Need some Great places to eat in Oregon. Nothing fancy. Also places to look to build. (Portland: casino, restaurants)

[Deezus]

In Ashland I reccommend Wiley's World for excellent pasta(the smoked salmon raviolis are great) and it's not that expensive. Ashland has a lot of good restauranst downtown around the plaza but a lot of them are pricey. A good place to eat(and get a drink) is Alex's--right on the plaza. For real old school steak and seafood, Omar's--which is up by Southern Oregon University is a good old fashione place. Standing Stone and Caldera Tap Room have good food and beers for brewpub type places downtown. For breakfast, go to the Breadboard on the north side of town.

For Mexican food in the area, go to Soco's La Burrita in between Ashland and Medford in Phoenix. Cheap and delicious, best chile verde and ceviche in the area.

For the Portland area there's too many places in Portland and adjacent suburbs to mention--though if you had a specific area or food type I could reccommend something...

[Deezus]

Originally Posted by Steve Pickering

The foodcart sanitation just plan scares the heck out of me.

Have you ever watched Dirty Dining on the 10 'o clock news? Brick and mortar establishments can be just as bad or worse than food carts...

And at least at food carts I can sometimes see what they're cooking--you don't want to know what some people in the food industry will do to your meal beforehand(either out of sloth or sometimes spite).

[haggardhouseelf]

If you go to the coast, stop by the Drift Inn in Yachats... very casual but really good food. Their salad nicois is really, really, good. The tuna is so fresh, and they make their own ginger vinaigrette for it - I always buy a bottle while I'm there, too, to take home with me. Everything just tastes so fresh at the Drift Inn, and it's super casual, too.

In Eugene - check out New Day Bakery/World Cafe on Blair blvd. They have especially good breakfasts. (I recommend their huevos rancheros!) It's simple food, but it's so comforting and good. (FYI - there's parking around the back off of 4th ave... you can park there and then walk through a little courtyard to an entrance)

Another cool place to check out is the PRI - Pizza Research Institute. It's a rare treat. http://www.pizzaresearchinstitute.com/ (Don't let the vegan options deter you. We're meat-eaters and we love it.)

In Portland, we always like to go to the Lan Su teahouse at the Lan Su gardens. They have traditional Chinese food and tea service, in a casual setting. The food is again very simple, but prepared in the traditional way and it is really delicious. Plus they usually have a guy there playing traditional Chinese music and the whole experience there is just very relaxing and welcoming.

New Day Bakery

Yachats Oregon Restaurant and Bar The Drift Inn, Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner

Lan Su Chinese Garden

Also in Eugene - at the 5th St. Market there is a little mecca of delicious places to eat... Marche downstairs is a little "uppity" so we have only been there a few times with out of town guests or dinner parties, etc... it's a little pricey for what you get in our opinion but still good. Casablanca is where we usually go when we go there. We grab a booth (on the top floor) and get some good middle eastern nibbles (try the iced tea! It's awesome...)... http://www.5stmarket.com/

[Steve Pickering]

Because I owned a couple of restaurants and I have eyes.

[Hawk J]

If your driving by Roseburg on I-5, take exit 125, turn left at the light. Next to the VA Hospital, Fred Meyer has some good tasty fresh Deli selections, & fresh bakery items. There are handy tables to sit at right there while you enjoy your meal... Fred Meyer One Stop Shopping - Roseburg, OR

The VA Hospital has an almost new, nice restaurant too.

[hamellr]

Originally Posted by Steve Pickering

Because I owned a couple of restaurants and I have eyes.

The days of bribing Health Inspectors is long gone. Especially among Food Cart owners who are barely making ends meet as it is.

[Deezus]

Originally Posted by haggardhouseelf

In Portland, we always like to go to the Lan Su teahouse at the Lan Su gardens. They have traditional Chinese food and tea service, in a casual setting. The food is again very simple, but prepared in the traditional way and it is really delicious. Plus they usually have a guy there playing traditional Chinese music and the whole experience there is just very relaxing and welcoming.

Lan Su Chinese Garden

I'll second that one. It's great just to see the garden, but the tea house is nice and they have good food as well... It's one of the gems of Portland and the garden sometimes seems to get overlooked by people visiting...

[JeffBeck]

Wow thanks for all the information.

ps I have no problem with the obviously higher end food trucks and I know Portland has a famous area for excellent food carts.

I used to work as a driver for a linen delivery company that picked up, laundered and redelivered everything from uniforms to napkins for all kinds of restaurants and food tucks and I can tell you that you find scary places in both areas. I have seen it all and try and forget the bad stuff.
Don't think restaurants are any better than trucks, in most cases the trucks were far cleaner. They are so small in comparison it's easier to maintain. Also seemed like because they worked in the small place they kept them super clean and organized.
Just my experience.

Leaving in a week keep the recommendations coming and thanks again!

[Larry Caldwell]

Originally Posted by Hawk J

If your driving by Roseburg on I-5, take exit 125, turn left at the light. Next to the VA Hospital, Fred Meyer has some good tasty fresh Deli selections, & fresh bakery items. There are handy tables to sit at right there while you enjoy your meal... Fred Meyer One Stop Shopping - Roseburg, OR

The VA Hospital has an almost new, nice restaurant too.

Hawk, you missed mentioning the taco truck in Wolf Creek, which is a real favorite among truck drivers. Cheap and delicious. Nothing like Taco Bell. Real flavor.

[hamellr]

Originally Posted by Larry Caldwell

Hawk, you missed mentioning the taco truck in Wolf Creek, which is a real favorite among truck drivers. Cheap and delicious. Nothing like Taco Bell. Real flavor.

I have been wanting to hit that truck up badly, but they're never around when I drive through. If you do stop to find it, you might as well take a short detour and go see the Ghost Town of Golden. It's now a State Park, from Wolf Creek just go under the highway and head east. You'll see a few older Victorian houses in the trees, and a school house that has been converted into a residence. Just around the corner from there is one of the Churches, a barn, and one of the old general stores. You can go inside the Church at all times, the store is being converted into a museum eventually.