BEST OF EUGENE 2004
Who needs it? Do you deserve to win?
Owner Mike Opdyke talks about buying
the restaurant four years ago. Before that,
he “did body work and painted cars.” He
has carried on the Studio One tradition of
great French toast and toppings and as one
loyal customer says, “He does wonderful
things with eggs.” Worst kitchen disaster?
During an 11 am weekend rush, a chance
remark ticked off the cook who knocked
six gallons of French toast egg batter on
the kitchen floor. Scrambled eggs, any-
one?
BEST TAKEOUT: CHAO PRA YA
(See Best of the Best p. 16)
2nd: Tasty Thai
3rd: Kowloon’s
BEST PLACE TO FIND A ONE-NIGHT
STAND: JOHN HENRY’S
2nd: The Jungle
3rd: Church
EW talked to Keith Martin, booking agent/
promoter
Why do you think you won? Variety … dif-
ferent strokes for different folks. If you
were an animal or vegetable, what would
you be and why? An albino rhinoceros …
for obvious reasons.
BEST PLACE TO SHOOT POOL:
HIGHLANDS
2nd: Luckey’s
3rd: Good Times
Up in the Eugene hills on 40th and Donald,
wardrobe? Shoes from the 1970s.
ters? Armen goes back about a decade to
talk about when a water pipe broke on a
Friday or Saturday night, of course.
Fortunately it was late enough that they
could shut down the water supply. Better to
lose the water than the wonderful wine at
Ambrosia.
BEST SINGLES BAR: INDIGO DISTRICT
AND DIABLO’S
2nd: Horse Head
3rd: John Henry’s
EW talked to Troy Slavkovsky, manager of
Diablo’s:
Why does Diablo’s deserve to win? The
diversity of the bar lends itself for people
going out to meet people — there isn’t any
particular kind or age here. Where was your
first kiss and with whom? The kiss I
remember was in the summer when the
movie Every Which Way But Loose came
out. It was with Vicki Ward and it was my
first tongue kiss. I saw that movie nine
times. It was a big summer.
EW talked to Justin Gibbs, manager of
Indigo District:
Why does the Indigo District deserve to
win? I think that it’s because we have a
good environment for dates and we attract a
lot of quality people. When was your first
kiss and with whom? My first kiss was at
summer camp in sixth grade with a high
school girl. I was excited.
BEST BREWPUB:
HIGH ST. BREWERY & CAFÉ
2nd: Steelhead Brewery
EW talked to Rob, the manager:
Do you think you really deserve to win?
Honestly, yes. First off, the brewer rocks.
He’s the best in our company, even. He’s won
the Barley Cup twice. His extractions are
phenomenal. His passion for brewing is high-
BEST BUFFET: CHINA SUN
2nd: Taste of India
3rd: Hometown Buffet
EW talked to Cong Lin, the owner:
Why do you think that China Sun deserves
to win? It is popular because the food is
good — the customers say that it is deli-
cious. And there is no MSG. Worst kitchen
disaster? Never a disaster.
BEST GENTLEMAN’S CLUB:
SILVER DOLLAR
BEST PLACE FOR A 1st DATE: SORIAH
2nd: The Hot Body Club
3rd: Alaskan Bush Company
EW talked to Damon, the owner:
Do you think you really deserve to win?
Well, of course. It’s the best club in town. It
always has been and it always will be. We
have the best entertainers. We have the
friendliest staff. It’s like Cheers meets
Hooters. Worst kitchen disaster? Just the
fact that we have one. We only have a
kitchen ‘cause we have to, because we have
alcohol. Any incidents that jump into your
head? The occasional time where the wife
will come storming in and grab the man
from the club.
(See Best of the Best p. 16)
2nd: Bijou
3rd: Ambrosia
BEST CHEAP EATS: BURRITO BOY
(See Best of the Best p. 16)
2nd: Glenwood
3rd: Burrito Amigo
BEST CORVALLIS RESTAURANT WE
WISH WERE IN EUGENE: NEARLY
NORMALS
BEST PLACE TO SHAKE YOUR BOOTY:
THE JUNGLE
2nd: John Henry’s
3rd: Wow Hall
This ain’t Portland but apparently there is
actually a place to “shake your booty” here
in Eugene. With cages to grind in, and
speakers at perfect ear drum-popping
height, who’s to disagree? It’s the closest
thing we’ve got to a club, and the most
free pole dances in town. So lap it up kids
and shake ‘er down. Let’s get this party
started!
BEST PLACE FOR LADIES NIGHT
OUT: LUCKEY’S
In the cage at The Jungle
BEST PLACE TO SHAKE YOUR BOOTY
Highlands is a bar to relax in. It has plenty of
pool tables, and its jukebox is stocked with
alternative music selections. This is a good
place to mellow out before the party or just
take it slow with a date. Highlands has cozy
couches, standard bar food, and a nice selec-
tion of beers on tap. Don’t expect the place to
get wild; it seldom hosts live music and it
doesn’t draw the standard drunken college-age
crowd.
BEST WINE LIST: AMBROSIA
2nd: Broadway Market
3rd: Marché
When asked if his wine list deserves to win,
owner Armen Kevrekian puts it back on us.
Our readers picked Ambrosia, he says,
adding that Wine Spectator has selected his
list for the last 17 years. The Spectator
looks for wine lists that blend with the cui-
sine. The editors are also concerned about
the breadth of the list. Any kitchen disas-
er than any brewer in town, and I know ‘em
all. What’s one of the worst incident stories
you have there? A customer took off his hat,
and there was a chameleon just sitting on his
head. He’d been sitting at the bar for a couple
of hours. He knew it was there, but we didn’t.
BEST HAPPY HOUR: CORNUCOPIA
(See Best of the Best p. 17)
2nd: Diablo’s
3rd: Monroe Street Café
BEST GAY AND LESBIAN FRIENDLY
BAR: NEIGHBORS
2nd: Lucky Noodle
3rd: Sam Bond’s
EW talked to Cindy Hill, the owner
Why does Neighbors deserve to win? We
are the only gay and lesbian bar there is [in
town], but we are also open to everyone in
the area — there are people who are 60 and
70 years old to college students here. It’s a
versatile bar. What is the oldest item in your
TODD COOPER
2nd: Intaba’s
3rd: American Dream Pizza
EW talked to Barb, the owner:
Do you think you really deserve to win this
award? Of course! I think we’ve always
had a strong connection with Eugene and
Corvallis. We’ve been in business almost
25 years and I think we’ve provided a real-
ly unique environment for people to eat in
and serve really good home-cooked meals.
We just cook good food in a really good
atmosphere. We grow and change but still
serve great food. It’s really an honor to be
picked, especially because we started out
at the Saturday Market in Eugene. Worst
kitchen disaster? Well, hmmm. We’ve had
the dishwasher flood. That’s always a dis-
aster. A few months ago the electricity
went out when the restaurant was packed.
Once someone put the pound cake batter
in the mustard container. It was yellow and
they weren’t paying attention and we were
serving it as mustard.
2nd: Diablo’s
3rd: John Henry’s
So Pabst may not be the dankest beer on the
market, but if you go to Luckey’s on Tuesday
night, it’s raining Pabst and it feels like
Christmas. (Well maybe not quite like
Christmas, because you don’t have to unwrap
the cup and it’s a little more foamy, but you
know what I mean.) The ladies of Eugene
have proclaimed Luckey’s as the best place
for “ladies night out,” and for 25 cents a cup
on Tuesdays, it would be hard to find anyone
who would disagree. So now that the women
have spoken, you know where we’ll be.
BEST AFTER HOURS: JO FEDERIGO’S
2nd: Pita Pit
3rd: Lava Lounge
EW talked to Jerome, the owner:
Do you think you really deserve to win?
Absolutely. We’ve been here for 23 years
with live music for all those years. I don’t
know, just dedication to what we do here.
The smoking ban has hurt the bar busi-
ness, but we’re still plugging away. And
there’s the table-top art. It’s fun, butcher
paper and crayons. We display the cus-
tomers’ art.
What’s your worst kitchen disaster? Oh
gosh, the worst that happens is when the
exhaust hood shuts down, it gets like 130
degrees and smoky in there.
OCTOBER 21, 2004 27