12 // COASTWEEKEND.COM
Coast Weekend’s local
restaurant review
Nehalem sports bar is a beacon for hungry night owls
Review and photos by
MOUTH OF THE COLUMBIA
MOUTH@COASTWEEKEND.COM
I
t was after midnight. A
friend and I had been
working feverishly on a
project in South County and
neglected to eat. We were
starving when we wrapped,
but our options were practically
nonexistent. We weren’t being
picky, we just needed something
— anything. But just about
everything south of Seaside was
closed — not even a gas sta-
tion or grocery store was open,
much less a restaurant. We made
a frenzied call to Manzanita
Lighthouse Pub & Grub, and they
picked up. We raced there to beat
last call — or, rather, a closed
kitchen.
We arrived to find a handful
of folks gathered around a stage
taking turns singing karaoke. We
ordered pizza, much more than
we needed, feeling ever-so-lucky
that we’d hit our respective pil-
lows with food in our stomachs.
Over the next few weeks, I
visited the Lighthouse again. On
U.S. Highway 101 between Man-
zanita and Nehalem, it’s a weird,
cavernous place, deep, dark and
long, lit by buzzing neon beer
signs and glowing TVs. The ca-
pacity seems to outstrip demand,
which can feel a little lonely,
but on the other hand it offers
multiple pockets where you can
post up with your party and have
space to yourself. Past the stage
area, which is ringed by long,
tall tables, there’s ping pong, a
couple of pool tables, pinball
and a non-operating second bar.
Booths run nearly the length of
the place — nearly 10 of them.
The main bar is dug in, a few
feet below the main floor, which
leaves patrons towering over the
bartenders. It’s odd. So is the un-
finished plywood ceiling, full of
ramps and bulging edges. If you
flipped it over and removed the
spiderwebs of light and electrical
cables it’d make a great skate-
board park.
So yeah, the vibe is quirky,
scruff, a little rough around the
edges. The Lighthouse is part
dive, part sports bar and two or
three times bigger than it needs
to be. But again, better big than
small. The menu is as one might
expect in a place full of national
beer branding — bar food and
fried appetizers. My server high-
lighted a few areas: “Our burgers
are hand-pressed, and the beef is
never frozen. We make the dough
for our pizza and calzones here,
and we do our own pulled pork.”
Pondering
the logistics of
never-frozen
beef, I went
with the El
Diablo burger
($10.95). I
ordered it
medium-rare,
and it arrived
absolutely so.
With a steak
knife stuck
through the
center to hold
things to-
gether, it was
burly. It was also extraordinarily
messy. After most every bite,
I had to reassemble the thing,
shoeing layers back into place.
Dripping with juice, the bun
soaked quickly. Halfway through,
my fingers were puncturing the
thing, poking at the patty. But
dang if I wasn’t enjoying it. The
bacon was salty and plentiful,
the bulging patty nice and pink
in the center, topped with snappy
pepper jack, melted over jala-
peños. It had a peppy but not
overwhelming kick. (If there was
habanero, as the menu men-
tioned, I missed it — and you
don’t often overlook habanero.)
Tearing through a small forest
of napkins, I was happy I got the
chipotle molasses on the side —
it was much too sweet.
Satisfied as I was with the
MANZANITA
LIGHTHOUSE
PUB & GRUB
Above: The Pulled Pork Sandwich,
served on a roll, was sloppy and a
bit sweet.
Left: The pizzas at Manzanita Light-
house Pub & Grub feature old-school
lavors, but the Mouth preferred the
calzones for lavor and value.
burger, the accompanying salad
was a wreck. Topping it with
shredded cheddar cheese defeated
the point — not that the under-
lying watery lettuce and black
olives had much to offer either. I
wasn’t too surprised, though. The
Lighthouse is the kind of place a
deep-fried pickle might count as
a veggie.
I also tried the Pulled Pork
Sandwich ($8.95). It came on a
hoagie — or was it a hot dog?
— roll. Loads of glistening meat
spilled over the lightly toasted
edges, streaking the plate with
grease. It was slurp-y, succulent,
sloppy and sweet — a little too
much for my taste. That sug-
ary, syrupy-ness could’ve been
offset with something fresh, like
slaw, or briny, like pickles. And
indeed, the two tiny slices of
pickles-as-garnish added integral
balance when I stuck them in the
sandwich. I almost thought about
ordering more — the pickles
made a big difference. And,
having learned my lesson with
the salad, I opted for onion rings.
They were big, like cross-sec-
tions of a softball, crunchy and
obvious.
On this afternoon the bar was
rather full. The University of
Oregon Ducks were playing their
season opener. The long tables
were filled with groups of men,
in baseball caps and flip flops,
cheering along, ordering pitchers.
I looked longingly at the golden,
football-sized calzones, which
I would return for, and which
didn’t disappoint.
I had the Combination Cal-
zone, a display of pork’s versatil-
ity. Inside the golden-brown, soft,
flaky dough pillow were layers
of pepperoni, sweet Canadian
bacon, bacon, herbed balls of
Italian sausage, plus a few bell
peppers, mushrooms, onions
Rating:
36480 N. Hwy 101,
Nehalem
PHONE: 503-368-4990
HOURS: 2 to 11:30 p.m.
Sunday to Thursday; 2 p.m.
to 1:30 a.m. Friday; and noon
to 1:30 a.m. Saturday. 21 and
older only.
PRICE: $ – Most entrées
around $10 or less.
SERVICE: Chill, familiar with
the locals
VEGETARIAN / VEGAN OP-
TIONS: Vegetarians will get
by in a pinch.
DRINKS: Cofee, soda, full
bar.
KEY TO STAR RATING SYSTEM
Poor
Below average
Good
Excellent
Best in region
and tomatoes. There was but a
dash of marinara, and I could’ve
gone for more veggies, but still:
The calzone was hot, easy and
comforting — the kind of thing
you want to wrap yourself up in
and take a nap. It was also a great
deal of food for $10.95. (And
also fairly greasy.)
The Lighthouse’s pizzas
worked too. The medium crust
was light and soft, almost under-
done. Meat again ruled the day
— these are old-school, parlor
flavors: pepperoni, Hawaiian,
chicken-bacon-ranch, combina-
tion and so on. They’re reason-
ably priced, and sized, but for
my money the calzones outshine
them in both flavor and value.
Plus you can get them late.