Northern California and Southern Oregon

I'm going to be heading north on 101 from San Fran, up the coast and to Coos Bay in S. Oregon; I'll be taking I-5 back down to catch my flight out of Sacramento. Any must-go places?

Make sure you stop in Mendocino. Charming town with beautiful setting on the ocean. I don't know what you like or are willing to spend, but we had a terrific meal at the Victorian Dining Room in the Mendocino Hotel. The menu has since changed from our trip last year so there's nothing I can recommend. I liked last year's menu more but you can be the judge. http://www.mendocinohotel.com/
We will be returning to Mendocino in a few weeks and will be trying Cafe Beaujolais. There's a bunch of dishes on this menu that are intriguing. http://www.cafebeaujolais.com/home.htm
Both restaurants are pricey. There was a bakery serving some wonderful sandwiches and other lighter fare for lunch but I don't know the name. The town is small and I'm sure you'll see it during your wanderings.

We did that trip a few years ago (went all the way to Seattle). The drive north of San Fran is spectacular. Soon after you leave San Fran, we started seeing numerous bar type places all advertising barbqued oysters. They have plentiful oysters in that area, and they put them on the grill, in the half shell, with butter and garlic (at least at the one place we tried). This is a not to be missed local treat and you can stop just about any place.

Jonah

chezbrad,

are you planning on taking 101 the whole way, or will you be on Hwy 1 at first? Mendocino and the oyster places mentioned above are on 1; 101 doesn't hit the coast until just south of Eureka. As Jonah says, the drive on 1 is spectacular. But 1 is so twisty, hugging the coast, that it takes much longer to drive north than it would on 101. If you don't have much time, you might want to stay on 101.

101 the whole way wouldn't be bad -- it would take you through the heart of Sonoma wine country. I'd recommend looking also at the Chowhound SF board and searching for posts on Santa Rosa and Healdsburg, especially those by Melanie Wong. (The new Chowhound has an excellent search function.)

You could also do a little of both highways: go up 101 to Cloverdale, then take 128 through the lovely Anderson Valley (more wine country) over to Highway 1 and Mendocino. Keep going north on 1 and it veers inland north of Fort Bragg to meet up with 101.

Amata (who remembers Cafe Beaujolais back when it wasn't pricey! <sigh>)

hi ya Brad,
Bill in Southern Oregon here.
First, a couple o' questions.
Vacation? Business?
why Coos Bay, the Dogtown of Oregon?
Also-what to eat?
High Falutin'?
Dives & Shacks?
Local cuisine?
In Between?
Wine & Beer?

thanks for the preliminary responses...

I'm going to be in Napa for several days--my sister is in the wine industry--and will probably leave from there; I won't pick up Highway 1 until Eureka, which is fine as I've driven up to Point Reyes already. I'm going for personal--and I emphasize the personal...just want a few days to myself to drive, reflect, write, and look at some pretty fog. Coos Bay is a pragmatic decision: I want to see Medford and Ashland before returning back down to Sacramento; my map says that Coos Bay is really the first chance I can get to cross east again after Crescent City--and I'd like to see a bit of the Oregon Coast before I turn around. I've always had one of those ironic/romantic--such is the way of my generation--notions of moving to Oregon, even though I've never been.

Anyway, onto the food. I figure I'll make it to Crescent City the first night and to Redding on the second as I head back towards my Tuesday flight out of Sacramento. So, meal-wise, I'm looking for something notable in Northern California and something notable off the Oregon coast or in the Medford/Ashland area; if you know of anything in Redding or the Shasta Lake area that would be great, too. I'll check roadfood, but anything from your own discoveries is always far more helpful.

I'm flexible about cost and down/up-market, though I'd really love to find a knockout oyster house/seafood place. Whatever help you can give here, thanks.

can't wait to get out of Vegas, which is the worst place I've ever been to (and I've seen detroit, nyuck nyuck). Lotus of Siam was incredible, but it doesn't make up for everything else.

Brad

Eggheads in Ft. Bragg is a great breakfast stop. The entire restaurant is done in the Wizard of Oz theme, including a yellow brick road leading out the back door to the out house. Get there early or prepare for a long wait.

Amata wrote:You could also do a little of both highways: go up 101 to Cloverdale, then take 128 through the lovely Anderson Valley (more wine country) over to Highway 1 and Mendocino. Keep going north on 1 and it veers inland north of Fort Bragg to meet up with 101.

If you decide to do this (which is a lovely drive), less then 1 mile west of 101 on hwy 128 (on the right hand side) is the World Famous Hamburger Ranch & Pasta Farm. Despite the chain-like name, it is actually a classic burger shack, serving up homemade everything (down to the vinegar, should you desire). They've got some decent BBQ on the weekends and good breakfast all the time. I highly recommend the burgers.

World Famous Hamburger Ranch & Pasta Farm
31195 N. Redwood Hwy.
Cloverdale, CA
707-894-5616

Hey Brad,

thanks for the further info. It sounds like a great trip, and an excellent way to recover from Las Vegas.

chezbrad wrote:... my map says that Coos Bay is really the first chance I can get to cross east again after Crescent City--and I'd like to see a bit of the Oregon Coast before I turn around.

How about cutting over to I-5 through the Rogue River Valley? I haven't been through that whole route, only a little bit of it west of 5, but it's really beautiful country. I bet bbqboy can provide recommendations for that area, maybe also extramsg.

have fun,
Amata

I am sure that the food would not be considered "phenomenal", however, I believe that the Samoa Cookhouse is a must see place, located about five miles out of Humboldt, CA.

http://humboldtdining.com/cookhouse/

The Samoa Cookhouse is the last surviving cookhouse with meals serves "lumber camp style" (family style). You get 2-3 entrees and a wide variety of side dishes that will satisfy any appetite.

Also, there are historical displays including a lot of kichen wquipment.[/url]

The original Los Bagels in Arcata is a fun bakery for lox & bagels. Shoot some hoops and listen to Bob Marley in the back of the store. They have a 2nd store in Eureka. www.losbagels.com

Here's a recommendation for buying some product, not a restaurant. Just a bit north of Eureka (where I gather you'll be hitting the coast) is the small and lovely town of Trinidad. There is a place right in town called Katy's Smokehouse. It's a retail outlet for their own smoked salmon, smoked oysters and other products. Now, everyone and their mother sells smoked salmon in the Pacific northwest, but we found their products to be the best. We still order them by mail from their web site. The best were the smoked salmon jerky and the peppered smoked salmon. They also have canned smoked oysters that are remarkable. They are packed in their own juice, have no oil, and are large plump oysters. Believe it or not, they also pack their own tuna and it's some of the best out there. They roast it in the can, without oil, in its own juice. It's the only non oil packed tuna I've ever liked. This could be good picnic or munching stuff.

Just north of town is Patrick's Point State Park. Doesn't sound like you'll have time, but it's a lovely rocky ocean beach.

Enjoy,
Jonah

In the Rogue Valley, you might sneak into New Sammy's Cowboy Bistro,
here in Talent-
2210 S. Pacific Highway
Talent 541-535-2779
Great Wine knowledge and selection, home grown vegetables, no sign.
Our Farmer's markets are on Tuesday and Thursday-

http://roguevalleygrowersandcraftersmarket.com/
Our friends Marco and Elise have just opened Inti- a Latin Taco Place,
in Downtown Talent.
They'd love to see you.
Lots of local food producers & places to eat
Dagoba
Rogue Creamery for Blue Cheese!
http://www.roguecreamery.com
Peerless on 4th Street.
Omar's.
Wiley's Pastas.
Apple Cellar Bakery.
Rising Sun Farms
http://www.risingsunfarms.com/pilot.asp?pg=retail_store
Here's an overview of some local places:
http://www.atasteofashland.com/commerce/diningpage.html
On routing:
If you can make it beyond Crescent City to Brookings or Gold Beach,
for the night, It'd be worth your while.
At each small town, you need to find the harbor, and you'll find the seafood, either being hauled in, processed, or cooked.
If you continue up the Coast, make sure to make your way from Bandon out to Charleston. Elegant to
Funky & real.
For a more foodcentric route, I'd have you turn in on US199, hit Jed Smith State Park, (better groves than the National Park), then Oregon-
You've got the Treehouses in Takilma,
http://www.treehouses.com/
Taylor's Sausages
http://www.wendyhuber.com/taylors/index.html

in Cave Junction, The Caves themselves + 3 wineries out that a ways.
If you came in to Grants Pass, then come the back way to Jacksonville through the Applegate, home of several small wineries.
The rim road at Crater Lake just opened for the summer too. Something to think about, because then you could hit the Pinehurst Inn-
http://www.pinehurstinn.us
or the Greensprings Inn
http://www.greenspringsinn.net
both in the high country
Here's our SO wine link-
http://www.sorwa.org/
There's also, if you're an explorer, a really cool Forest service road, Bear Camp Road, that follows the Rogue from Gold Beach to Galice.
It's worth writing home about.
http://www.goldbeach.net/maps.htm
Favorite place between here and Redding is Sengthong's Asian Cuisine in Dunsmuir, open only evenings.
http://www.dunsmuir.com/busguide.htm#dining
Several places in Mt. Shasta too.

Klub Klondike at Lakehead on the East side of I-5 is a cool Bar & snack stop complete with Retired country musician & wife owners and a shuffleboard machine W/chalk.
Bartel's in Redding and Corning for the best hamburgers.
The Olive Pit in Corning & Granzella's in Williams for local Olives and Rice,
and a beer, and you're almost to Sacramento and the Airport.
In my travels round this region, if you allow 75-150 miles, it'll yield maximum results. And remember, it's easy to get here, it's just hard to leave.

We were just in Southern Oregon, and since we drove from Ashland to Portland on I-5, we consulted this guide to pit stops. The Oregonian has other good guides as well, to the coast, as well as to individual cities.
https://www.oregonlive.com/travel/2018/ ... _oreg.html

While Oregon has no sales tax, localities can add their own, and Ashland does. Probably because it's such a huge tourist town.

It's worth trying the Lithia Springs water in Ashland, though it tastes truly awful. There's the main fountain right in the downtown plaza, as well as one in Lithia Park, which is beautiful.

We took the tour at the Harry and David farm and factory in Medford - which is pretty amazing this time of year. They add 5,000 seasonal workers to get ready for their holiday shipments. You can buy lots of local treats in their produce department, as well as the usual packaged goods from their catalog. And of course, the seasonal fruit. We'll be back to pick up Royal Riviera pears when they are in next month. Make a reservation ahead, they get booked up with school tour groups.

We also did the tour of the Rogue Creamery farm (which is in Grants Pass, not where the store is). They have several laser-guided robotic milking machines. The cows go in when they need to milk, and don't have to deal with people or a set schedule. And we met lovely little calves. They didn't have a great selection of their cheeses at the farm stand, so if you want to buy, you still might want to go to the store. We get their cheeses locally in the grocery, but not all of them all the time. Plus they sell shirts and other souvenirs at the shop.