I’ve been thinking of ways the Pacific Northwest is different from Southern California: the speed limit in town is 25 MPH (sometimes 20 MPH, and it’s enforced), more people talk to you at the grocery store, gas is significantly cheaper, there’s not a lot of sun and it’s shockingly cold, and you can see Dr. Strange in the Multiverse of Madness for $7 on opening day in a half-empty theater that serves seat-side Cajun tots.
This is McMenamins. It’s a family-owned company that serves pub food in historic buildings they’ve restored around the Pacific Northwest. Their Centralia building is the former Olympic Club Hotel & Theater, built in 1908 and renovated by the McMemamins in 2002. The building has a delightful Old-West history and, according to their website, “dark wood, Art Nouveau stenciling, Tiffany-style lights, beveled glass and one of the most beautiful period bars [they’ve] ever seen.”
In addition to our visit for the movie, I’ve tagged along to Nene’s weekly dinner with her colleague Eliazbeth. They have a regular booth (the booth ceiling is the photo above my vegan portobello burger), and the server knew to greet them with “we’re out of tots” the last time we were there so they’d have time to choose something else.
They went for the chicken BBQ pizza! I didn’t try it, but they said it was good–the BBQ sauce wasn’t too sweet (it was almost balsamic-y). McMenamins also has a daily soup that’s created on the chef’s whim so that it’s never the same twice. The server described a creamy turkey noddle soup as “like a casserole, but it’s soup.” Nene described it as “something you eat with a fork.” Apparently it was delicious.
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