The Grand Lodge...not such grand taste...

I went to the McMenamin's Grand Lodge in Forest Grove last night with my dad, Debbie and my niece, Kildee, to see The curious case of Benjamin Buttons (a great flick, really leaves you thinking about the concept of time and growing "up").

I had not eaten at the Grand Lodge theater before and was really impressed with their extensive menu. Delicious sounding items, like a Jamaica Chicken, Salmon fillet in spicy peanut sauce, and the Distillers salad all had my mouth watering. I asked the employee at the front counter how the chicken was and he said its really big, so I opted for the salmon fillet.

It was dry! and there was no sauce, it was a rub. It was a tasty rub but really dulled by the over cooked fish. I was really dissappointed. Good thing my Dad was paying too, because food there is NOT cheap!

My advice for the future... Avoid the delicious sounding entrees, and stick with what McMenamin's does best: Burgers and Tots!

Laurelwood Brew Pub

Excellent Service! Excellent Nachos! Delicious Organic Beers. What more could a girl ask for??

This was my first trip to Laurelwood Brew Pub. I have enjoyed their beers on many occasions, but had yet to adventure into the pub til yesterday. I was a little bit surprised by the "Wait to be Seated" sign that greeted me by the front door, but a server showed up quickly, handed us (I was there w/ my buddy Huy) a couple of menus and told us to sit wherever.

Happy hour starts at 3 and we were seated at 2:50 and had HH beers by 3:10 which was great considering there was one woman at the bar and about 15 people there for brews and grub. The food showed up shortly thereafter. Huy got the hamburger ($4) and I got the nacho, no sour cream, sub fresh made guac (only $4). Both were delicious! The nacho didn't even get soggy and I didn't devour it that quickly (although I was hungry!)

Huy and I each had the Hooligan (IPA, I think?) because we liked the name. It was great! I'll have a hooligan again any day!

Thanks Laurelwood!