tubagurl's Profile
Corvallis, OR Food Scene
I grew up in Corvallis, and the food scene has come a long way. Regarding grocery stores and farmer's markets, Corvallis has a fantastic farmer's market. It's along the river on 1st St, and it can be so crowded on summer days that you can barely move through the crowd. it's great! For grocery stores, there's First Alternative, the co-op. There are two locations, South of the river on 3rd, and up near campus on 29th. Good selection of local/organic/natural.
There are some good restaurants. Off the top of my head, Evergreen is some of the best Indian I've ever had. American Dream for pizza. Le Bistro is great french. Big River for NW/bistro, Iovino's for Italian.
Bakeries: I get bread from the co-op, Alpine Bakery makes fantastic sourdough, Big River also sells bread to stores, and there are some others.
It's a great town. Decent (and improving) food scene.
Salem, OR: Where shall we eat?
Out near the salem airport, there's the Hanger, which I haven't tried but is supposed to be decent burgers/soup/sandwiches. Rumor has it the breakfasts there are good as well. There's also the Maui Grill near the airport, but I thought the menu was odd, service sucked and the food was so-so. there were a few interesting hawaiian foods, but not enough to make me want to go back.
The one in the basement, that must be Morton's. I've been there once, and want to try it again. It's oddly hard to find, the location is simply strange. But the food was at least decent. Not stellar.
What do you recommend in Woodburn? I drove through there around lunchtime and didn't know where to stop, so I kept going until I got to Salem and went to Kim Huong's for a big bowl of pho.
Salem, OR: Where shall we eat?
There is some good food in Salem. And now there's a blog about Salem food. It's http://eatsalem.blogspot.com/
If you want a great meal, check out DaVinci's, on High St. Best pizza is Apizza in Stayton. Tacos? JR's and La Perla are good. Burgers? I'm a fan of Burger Basket. There are a ton of great breakfast joints, Off Center Cafe, Court St Dairy Lunch, Busick, Sassy Onion.
It is a challenge finding good food in Salem. But look around a bit and it does exist!
Salem, OR Recommendations and Reviews?
Jrs... dang, I'm bad at streets in salem, they all seem to join and then split again! Google says (yay for google) it's on Fairgrounds Rd. just a little hole in the wall. Good food.
I'll check out Tong King.
I went to dinner again at Wild Pear tonight. Really good food. I think it's my favorite place in town for sure. The River Rd location is a really nice atmosphere, friendly (but sloooooow service) and great food.
Salem, OR Recommendations and Reviews?
I've lived in Salem since November, and am still looking for great food around here. I've been exploring quite a bit, here are some of the places I've tried:
Thai Beer: decent, can be hit or miss, excellent Tom Kha Gai soup
Siam: quite good, better than Thai Beer
LanXang: if you can get past the neon yellow walls, it's really tasty Thai/Laotian
Wild Pear: Probably my favorite restaurant so far. Excellent food. Downtown has fantastic lunch, River Rd has very good dinners, homemade deserts, and a nice atmosphere
Morton's: I wasn't very impressed. it was good, not great.
Old Europe Inn: I was looking forward to trying it, but it was overly salty. Atmosphere was nice, and I want to go back for a 2nd try
Amadeaus Cafe: Quite good. Odd location, great food
Apizza (Stayton): Amazing. Beyond words spectacular pizza. Really wonderful
Jr's: Fantastic tortillas, everything is very homemade. Tastes like mexican street food. Great!
Capitol Dog: interesting Russian/Ukranian food
Places I want to try:
DaVinci
J James
Wooden Nickel (Silverton)
What else? What else is worth trying? Where can I find more authentic mexican food? what about GOOD chinese food? I wasn't impressed with Kwans. What about seafood? Lunch places? Sushi?
Help a new Salem-ite out!
Salem (help!)
I haven't been to the Vietnamese place on Silverton, but the Asian market next door to it is great! I found some hard to find thai ingredients there. I'm planning on checking out the restaurant soon.
Momiji is a pretty decent sushi place on Commercial, in a shopping plaza near Buster's BBQ. It's next to a Subway and Lefty's Pizzaria. I've only been there once but I'll go back.
I've heard great things about Busick (didn't rachel ray discuss them when she did a show in salem?), and I'm glad to hear a good review on Whites, I drive by it all the time and haven't been in.
Last night I stopped and got a burger at Burget Basket on Mission. It was great! Surprised me. Excellent burgers, good toppings, make sure you get the grilled onions. I didn't get a shake, but will for sure next time.
I think that there are many more chow-worthy places in Salem, you just have to dig a bit more to get past the Red Robin and IHOP crowd!
Salem (help!)
I recently moved to Salem, and like you, I'm having a very hard time finding good food! So far, here's what I've tried and liked:
Lanxang, a Laotian/Thai place on Commercial at Kuebler, next to the Dollar store.
JR's taqueria
Momiji
Off Center Cafe
Thai Beer can be good, but it can also be pretty mediocre. I went once and was pleasantly surprised. Next time I went I was disappointed. I like their currys, and their tom kha soup is decent. some of their stir frys lack much flavor.
I had a decent dinner at the Roadhouse on Commercial. Not spectacular, but good garlic mashed potatoes, and cheap martinis on thursday. Very noisy though.
