Review: McMenamins Grand Lodge
So we head out to McMenamin’s Grand Lodge…my woman has some work to do there and I’m coming along to help her. They have beer (McMenamins has their own brewery and they serve it at all of their locations), so it’s not like she had to twist my arm. I was a little disappointed when we first arrived. It didn’t look like a “lodge” to me but that was fine; the fact that they had beer on the premises helped me to remain open minded. Shortly after entering I realized it had a much more lodgy feeling on the inside then the outside (the building is brick which doesn’t make me think lodge). Anyway, I wander into the bar area while the wife does her deal. It’s a cool old craftsman style bar area. It’s called Ironwork Grill. It’s got a cool copper bar counter with lots of stained glass…typical Mcmenamins arts and crafts sorta feel. It feels a little dank and musty, but it’s Oregon and it does rain a lot so that comes with the territory. I order the Sunflower IPA and Cajun tater tots. Not real exciting, but hey nothing about this place really is. I figure if something is going to be good, it’s the IPA and some tater tots. After savagely destroying two IPA’s and an order of Cajun tots (yes I know they weren’t exciting, but I don’t call myself the Beerfather for kicks…put an IPA and pub food in front of me and you’re gonna see a show), the wife shows up. We head into the restaurant and get a nice little McMenamins style booth by the window. We order a couple more beers and some hummus. It was Copper Moon (their seasonal) for me this time. It was pretty good as far as McMenamins goes. Kind of sweet and tasty. We sat there for a bit and watched the rain…it was definitely cozy!
The place was pretty cool overall; the beer wasn’t great (as it never really is that great at McMenamins). The food passes as good but not fantastic (it’s your typical pub style); the wait staff speaks some sort of gruntish and apparently always has some place better to be. But, the lodge itself has a lot of character. The lawn out front is huge with a lawn bar (Yardhouse Pub) and Frisbee golf baskets all around. Definitely a good place to hit up on a nice summer day, just don’t expect AMAZING things to happen.
