Willamette Valley restaurant recommendations

[Brian S t o t t e r]

My wife and I will be visiting 12/8-12/12. We have our winery visits planned but haven’t put much thought into dining. We’re staying in McMinnville. Any tips?

[Michael Baryla]

The Painted Lady in Newberg is a must if you like tasting menu type places.

Red hills market in Dundee for casual lunch. Great dinner at Red Hills Kitchen in McMinnville.

[Luca Giupponi]

I would absolutely recommend:

Pizzeria Capo
Earth & Sea

Heard good things about Thistle but we ended up not going so no first-hand experience. Pura Vida has great food too.

[Brian S t o t t e r]

The Painted Lady in Newberg is a must if you like tasting menu type places.

Red hills market in Dundee for casual lunch. Great dinner at Red Hills Kitchen in McMinnville.

Thanks! Just booked at Painted Lady

[Keith A k e r s]

eat at Pizza Capo, walk over to Hi-Fi and drink. Rinse and repeat

Bistro Maison is pretty old school, but I've definitely enjoyed it for some classic French in the valley.

[Andy Steinman]

Earth and Sea in Carlton
Recipe in Newberg
Thistle in McMinnville is solid but not sure they are fully open.

[Fred Vogel]

The Joel Palmer House in Dayton if you are a mushroom lover.

[Yao C]

Pura Vida has great food too.

I loved eating at Pura Vida; it's very clean, and a nice change of pace

Bistro Maison is pretty old school, but I've definitely enjoyed it for some classic French in the valley.

Seconding, though the food is very heavy

[S t e p h e nK]

+1 Joel Palmer. They are doing a renovation but are still open. Rosmarino Osteria Italiana in Newberg is an amazing Italian place. Look at reviews. Tasting menu except Sunday.

https://www.osteriarosmarino.com/

[Matt Mauldin]

We enjoyed Earth & Sea and the Joel Palmer House when we visited back in June.

[Rick Allen]

We haven't dined out much since the pandemic hit, but Pizza Capo is excellent. We had a private dinner at Red Hills Kitchen, and it was pretty good. Definitely stop by Hi-Fi. They have a great by the glass list, and a world-class bottle list that is reasonably priced. I've heard really good things about Earth and Sea, but haven't been yet.

[Brian Glas]

We like Thistle, Nicks, Pizza Capo, La Rambla. The roof top bar at Hotel Oregon is a fun place in warmer months. Community Plate is our favorite breakfast spot.

[Don Brazelton]

Another vote for the Painted Lady.

[Karl Picker]

The Painted Lady in Newberg is a must if you like tasting menu type places.

Red hills market in Dundee for casual lunch. Great dinner at Red Hills Kitchen in McMinnville.

Thanks friend for the advice, I will take note of it. My name is Karl. For now, I just had the chance to visit the top restaurants in scranton. I can't wait to make a visit there.

[Ryan Gilmour]

Dos Mundos taco stand in Newberg was perfect for lunch in between winery visits. Some of the best tacos I’ve ever had!

[J.R. Tr0wbridge]

Nick's in McMinnville is solid and you might have a glass with a local winemaker at their bar in the back.

[Todd Hamina]

Nick's in McMinnville is solid and you might have a glass with a local winemaker at their bar in the back.

The back bar is now a side bar.

[Andy Steinman]

Earth & Sea was great tonight.

[Eric White]

Surprised nobody's mentioned it yet - Rosemarino in Newberg

[Rick Allen]

Surprised nobody's mentioned it yet - Rosemarino in Newberg

I've heard good things but haven't been yet.

[James Lyon]

Surprised nobody's mentioned it yet - Rosemarino in Newberg

Yes, it was mentioned by Stephen K. in post #9. Unfortunately, Rosemarino and Earth & Sea were closed with Covid during our recent visit in August.

Painted Lady, Thistle and Recipe are always on our list. If you were staying in Newberg, I would add Jory and Newbergundian Bistro.

[Todd Hamina]

Rosemarino is delicious.

[Brian S t o t t e r]

We ended up eating at Pizza Capo, Red Hills Market (amazing fried chicken and roast beef sandwiches), La Rambla. Ate last night at the Joel Palmer House (in place of The Painted Lady), and it was extraordinary.

[JBucholz]

We ended up eating at Pizza Capo, Red Hills Market (amazing fried chicken and roast beef sandwiches), La Rambla. Ate last night at the Joel Palmer House (in place of The Painted Lady), and it was extraordinary.

Good choices. I don’t think you missed anything by skipping Painted Lady. It used to be our favorite by a wide margin. The last few times we’ve gone there though have been disappointing. We don’t bother any more.

[J.Vizuete]

Just got back from a 4 night trip and thought I’d chime in.

Jory - in the Allison. Pretty space (sort of) that feels impressive but the meal here was just devoid of any passion from the kitchen at all. The service was somewhat formal/awkward, but it was surprising when our first recommendation from the server was to go with the 5 course menu (not 7). Turns out he did us a solid. Two of the dishes (goat cheese tart and rhubarb tart) came out in the exact same frozen mini pie crust… the food was weakly executed and formulaic. Fortunately their wine list is great and offered many excellent and well priced choices. We went with a 16 Allemand Chaillots at $235, which seems less than market to me. Very friendly Somm there who kindly let me buy a bottle off the list to take home.

Joel Palmer House - this was in their tent with a space warmer blowing heated air into the tent. Again pretty formal service but the food was much better and the emphasis on mushroom was not overdone to me. Really tasty dishes across a wide spectrum, and dessert (brought to our table on a ~5 foot wooden board) was an outstanding finale. For boasting the largest selection of Oregon wines in the area, I was very unimpressed by their choices and pricing (think $500 for a 750mL of Thomas). I ordered a 16 00 VGW chard and brought an 88 Pichon Lalande to go with the mushrooms. I’d do the exact same thing over if given the opportunity.

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Painted Lady - our 3rd stop and by far my favorite. This was Michelin level food and presentation. Service was a little more warm but still serious in that French Laundry way. Dishes were unique, rich, flavorful, and beautiful. Ordered a delightful Niew Chardonnay off the list and brought an 07 Tattinger Comtes. Wine list was medium sized but well curated. Best dinner by a mile.

Other info - we tasted at Goodfellow (ton of great wines); Championship Bottle (Saul is awesome), Arterberry Maresh (so welcoming and homey), Morgen Long (the legend grows), and Antica Terra (pretty awesome lineup even at the lowest price point, with additional Coravin pours if you like). I really love the model of comparing wines to international favorites.

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We stayed at Black Walnut Inn which was marvelous and maybe the highlight of the trip. Thanks to all on this thread and related ones for contributing, it really helped us have a fabulous trip.

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[Michael O Brien]

We visited Walla Walla and the Willamette in late March. Our two favorite restaurants from that trip were the Joel Palmer House in Dayton and Cuvée Restaurant, in Carlton. Cuvée Restaurant was a first time visit for us. Joel Palmer House was a revisit.

[DIANAD]

We made a quick trip to Newberg in early February based on Longplay being the winemaker at Rosmarino’s Friday night Winemaker’s dinner. The dinner was sold out and our waitlist never cleared, but we were able to get into their Saturday night wine-pairing dinner and it was outstanding! Also enjoyed Recipe.

[JBrochu]

Pizza Capo was fantastic. The arancini were superb. And the sausage pizza with kalamata olives, roasted fennel and ricotta was one of the greatest pizzas I've ever had.

Nick's was decent but nothing I would truly rave about. But it seems it's kind of an institution in town and we're glad we went. Ken Wright was seated near us and was treated like a rock star.

Stay far away from Jae's Landing. One of the nastiest persons I've ever come across in my life was behind the bar, and she's apparently a co-owner. (We would never have ended up in that place, but we were looking for somewhere to catch the Celtics game.)

HiFi was pretty cool and had a nice bottle list. It's not really my kind of atmosphere though, I felt a little bit uncomfortable. I'm kind of a blue collar redneck type.

On our way out we ate at Oma's Hideway in Portland. OMG one of the best meals I've ever had. If you like Malaysian style street food you need to make it a point to hit this place up. (Get reservations well ahead of time.)

[Lisa Hall]

We had dinner at Thistle in May. Wonderful small menu. Also the Red Hills Kitchen in the Atticus is good. The Horseradish in Carlton is a great lunch spot.

[Peter Hirsch]

Earth and Sea in Carlton
Recipe in Newberg

Really liked both these places. High quality. Slight pref for Recipe but it's very slight...

[Rick Allen]

Pizza Capo was fantastic. The arancini were superb. And the sausage pizza with kalamata olives, roasted fennel and ricotta was one of the greatest pizzas I've ever had.

Nick's was decent but nothing I would truly rave about. But it seems it's kind of an institution in town and we're glad we went. Ken Wright was seated near us and was treated like a rock star.

Stay far away from Jae's Landing. One of the nastiest persons I've ever come across in my life was behind the bar, and she's apparently a co-owner. (We would never have ended up in that place, but we were looking for somewhere to catch the Celtics game.)

HiFi was pretty cool and had a nice bottle list. It's not really my kind of atmosphere though, I felt a little bit uncomfortable. I'm kind of a blue collar redneck type.

On our way out we ate at Oma's Hideway in Portland. OMG one of the best meals I've ever had. If you like Malaysian style street food you need to make it a point to hit this place up. (Get reservations well ahead of time.)

Hell, I live in McMinnville, and while I know where Jae's Landing is, I've never had a urge to go there.

[JBrochu]

Pizza Capo was fantastic. The arancini were superb. And the sausage pizza with kalamata olives, roasted fennel and ricotta was one of the greatest pizzas I've ever had.

Nick's was decent but nothing I would truly rave about. But it seems it's kind of an institution in town and we're glad we went. Ken Wright was seated near us and was treated like a rock star.

Stay far away from Jae's Landing. One of the nastiest persons I've ever come across in my life was behind the bar, and she's apparently a co-owner. (We would never have ended up in that place, but we were looking for somewhere to catch the Celtics game.)

HiFi was pretty cool and had a nice bottle list. It's not really my kind of atmosphere though, I felt a little bit uncomfortable. I'm kind of a blue collar redneck type.

On our way out we ate at Oma's Hideway in Portland. OMG one of the best meals I've ever had. If you like Malaysian style street food you need to make it a point to hit this place up. (Get reservations well ahead of time.)

Hell, I live in McMinnville, and while I know where Jae's Landing is, I've never had a urge to go there.

I won't mention who recommended it! But in fairness to them, (actually a small group of people), we were looking for a place where they might actually put the volume on at the bar, which apparently isn't easy to find in McMinnville.

[Marshall Manning]

Pizza Capo was fantastic. The arancini were superb. And the sausage pizza with kalamata olives, roasted fennel and ricotta was one of the greatest pizzas I've ever had.

Nick's was decent but nothing I would truly rave about. But it seems it's kind of an institution in town and we're glad we went. Ken Wright was seated near us and was treated like a rock star.

Stay far away from Jae's Landing. One of the nastiest persons I've ever come across in my life was behind the bar, and she's apparently a co-owner. (We would never have ended up in that place, but we were looking for somewhere to catch the WARRIORS! game.)

HiFi was pretty cool and had a nice bottle list. It's not really my kind of atmosphere though, I felt a little bit uncomfortable. I'm kind of a blue collar redneck type.

On our way out we ate at Oma's Hideway in Portland. OMG one of the best meals I've ever had. If you like Malaysian style street food you need to make it a point to hit this place up. (Get reservations well ahead of time.)

Fixed it for you.

[Joe Chanley]

Pizza Capo was fantastic. The arancini were superb. And the sausage pizza with kalamata olives, roasted fennel and ricotta was one of the greatest pizzas I've ever had.

Nick's was decent but nothing I would truly rave about. But it seems it's kind of an institution in town and we're glad we went. Ken Wright was seated near us and was treated like a rock star.

Stay far away from Jae's Landing. One of the nastiest persons I've ever come across in my life was behind the bar, and she's apparently a co-owner. (We would never have ended up in that place, but we were looking for somewhere to catch the Celtics game.)

HiFi was pretty cool and had a nice bottle list. It's not really my kind of atmosphere though, I felt a little bit uncomfortable. I'm kind of a blue collar redneck type.

On our way out we ate at Oma's Hideway in Portland. OMG one of the best meals I've ever had. If you like Malaysian style street food you need to make it a point to hit this place up. (Get reservations well ahead of time.)

Hell, I live in McMinnville, and while I know where Jae's Landing is, I've never had a urge to go there.

I won't mention who recommended it! But in fairness to them, (actually a small group of people), we were looking for a place where they might actually put the volume on at the bar, which apparently isn't easy to find in McMinnville.

Had the same issue sourcing a spot to watch a Villanova tourney game....landed at 1882 upstairs and they were accomodating.

Black Walnut was beautiful when we were there.

[JBrochu]

Pizza Capo was fantastic. The arancini were superb. And the sausage pizza with kalamata olives, roasted fennel and ricotta was one of the greatest pizzas I've ever had.

Nick's was decent but nothing I would truly rave about. But it seems it's kind of an institution in town and we're glad we went. Ken Wright was seated near us and was treated like a rock star.

Stay far away from Jae's Landing. One of the nastiest persons I've ever come across in my life was behind the bar, and she's apparently a co-owner. (We would never have ended up in that place, but we were looking for somewhere to catch the WARRIORS! game.)

HiFi was pretty cool and had a nice bottle list. It's not really my kind of atmosphere though, I felt a little bit uncomfortable. I'm kind of a blue collar redneck type.

On our way out we ate at Oma's Hideway in Portland. OMG one of the best meals I've ever had. If you like Malaysian style street food you need to make it a point to hit this place up. (Get reservations well ahead of time.)

Fixed it for you.

Yeah too bad Jae's Landing didn't also refuse to put the video on along with the volume!