Lost Roo
The Lost Roo’s 16-ounce
prime rib is a juicy, salty,
tender hunk of meat.
Family-friendly pub delivers
reliable restaurant experience
T
The sign out front of Lost Roo an-
nounced Thursday’s weekly special, the
flagship: prime rib.
When I pulled into the parking lot there
wasn’t a space to be had. Besides the 20-
odd cars filling the main lot, the make-shift
area out back was full too.
Folks must really love their prime rib,
I thought.
When I entered the main hall, past
the Australia-shaped sign proclaiming
“G’day!,” the restaurant was bustling, yet
plenty of open tables remained. Maybe
half full, the enormous eatery resembled a
wooden airplane hanger, or a double-length
barn. A chest-high wall divides the two sec-
tions: One, a little more sports-bar, requires
ID. But, with a good deal of natural light
thanks to west-facing windows, it’s really
one giant shared space.
The name and kangaroo logo suggest
affinity for the Land Down Under, but
in practice Lost Roo seems less connect-
ed to Australia than Outback Steakhouse.
With posters celebrating New York, Ca-
nadian whiskey, a slew of buzzing neon
beer signs and glowing flat screen TVs,
Lost Roo is essentially a family-friendly
American sports pub. It’s clean, spacious
and not quite as loud as you might imag-
ine. It feels like a chain yet to franchise.
Its menu resembles the same, like a more
upscale Chili’s — the basics being beers
and burgers with soft flares, like a bánh mì
or crab melt. Some of the seafood comes
from nearby, like Willapa Bay oysters and
Columbia River steelhead.
On this day, though, it was clear what
many were there for: the prime rib ($22).
Across the tables and in the hands of serv-
ers you could see them, the little stakes
sticking up out of the beef slabs, indicat-
ing how they’d been cooked. Mine read
“medium rare” and was delivered as such,
pink in the center, cooked on the outside.
At 16 ounces, and at least an inch thick, the
steak covered more than half my plate. A
serious hunk, it was juicy, salty, tender, not
too fatty or overrun with gristle. The sea-
soned outer edges were as delightful as the
soft center. The serving of whipped mashed
potatoes wasn’t as generous, though it too
was comforting. The green beans were
14 | April 14, 2016 | coastweekend.com
buttery, and the sautéed zucchini taut and
supple. While more robust than exquisite,
I could see why so many folks had come
for the dish.
Nonetheless, I preferred the lamb burger
($13). Below the thick patty were loads of
caramelized onions, lettuce and tomato. On
top were smears of dry, herbed goat cheese
and a mint chimichurri that left a wink of
complexity. Instead of fries, the accompa-
nying pub salad, with mixed greens, feta,
seasoned pumpkin seeds and a pointy cran-
berry-orange vinaigrette did right by the
peninsula by including cranberries. (Long
Beach’s bogs are among the country’s sig-
nificant producers of the tart fruit.)
My companion opted to have the Baja
Fish Tacos grilled rather than fried. The
dry, flaky Alaskan cod was lightly black-
ened and teamed up with a softly sweet
cabbage slaw, flecks of green onion and
The Lost Roo in Long
Beach,
Washington,
boasts a spacious inte-
rior.
cilantro on corn tortillas, with chili lime
sour cream and pineapple salsa on the side.
The salsa was sugary and needed punching
up. The three tacos with no side felt almost
like an appetizer. They would satiate only
the lightest of dinner appetites. It was more
mid-day snack.
The Thai Peanut Chicken ($15) includ-
ed a easygoing coconut peanut sauce, more
of the sweet cabbage slaw, and a dollop of
sticky white rice. Like the fish tacos, its
memory was fleeting.
The more I thought about the relative
outliers of Lost Roo’s menu the more I
wanted the basics: the mac and cheeses,
mouth
OF THE COLUMBIA
COAST WEEKEND’S LOCAL RESTAURANT REVIEW
Story and photos by THE MOUTH OF THE COLUMBIA • mouth@coastweekend.com
the pulled porks and so on. Think football
foods, sports snacks and the Bloomin’ On-
ion. No, wait — scratch that last one.
Indeed, it’s in the red meats where Lost
Roo finds its firmest footing. Delicate con-
structions aren’t what the assembly-line,
industrially sized kitchen is designed to
pump out. It, along with the humongous
dining room and the 40-foot long bar, are
made to suds up groups of friends watching
March Madness or satiate large, starving
families after a day in the sand. It’s not a
place to focus on the small things. (To that
end, Lost Roo’s menu had just been pared
down to accommodate the coming summer
season rush.)
To its apparent teeming success, Lost
Roo knows its lane. It delivers a well-es-
tablished, reliable, if un-surprising experi-
ence — a modicum of quality on a massive
scale.
Even if you haven’t been, you’ve been.
Lost Roo isn’t really missing — it’s found.
HOURS: 11:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily.
Lost Roo
Rating:
KEY TO RATINGS
PRICE: $ – Entrées north of $10 and into the teens
SERVICE: Cheery while stretched
1700 Pacifi c Ave., Long Beach, Wash.
360-642-4329
VEGETARIAN/VEGAN OPTIONS: Slim
DRINKS: Full bar, soda, coff ee, tea
poor
below average
good & worth returning
excellent
outstanding, the best in the
Columbia-Pacific region
