14 // COASTWEEKEND.COM
Coast Weekend’s local
restaurant review
GEARHART
CROSSING
Rating:
Sliced Beet Salad
Oyster Po Boy Sliders
Tuna Melt with Yoshida Teriyaki Chicken Salad
Gearhart Crossing’s brewpub dabbles
in personalizing the predictable
Review and photos by
THE MOUTH OF THE COLUMBIA
MOUTH@COASTWEEKEND.COM
I
n late March, the long-running
Gearhart Grocery became
Gearhart Crossing, an all-ages
restaurant and pub.
But vestiges of the market
remain.
There are deli cases filled with
meats, pasta salads and sweet
treats. There are baked goods, beer
coolers and coffee, as well as a
smattering of produce, crackers,
household items and so on — es-
sentially a “best of” the bygone
grocery store.
The remnants of the market
ring the brew pub, like a business
nested within a business. The pub
is walled in from the sundries,
creating a more relaxing inner
space. The windowless pub is made
mostly of reclaimed materials.
It’s an uncluttered, mostly blank
slate. Tables of mixed designs are
scattered about before a gleam-
ing, natural wood bar and beneath
glowing flat-screens.
The menu is composed mostly of
sandwiches, burgers and other up-
per-scale pub grub like nachos and
wings. And while I have certainly
whined about the unending prolif-
kinds of fruits, veggies, meats and
eration of burger and beer joints on
their own coleslaw, I was vexed
the North Coast, the Crossing’s ba-
that the Po Boys came “dressed”-
sic offerings seem to make sense in
downtown Gearhart. As it is, they’re style (with lettuce and tomato, rath-
the only game in the downtown area er than pickles and slaw). As it was,
the oysters had a satisfying bread-y
(one of two) where you wouldn’t
crunch while remaining almost
feel like a total slob if you showed
structureless within. And when I
up in a tank top. (Across the street
asked for a few pick-
at Pacific Way, fine
les on the side and
dining is pretty well
popped them in …
staked out.)
‘THE
KITCHEN
Ahhh, I was there.
While little at the
DOES A
Delightful, crunchy,
Crossing is surpris-
REASONABLE creamy, slurpy.
ing, the kitchen does
JOB MAKING
In the Pineapple
a reasonable job of
making dishes their
DISHES THEIR Porker Melt ($13),
the pickling of
own by incorporat-
OWN.’
pineapples nearly
ing an array of in-
went awry. While
house processes like
the more acidic treatment of the
pickling, smoking and curing.
pineapples was interesting in its
Fermentation not only gives the
own right, the pork called for more
tomatoes on the Tuna Melt ($12)
sweetness, which the pineapples
extra depth and tang, it rescues
were almost wholly sapped of. A
them from the withering curse
little more cheese wouldn’t have
afflicting so many that haven’t
hurt, either. The shards of pork
been just-plucked off the vine. The
were well cooked, crisp on the
open-faced sandwich was blanket-
ed with melted Havarti. Underneath outside, soft inside, but I couldn’t
help thinking that with just a tweak
was a creamy, mayo-mustard mix
or two with the ingredients already
with Skipanon tuna and baguette
on hand — see again: slaw — the
beds. Bites were gooey, salty and
Porker could really sing.
delightfully smooth.
Now, of course, I chose slaw as
I longed for some signature on
a side dish and eventually com-
the Oyster Po Boy Sliders ($12)
appetizer. At a place that pickles all bined the two. Which, in a way, is
fine, though it robs you of a side.
At Gearhart Crossing, there are a
few options for accompaniment.
While you won’t find fries (or
anything else that requires a deep
fryer), most dishes include a choice
of chips, potato salad or slaw. For a
dollar more you can upgrade to one
of the deli case salads. During my
trips, that meant mostly varieties
of pasta salad — weighty, picnic-y
dishes that are good for sharing.
There was also a bit of greenery,
like the broccoli-bacon-apple salad
which, while dressed, was unap-
pealing in its big-headed rawness.
None of what I tried, neither the
Yoshida Teriyaki Chicken Salad
(with taut cabbage, clipped ramen
noodles and chicken in a slip-
pery-sweet teriyaki) nor the Shrimp
Macaroni (with green onions and
celery) made a distinctive mark.
But were I in need of extra protein
and carbs after a busy day on the
beach, they’d do the trick. Nev-
ertheless: The extra dollar to get
in the deli case buys significantly
more food.
And at the Crossing, that’s no
afterthought.
While no price is quite offensive
on its own, they stack up quickly.
Two drinks, two burgers and tip
could easily approach $50. It’s
599 Pacific Way
Gearhart, Ore., 97138
Phone: 503-738-7312
Hours: 9 a.m. to 9 p.m.
Friday and Saturday; 9 a.m.
to 8 p.m. Sunday, Monday,
Tuesday and Thursday
Price: $ – Entrées hover
around the teens, and
quickly add up
Service: Casual, cheerful
Vegetarian/Vegan Options:
A few choices for vegetarians
Drinks: Beer, wine, soda, tea,
coffee
KEY TO STAR RATING SYSTEM
Below average
Average
Good
Excellent
Best in region
Gearhart. We get it.
The Sliced Beet Salad ($11) —
with softened, almost gelatinous,
roasted, marinated and thinly sliced
beets, along with blue cheese,
hazelnuts and a mix of greens dom-
inated by frisée — is no more than
the sum of its parts.
I appreciate that the Crossing
gets its beef from Reed & Hertig
and grinds it fresh for burgers. The
Loaded Steak Dip ($14) resembled
different sandwiches in different
bites. Sometimes, with a lot of
cheese and caramelized onions, it
approached a cheesesteak. Then
there were earthy, dark oils, laden
with mushroom, or the zip of sharp,
briny peppers. The beef, cut thin,
stacked about an inch high, was so
tender and juicy as to almost render
the accompanying au jus obsolete.
The sandwich was — as much
of Gearthart Crossing’s offerings
are — prepared precisely, with in-
gredients of above-average quality.
And while there are a few flourish-
es, certainly a few more wouldn’t
hurt. CW