14 // COASTWEEKEND.COM
Coast Weekend’s local
restaurant review
The Mouth responds to readers
Review and photos by
THE MOUTH OF THE COLUMBIA
MOUTH@COASTWEEKEND.COM
FACEBOOK.COM/MOUTHOFTHECOLUMBIA
I
t’s time again to share letters
from readers. But first let me
put out a call for more!
As we approach the end of
2017, I’ll be looking at what the
year meant for dining on the North
Coast. Did you notice any trends?
What’s the best new restaurant?
What was your most memorable
meal? What should I be looking
into in 2018?
Send those comments to
mouth@coastweekend.com, and
check out the Mouth’s Facebook
page (facebook.com/mouthofthe-
columbia). While it might be too
early for New Year’s resolutions,
extending the conversation with
readers on Facebook is making the
list!
Now, on to your letters. Thanks
for reading and taking the time to
write! (That also goes for the let-
ters that don’t make the column!)
Letters have been edited for
length and clarity.
High chairs, ‘bye’ chairs
Hello Mouth-
We are faithful readers of
your column for the last 12 years
and have been pleased with the
information and the rating system
(though I think several people have
contributed to the column over
time).
We eat out quite often. Keeping
in mind your reviews for future
“local” restaurant possibilities,
and do compare our findings with
some of your reports. Mostly in
agreement.
The most recent review of the
Salt Hotel & Pub in Ilwaco came
out the same week we had visited
that establishment.
Arriving on an early Sunday to
give it a try, we climbed the long
stairwell. Consider it good exer-
Salt Hotel & Pub
cise. Upon entering the restaurant,
a very nice waitperson greeted us
and offered to make us comfort-
able. The view from the second
floor is pleasant and I would expect
it to be a good addition to some
good food.
But my husband and I find it
most uncomfortable to sit at high
tables, and sitting on the tall chairs
that are pulled up to them DOES
NOT WORK for us.
As I looked around, this
particular restaurant has opted
for no chairs of “normal” height.
(As my husband calls them with
humor, “closer to the ground.”) No
“normal” chairs were to be found
in any nook of the restaurant. This
DOES NOT WORK for the two
of us.
I hated to leave. But leave we
must.
Thanks, Sandy S.
THE MOUTH: I must ad-
mit, Sandy, that, while I’m both
able-bodied and above-aver-
age-height, I despise eating at
tall pub tables. It’s awkward and
uncomfortable.
I imagine Salt chose those
tall tables to line up with their
windows — it is, after all, a great
view. (And rebuilding the wall to
accommodate larger windows is
serious business.)
The Lost Roo
Salt’s seating, along with
servers bounding up and down the
stairs, ferrying food from the first
floor kitchen, almost made my
review. I just ran out of space.
That said, I overlooked what the
seating configuration could mean
to the alternately-abled. Salt is not
especially accessible. Someone in
a wheelchair might be wholly out
of luck.
Thank you for bringing the is-
sue to light. I’ll do my best to keep
it in mind.
Peninsula sports bars
Good morning! I finally finished
reading the Coast Weekend and
was laughing at your pick of the
sports bars. I would agree with the
Merry Time Bar and Grill being a
pretty good sports bar in Astoria.
The same with Bubba’s in War-
renton. Haven’t been in Dundee’s
so I can’t make a judgment. Some
of the others wouldn’t even be
called “sports bars.” Just because a
bar has a TV set doesn’t make it a
sports bar.
But you really messed up with
the Long Beach Peninsula.
First of all, I should mention
that we really like to stop in Ilwaco
at the Salt Pub for a brew and
some food, but it certainly doesn’t
qualify as a sports bar. It has a
magnificent view of the port, but
that doesn’t make it a sports bar.
The Columbia River Roadhouse is
a good place for food and drink but
it is a stretch to call it a sports bar,
although it does have a couple of
TVs and a good viewing area.
If you want a GREAT sports
bar, you should stop in at the Lost
Roo in south Long Beach. It has
channels for all the sports and
is generally packed to the gills
during Seahawk, Husky, Cougar,
Ducks and Beaver games. The list
of rotating beer taps is more than
adequate and the food is delicious
with a varied menu. The many TV
sets are placed so one can watch
the games from anywhere in the
bar/restaurant. It is a huge venue
and is separated into a sports bar
setting and also a family dining
area. The Lost Roo is probably
the BEST sports bar in the Lower
Columbia region.
The North Jetty Brew Pub in
Seaview is another hangout for
the ball games. The Jetty brews
its own beer. It is small but all the
seats point toward the TV set. The
Long Beach Tavern at the north
end of Long Beach has a decent
turnout for the games. Serves good
food, plus has about six rotating
taps of beer.
I realize that Lost Roo doesn’t
advertise in the local papers so the
“Mouth” doesn’t stop there, but it
is so popular that is doesn’t need
to advertise. The owners do a lot
of local fund raising and make
contributions to the sports teams of
Ilwaco High School. Perhaps you
should stop in sometime and enjoy
a brew, wine or mixed drink and
sample their food.
Yours truly,
Dennis O.
THE MOUTH: Dennis, I’m
going to address your concerns out
of order.
Most importantly, I must
disabuse anyone of the notion that
advertisements dictate this col-
umn’s focus. If that were true, the
overwhelming majority of restau-
rants in the region would never be
reviewed. Furthermore, I select
what restaurants to review and
when, without editorial influence.
Secondly, I have reviewed Lost
Roo. (See “Mouth of the Colum-
bia: Lost Roo,” April 14, 2016.) I
awarded three stars and noted the
congruity with game-time.
“Think football foods, sports
snacks,” I wrote. “(I)t’s in the red
meats where Lost Roo finds its
firmest footing. Delicate con-
structions aren’t what the assem-
bly-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 watch-
ing March Madness...”
So, with all that in mind, I may
have been remiss to leave Lost Roo
from my sports bar roundup.
While it came after the roundup,
I reviewed the Long Beach Tavern
last month. Though I found the
food rather flat, it’s a reasonable
place to watch a game.
And while I have yet to visit
the North Jetty taproom, I have en-
joyed a wide variety of their beers
at nearby restaurants and bars.
They’re among the Peninsula’s
most inspired newcomers. CW