Looking for help with Corvallis restaurants, please.

#1- for weekly 'family night' get-togethers in casual places (enjoy New China Buffet, Ixtapa, Novak's in Albany). #2- for special occasions, birthdays, anniversaries (like McGraths or Michael's Landing).

Anyone been to "Waterfront Grill"?

All suggestions welcomed. THANKS!

~suze

Topping for mms, if she's not already on her way to San Francisco.

I haven't had a meal in Corvallis in years, suze, but have been to McGrath's in the Portland area and Bend. Good food, but I've never thought of it as "special occasion". I'd put them in the same category as Elliott's in Seattle.

Me either, BB, but there used to be a great bluehair Cafeteria downtown. Wonder if it's still around?

Thanks for the tips so far guys.

Actually mms is at SunRiver for a week or so. I don't think she has a computer while there.

I have nothing to offer Suze, I haven't been in Corvallis for ages..but I wanted to wish you a good time along with a beautiful 2008 that will include some fun and restful trips!

Then maybe she's leaving from Sunriver to go to the Emerald Bowl, LoveItaly. Pretty sure she's going, since she tried to sell me extra tickets she thought her husband had mistakenly purchased.

Anyway, suze, here's a link to a thread in a Portland foodie site. Don't know if it will be of any help, but at least it tops this thread again. http://tinyurl.com/2fpb62

You are all so funny The guys are at the Emerald Bowl right now. DD and I came home today. Boy that pass was nasty!!!

Anyway...for Corvallis. Woodstocks hands down for family night. Amazing wheat crust pizzas (spicy beav is the best, imo). For nicer places, Michael's Landing and The Gables have been very good for many years. They are still the top places in town.

Welcome home mms, glad you made it safely! I KNEW you were at SunRiver, lol. I hope you all had a wonderful time. Enjoy your weekend.

Thanks everyone. Much appreciated. This isn't time sensitive just a general inquiry on their behalf.

Thanks for the good wishes LoveItaly.

Suze,

I know this post is late in relation to when you posted your question, but thought I'd provide input since I live in Corvallis.

In my opinion the best restaurants in Corvallis are Iovinos (Italian), Le Bistro (French), Big River (eclectic), and Magenta (French-Vietnamese Fusion). These are all "upper-scale" (at least for Corvallis standards). I've been to the Waterfront Grill twice (once for lunch and once for dinner)....lunch was better than dinner. When we went for dinner, however, it was when they first started serving dinner and it may have been an off-night - their menu looked better than the food tasted.

Another fun place is Sahalie Wine Bar (which is in the bottom part of the building that Waterfront Grill is in). This place serves tapas (small and large plates) and wines by the glass (or bottle if you prefer).

One of our favorite places is La Roco on 9th street. It's a Mexican restaurant (very small hole in the wall - order at the counter) with good, fresh food. They just opened a new location on Western and we went last weekend and they still have kinks to work out at that facility. We'll stick with the hole in the wall on 9th until the one on Western has a few months under its belt.

If you like Thai food stay away from Cha Da on 9th (service is horrible) and venture over to campus and go to Tarn Tip on Monroe - really good Thai food (only take cash). Also next to Tarn Tip is Bomb's Away Cafe (Tex-Mex) and American Dream Pizza (my personal favorite pizza in Corvallis). For Indian food try Evergreen downtown; for sushi go to Aomatsu - yummy and better than Tokyo Steakhouse.

A place we frequent about once a week is Vietnamese Baguette (located in one of the new "high rise" downtown - ya, ya, Corvallis' version of high-rise is about 6 stories - ha!). This place is really small and serves Vietnamese sandwiches on fresh baked French baguettes. The owners are relatives of the owner of Magenta (French-Vietnamese restaurant mentioned above). Anyway, the sandwiches and shrimp salad rolls are GREAT. Try the "Baguette" sandwich which has Vietnamese hams, pate, fresh veggies, BBQ pork - may sound odd, but it's very good.

Oh, for dessert, try Francesco's downtown - best gelato I've ever had and my chubby belly can attest to the fact that I've tried A LOT of gelato.

Overall Corvallis is definitely up-and-coming when it comes to dining - surprising for a small community. When I was first in college here in the early 90's the 2 best places were Michael's Landing and The Gables. Those two aren't even on a lot of people's radar anymore. The last time we went to Michael's Landing (9 months ago) and The Gables (3 months ago) it was a lot of "blue-hair" folks. Food is still okay, but c'mon they haven't changed their menu forever - kind of the same old stuff.

As you can see, I eat out a lot (hence the chubby belly) ;D. If you have questions about any other restaurants in Corvallis feel free to ask and I'll try to respond. I haven't posted for the longest times on Fodor's, but I do check in occassionally.

Happy Dining!
Tracey

Tracey~~ Thanks so much for your thoughtful update.

My family all lives down in Corvallis (I'm in Seattle) so the information is still much appreciated. I'll forward your tips and insights to them.

The Indian restaurant right by the bridge in Corvallis is good.

Wow these are old. Michael's and Gables have since closed and I need to know if there's a decent steak served in this town. The Tokyo place perhaps? I hear there's a new restaurant in the new 6 story place. Any good for steaks?

Hi Jillacious,

Wow, there have been a lot of changes in a year since the last time I posted on this topic! You're correct Gables is now closed and Michael's Landing has closed for the winter (expected to reopen in April). The place you're referencing in the "6 story place" was called Strega and was quite good, but also closed after Valentine's Day - too bad, it was really good.

Our new favorite place is called Aqua and is located on the waterfront. It's Hawaiian type food (similar to Roy's if you've ever been). However it appears you're looking for a good steak - our favorite place is still Le Bistro (French) on Madison in downtown - reservations highly recommended.

Tokyo Steakhouse is good for Teppenyaki and sushi, but I wouldn't say they have great steak - okay, but nothing to write home about....we actually prefer Aomatsu for sushi.

My recommendations:
Sushi: Aomatsu (downtown)
Indian: Nirvana (9th street - much cleaner than Evergreen which is downtown)
Pizza: American Dream Pizza (downtown and on Monroe across from campus)
French: Le Bistro (downtown)
Hawaiian: For sit-down nice meal Aqua, but for hearty to-go lunch boxes try Local Boyz on Monroe across from campus
Italian: Iovino's (downtown)....however, the owners of Aqua & LeBistro are suppose to open up a new Italian restaurant in March....I think it's called Terrazo (or something like that)
Gelato: Francesco's (downtown)
Thai: Tarn Tip (on Monroe across from campus)
Mexican (hole in the wall): LaRockita (a few locations: 9th Street, Western, and in Philomath)

Goodluck!