Dining out in Brookings
The neighboring towns of Brookings / Harbor are very fortunate. They have the most diverse amount of restaurants on the southern Oregon coast. The last time I visited there were three sushi restaurants. One very good Chinese restaurant and also a new Chinese / Sushi / Vietnamese restaurant. There are a number of fine dining establishments utilizing local products. The best pizza on the southern Oregon coast is also found here and of course the casual fish and chip joints can be found down at the harbor. There are a number of pubs and some excellent craft beer as well as some good Mexican (Tex Mex) restaurants.
All across Oregon you’ll encounter pioneers of American craft brewing. The Oregon coast is no exception. Each year we are seeing new breweries open up along the coast with new innovative ideas and recipes that are always pushing the edge and recreating the norm. Chetco Brewing is a standout in Brookings and they are dog friendly.
It can be difficult to find good ethnic food in small towns. We are still waiting for the Indian or Thai restaurant to show up but for now Brookings has very good Sushi, Chinese (The Rice Bowl) and Mexican food. Wild Rivers pizza is also one of the only pizzerias we would eat at when we lived on the coast and they are also an excellent brewery, try the Russian Imperial Stout! I have heard good things too about Zola’s Pizzeria at the port and as I recall they had quite the craft beer selection available in cans.
Of course it would not be the coast without a visit to a Fish and Chip house. I have been disappointed to learn that many of the local fish & chip restaurants do not use the local fish. Which makes no sense at all. They choose to use frozen halibut from Alaska instead of our fresh rock fish which is very abundant here on the coast. When I questioned a local restaurateur about this he replied that it was for consistency. Even so it seems obligatory to settle into a hot steaming bowl of chowder and some beer battered fish when visiting the Oregon coast.
We were hired by the City of Brookings to produce a dining video. It was a fun shoot. We filmed thirteen restaurants in 3 days and I am sure gained a kilo or two. The film is below.
There are a number of fine dining options that are great for dinner and the chefs are using local seasonal ingredients such as wild mushrooms, locally raised grass fed beef, home made breads and produce from local farms.
Brookings also has a craft distillery. Superfly not only makes their own vodka but they offer a good food menu which tends to have large portions at very reasonable prices.
Another unique aspect of dining in Brookings is that there are a number of bars and restaurants that have live music which is unusual for the coast.
We always enjoyed our dining experiences in these two quaint little towns. We lived 45 minutes north on 101 and usually chose to make the drive south when we were looking to go out for lunch. One final benefit of making that drive is we would pass by the Samuel H. Boardman park, truly one of the most beautiful places on the planet. There are a number of pull outs and trail-heads located right off of Hwy 101 so after lunch it is the perfect activity for working off few of those calories.
