island Loop.

Hours: 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sunday - Thursday; 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Friday and Saturday

Blogging break: Best Eugene Patios

I'm in and out of town right now -- away last week, about to be away again this week -- which makes writing about local food something of a challenge.

When I get back, though, here's what I'm excited about for summer:

• The opening of Osteria Sfizio in Oakway Center, which has a menu that I could curl up in for days, starting with the fritto misto of sweet onions and squash and moving through the promised homemade pastas into the the fried ceci (chickpeas!) and perhaps whatever their fish-of-the-day is. Oh: and their drink menu (who wants to split a Prosecco Punch Pitcher with me?) speaks to me, in the liquidy language of love.
  
  
• The return of patio season. I like sitting outside, but the patios I recommend much meet the following criteria: 1). Cannot be fenced off space in a parking lot; 2). Cannot be facing a road, putting you at nose-level with passing cars and their tasty exhaust; 3). Must be an actual part of the restaurant, not outdoor seating that's available nearby but requires trips in to the bar for any kind of service. With that defined, here's what I like:
  
  • McMenamin's North Bank has about the best patio in town, really, with its river view and rather fun people watching as bikers and runners pass on the trail, but the service can be slow and the fight for a table on a nice day can be fierce. There's also no shade on that deck, and I've been burnt -- literally -- by this experience.
    
  • The Vintage has a cozy vine-draped back patio that offers just the right amount of shade under which to enjoy one of their house-infused liquors. (Do I do nothing but drink in the summer? Maybe).
    
  • The McMeniman's at High Street has small but completely serviceable outdoor seating that's easier to get into than North Bank, now that the student ghettos are cleared.
    
  • The original, Lincoln Street Cornucopia has a nice backyard area with picnic tables and some patchy, tree-provided shade; they're about to add sidewalk seating, too, and boast not only a decent happy hour (3-6 p.m.) but daily specials (Monday: Burger Day; Tuesday: Philly Day, etc).
    
  • I've already said I like the little yard-patio at Holy Donuts!, but it's worth repeating. Though there's probably only seating for 12 back there, you don't need to hang out terribly long to enjoy a few bucks' worth of donuts and summer air, really, do you?
  
  
  • Keystone Café has a grungy/rustic (depends on your level of localness, I think) little deck area featuring covered and uncovered seating and also the affectionate prowling of the café cat who would, yes, like a bite of your vegan toast if you'd deign to drop it to the ground.
    
  • Rennie's Landing, during the summer, is not overrun by undergrads, and if they open the upstairs level, this can be a nice place for a late-afternoon beer on a half-shaded upper level deck.
  
  
• OK, that last one cost me something, so I'll just say the other treats of the season will clearly be the ice creamerias around town and my new summer mission of visiting them all.

Anybody have a great local patio that I'm forgetting? I am all sunshine and ears.

Winding Up the Weekend Winos: b2 Wine Bar

I know it seems like I'm constantly staking out new places in the Crescent Village Ghost Town, but... maybe I am. Anyway, one weekend, recently, I wanted a place to go where I could a) have a glass of wine b) be left mostly alone and c) perhaps eat something tasty and not too terribly expensive. I wound up at b2 Wine Bar in Crescent Village, which fulfilled all three wishes.

^{Photo from b2 website}

The wine bar is also a full bar, with a small but full menu -- so it's a wine bar only in that it's attached to a winery, though not a vineyard. More on that in a bit. It's a surprisingly large area for as small as it seems from the outside; the seating area is J-shaped, with the long curve facing the main street of the village. At the front, there are about ten small tables, some bar-height tables that accommodate sitting or standing, and the bar itself that has seating. There are also a few clusters of large U-shaped couches on the stem of the J that can accommodate larger parties. In the back there are even more small tables, mostly made for two, overlooking a wall-length bookshelf filled with different wine selections.

The atmosphere on my first midday visit was quiet and very relaxed; on my second, a Friday night, the place was pretty full and noisy, with the flat-screen television at the bar broadcasting a soccer match (without sound, thank goodness). There's also a few (say 4) outdoor tables, in days of good weather, should they ever come again. All-in-all, b2 wants to be the hang-out spot for the guys in khakis with girls in summer dresses on their arms, and also for the middle-aged set that enjoys remembering those days and tries to relive them one weekend a month. b2 is, at least on weekends, successful in achieving this -- all of which is to say this is a tremendous people-watching spot.

So let's talk about the wine.

^{Photo from b2 website}

b2 Winery is in the middle of Eugene; they get all of their grapes from the Willamette Valley, through contract, not through ownership. B2 offers a Pinot Noir ($6 for a glass/$24 for a bottle), a Pinot Gris ($6/$24), a Rosé ($4/$18), and a Viognier (no idea). There's also the Red Table Wine (a cab/merlot blend) and White Table Wine (pinot gris/pinot blanc/melon blend). All of the B2 The rest of the list is dominated by Oregon wines, with the occasional California or Washington wine sneaking in. A few bottles approach $50, but only a few; this is pretty much a place you go for inexpensive (relatively), West Coast wine and spirits (oh, and beer: they do have Ninkasi IPA on tap).

To go with this wine there's a menu of snacks, sandwiches, and fish. I've been twice and had the same appetizer both times: the baked brie, which has raspberry sauce and toasted almonds and comes with toasted bread ($8). I've seen various plates drift by, but the only other food I've tasted has been the macaroni and cheese ($8), which looked like Velveeta Mac&Cheese topped with paprika and came in a little crock next to a salad of mixed greens. The taste was substantially milder, and better, than Velveeta; I would have it again, though C was less enthusiastic.

The rest of the menu will bear trying: lobster bisque, adorable-looking sliders (for C), maybe a mozzarella pesto panino, some time, or the now-pedestrian artichoke dip (with jalapeño). The plating is surprisingly nice, here -- or maybe I'm only surprised because I can have my brie on its pretty little plate, a substantial glass of wine for $4, and watch TV at the same time.

It's a very North Eugene experience: something for everyone, the wannabe foodie, the drinker, and the sports fan.

Location: 2794 Shadow View, Eugene

Hours: Monday - Saturday noon to 10ish (sometimes later, sometimes earlier, depending on traffic, I think); Sunday 3 p.m. to 9:30 p.m.

Specials: Currently, house wines are on sale for $100 a case. Or you can send me your $100 and I'd be willing to come get drunk at your house. I might even bring some rosé.

Quick Bites: Food News Around Town

A few food-related notes:

• My sources (OK, the e-mail list) at Lago Blu Gelato tell me that the place is now not only open for breakfast, but also will be featuring three new flavors for summer: lavender honey, peanut butter banana, and dark chocolate brownie. The combination of any two of those and breakfast has me both confused and hungry. [Lago Blu Gelato: 2780 Shadow View Drive]
  
  
• Sylvan Ridge Winery, at Hinman Vineyards, which makes my favorite so-sweet-this-can't-be-wine Muscat, will soon be serving wood-fired pizza and cheese plates. The kickoff for that is this Friday, June 11, from 5 to 8 p.m. No idea on the cost or variety available, but now that I know this exists, and that the winery is open until 9 p.m. on Fridays and Saturday, I pledge, blogland, to investigate in person as soon as possible. Who wants to drive me home? [Hinman Vineyards: 27012 Briggs Hill Road]
  
  
• Speaking of wineries, just across the road at Sweet Cheeks Winery, they'll be having their traditional "Twilight Tasting" this Friday, with free cheeses paired to their wines from 6 to 9 p.m. On Sunday, from noon to 6, you can enjoy "sparkling wine and live music" at their Mimosa Sundays. No word on whether actual mimosas -- or good music -- will be present. They also have a Summer Solstice Celebration planned for Monday, June 21, at 7. [Sweet Cheeks Winery: 27007 Briggs Hill Road]
  
  
• Last weekend marked the official opening of VooDoo Doughnuts, and it also marked regular hours beginning for the place (thank the doughnut gods). It's now open, reportedly, from 2 p.m. to 2 a.m., Tuesday through Sunday. Why must Eugene be doughnut-deprived on Mondays? [VooDoo Doughnuts: 20 E. Broadway]
  
  
• Finally, my favorite vegan burger cart -- OK, the only vegan burger cart I know of, Eddo Burger, has the Eddo Burger Patty Melt on special this week. "Grilled local rye bread, sauteed onions, melted jack cheese and an EddoBurger patty. Superb with a side of sweet potato chips." Homina nom nom nom. Through Saturday, June 12, only (and only until they run out), so hurry on over. [Eddo Burger cart: 394 Blair, behind Tiny Tavern]

Love Me Diner, Love Me True: Buddy's Diner

There are only a few places in Eugene where the waitstaff and I know each other by name. Buddy's Diner is one of these restaurants. I love this place, and yet I always feel like I have to offer a caveat: "Oh, well, if you ignore the décor," I'll say, or "You know, it's just a little diner." I think it's time I just own it: I love this place. No excuses.

Well, except perhaps this one: I have no real idea of how good this place is for omnivores. I go here for the grilled cheese sandwich (see the accompanying sidebar) and, sometimes, the Veggie Philly Cheesesteak. Oh, and I've been known to have a strawberry shake, which comes with a glass and the metal canister, and is full of bits of frozen strawberry and strawberry syrup and creamy vanilla ice cream and...

Yeah.

So what's the story here? It's basic diner fare served in a café that may not be from the fifties, but certainly has a decorator who's been collecting since then. The booths are glittery red vinyl; there's a juke box; and the toilet seat in the ladies' room is in the shape of a guitar. You'll find breakfast fare, all day; burgers, in many varieties; chicken sandwiches, grilled or fried; assorted other sandwiches (meatball hoagie, pastrami melt, chicken-fried steak sandwich, a BLT, a Reuben); the aforementioned Philly sandwiches in steak, chicken, and veggie-patty varietals; a few dinner entrees (spaghetti with meatballs, pasta alfredo, a teriyaki chicken patty, chicken fried steak, NY Strip Steak); and basic ice cream treats. There's sometimes pie. There's sometimes not.

Unless you want the shrimp alfredo or the strip steak, everything on the menu is $10 or under.

When you order, you'll have the option of either saying "I'd like the Peggy Sue Melt" or calling things by their original names ("grilled cheese, please"). Service is quick and friendly. You can sit in the booths, at one of the few tables, or up at the counter, where you can oversee the grill.

I love the grilled cheese -- in part because it comes with crisp, crinkle-cut fries, in a little plastic basket that should be mandatory at all diners who want to be called diners. PLASTIC BASKETS, diners, do you hear me?

Anyway -- feel free, Eugene, not to fall in love with Buddy's. I will be very sad should I ever have to wait for a table. Because I love this place, and I'm proud of it.

Location: 1725 Coburg Rd

Hours: 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Thursday; open 'til 10 on weekends

Sidecar: The Best Grilled Cheese

I am a vegetarian who doesn't like lettuce, rarely likes salad, and loves to eat at diners. This means I know a lot about grilled cheese. I say the following with confidence:

The best grilled cheese is not made at home. Oh, go ahead and argue this -- your grandma made the best grilled cheese with tomato soup. Well, maybe so, but in general, really good grilled cheese (see definition below) is not made in personal kitchens. Why? For several reasons:

The best grilled cheese has a crispy outer crust and a soft, bready interior. This is achieved by searing bread on a hot, greasy grill, and it is achieved by cooks with access to melted butter, a brush, and absolutely no compunction about using it lavishly. Most home-cooks who make grilled cheese actually make something closer to a toasted cheese sandwich, by definition, where any color changes on the bread are a result of heat but not, sadly, the kind of frying that comes from a hot, greasy, diner-type flat grill.

The best grilled cheese has a gooey, thick, but not overpowering cheese center. There are two pitfalls that home cooks make here: not the right amount of cheese and not the right kind of cheese.

Feel Certain About Goodness: Off The Waffle

I'm a pancake girl, really. I like their flatness. It reminds me of home. The stories of Off the Waffle couldn't be ignored, though, so we finally took a trip. Then, a week later, we were back, having dreamt of the waffles all week.

The menu has only a few variations, but they're important. You can get sweet-topped waffles, savory-topped waffles, or a bit of a mix. All three routes are promising. Consider the fruit-and-whipped cream waffle: We saw one walk past on our first visit, and its seven inches of stacked fresh fruits (sliced apples and berries) and layers of fresh whipped cream actually made conversation stop in the restaurant.

Or, consider the treat I had on my first visit, which was the special of the day. It had a sunny-side up egg, avocado slices, goat cheese, and basil, dusted with ground cardamom. When the yolk ran just a bit over the other ingredients, that was a near-perfect breakfast moment right there.

What made it better was, in fact, the waffle, which shouldn't be considered just a platform for tasty toppings. These are Belgian Liége waffles -- a phrase that was meaningless to me until I visited. Now I know: that designation has something to do with sugar being in the batter, sugar that caramelizes upon cooking, turning the entire thing into a crunchy, sweet, bready masterpiece.

So place on top of that your harvarti cheese and apples and cinnamon (C's first waffle -- quite good -- the H Bomb); your sliced bananas and melted Belgian chocolate (my recent try: The Overachiever); your bacon, egg, and syrup (The Self-Fulfilling Prophecy that C devoured last weekend). Place on top of it what you will; the waffle will only make the ingredients better.

Yes, the waffles are small. They're not much bigger than an Eggo waffle, and they cost as much as an entire box of those ($2.75 each for plain -- $4 to $7 with toppings). And yes, the store front is small and crowded (though I hear the current situation, on Willamette, is a vast improvement over the Whiteaker house I never visited). If you can go at a good time, though -- before 10 a.m. on a weekend, or later in the evening -- and if you order correctly, this is a filling, tasty meal, for less than it would cost to put the same thing together at home.

Location: 2540 Willamette St.

Hours: 8 a.m. to 11 p.m. Sunday through Thursday; 8 a.m. to 1 a.m. Friday and Saturday

Advanced Desserting at Vanilla Jill's

So a couple of months ago, rumors hit my Facebook world of a vegan yogurt place that was opening near the Chipotle on Coburg. I'm from the Midwest, and though I have a soft spot in my heart for a lot of vegetarian fare, veganism is a little more advanced. Vegans are thin on the ground in Kansas, as you might suspect. I'm sure I have eaten vegan, though only by accident, and as a lifestyle choice, it would require that I give up pretty much everything I enjoy eating. I could give up meat, if I had to, but dairy? Honey? Perish the thought! I've seen vegan desserts in many places around town, but I am just....wary of the notion. A vegan cupcake? Really?

But, as it turns out, Vanilla Jill's isn't only vegan, although they do have dessert options for your favorite animal product-shunning diner, unlike most ice cream joints in town. They are actually weighted toward the dairy-consuming pretty heavily, and I felt immediately at ease, among my dairy-eating people.

We stopped in on a very rainy day in late May after several abortive attempts to get late night yogurt. G is a reluctant yogurt eater, and I am an old pro, though my experiences were mostly with chains like TCBY. Vanilla Jill's is REALLY not TCBY, and that's a good thing. The couple who owns the place is sweetly enthusiastic about their new venture, as they should be, and if the place isn't too busy, glad to offer tastes of all the yogurts. They have vanilla (of course), chocolate, a flavor of the month (Strawberry), a yogurt made with xylitol, and the vegan option--a coconut lime flavor. There also was, if I recall, a sweetened brown rice dish which would also be vegan.

I opted for something, anything, that would let me try the delicious looking fresh strawberries on the topping bar, and ended up with a small strawberry shortcake sundae: vanilla yogurt, sliced strawberries, pomegranate syrup, and little cubes of possibly-homemade vanilla cake. G opted for a turtle sundae: vanilla yogurt, Dagoba chocolate syrup, caramel, and nuts.

The verdict: I won the ordering war here. The vanilla yogurt itself, while tasty, has a tanginess that G and I agreed went best with fruit. It was harmonious with the strawberries and syrup, but it clashed with the chocolate and caramel. It's possible that the chocolate yogurt would fare better, but that will have to wait for another trip. I have since found their Facebook page, and I'm thrilled to know that the owners buy as much of the fruit for the topping bar at the Saturday Market as they can.

Vanilla Jill's is a charming local business worth checking out. They seem committed to keeping Eugene dollars in Eugene by using local produce, and I think that's worth supporting. Let me know if you have the brown rice dessert, and if it was good!

Location: Behind the Chipotle on Coburg Road in the Coburg Station shopping center.

Hours: They close MOST nights at 9ish (so says their sign), but weekend nights (Friday and Saturday) they're open until 10ish.