Having a bowl, in Depoe Bay
DEPOE BAY CHOWDER BOWL
Aaron Paulsen, Pattie Long and Rob Long
By Niki Price • Oregon Coast TODAY
Rob and Pattie Long may be the owners of the Chowder Bowl in Depoe Bay, but most customers associate this restaurant with its manager, the affable Aaron Paulsen. Nearly every day of the week, you’ll find Aaron greeting customers, bringing out burgers and serving up West Coast Chowder with a smile.
“He’s definitely got his own fan club. People will sometimes call before they drive over from the Valley, just to make sure that he’s working today,” said Pattie. “He’s a big part of the Chowder Bowl’s success.”
It may be hard to tell, but Pattie is also Aaron’s mother. The Chowder Bowl, which has been a landmark on the Depoe Bay waterfront for at least 45 years, has always been a family business. For the past seven years, it’s been in the hands of Rob, Pattie and Aaron. They juggle its management with their other restaurant, the 60s Café in north Lincoln City. Pattie says the family couldn’t do it without help: “We have been blessed with the work crew we have at the 60s Café and the Chowder Bowl.”
Both eateries specialize in tasty, family-friendly beach food, but – as the name suggests – the Chowder Bowl has an ocean-view fish house reputation. Visitors come in looking for fresh clam chowder, and Aaron is happy to oblige. He’s a man of few words, at least for a newspaper story, but he does admit that hospitality comes naturally.
“You’ve got to like people, and enjoy talking to people and hearing their stories. I always start with ‘Where are you from?’
The Chowder Bowl recipe, also called West Coast Chowder, is flavored with onion and bell pepper, thickened with potatoes and whole milk, and finished with chopped clams. It’s served by the cup ($3.50) and by the bowl ($4.50), as well as in a toasted “cannon ball” bread bowl ($8.25).
“We like it this way, good and creamy, made in a double boiler and served up fresh every day,” Pattie said. “We even sell the base, which people take to make at home, at $9.50 a quart.”
“With our name, that’s something that we’re always going to have, and people always can expect: great clam chowder,” Rob said. “We keep the recipe exactly the same and make it as consistently as we can. We never mess with a good thing. People remember it as being good, and they keep coming back for more.” Rob said Mike, the Chowder Bowl’s talented chef for the past four years, helps ensure the chowder is always a crowd-pleasing favorite.
Another old-fashioned Oregon Coast favorite is the Fish and Chips, served with garlic bread and your choice of chowder, cole slaw or a side salad. You can have the chef’s choice of fish for $12.95, or fresh halibut for $15.95. You can swap the halibut for jumbo clam strips, fried golden brown and crisp, as well as fried Yaquina Bay oysters ($12.95 and $14.95 for the full meals, respectively).
Weekenders, and weekday lunchers over from the Valley, are also fond of the Chowder Bowl’s Crab Melt, made with fresh, local Dungeness crab. Big chunks are layered on top of sourdough, then topped with Swiss and American cheeses, and grilled ($13.95). Like the rest of the sandwich menu, it comes with French fries, chips or cole slaw.
Seafood specialties also include salads topped with small, tasty Oregon bay shrimp or Dungeness crab, along with oyster stew, shrimp cocktail and crab cakes. Big appetites splurge on The Neptune, a platter of halibut, crab legs, scallops, clams and prawns, sautéed in butter, garlic, herbs and wine ($21.95).
The Longs know that vacationing families have varied palates to please, however, so they offer burger baskets, hot dogs, deli-style sandwiches and onion rings. Kids can have peanut butter and jelly, corn dogs and grilled cheese sandwiches.
The Chowder Bowl knows how to honor its traditions, but there also some Long family specialties that have been added to the menu in the last seven years. The most popular are thin, hot and crispy: house-made potato chips, unlike any Lays or Ruffles you have ever tasted. They also make a mean berry cobbler, and a memorable apple crisp. If the timing is right, you might get a chance at a jar of salal berry jam, a tradition in Rob’s family.
Another tradition, in Rob’s big family, was the annual summer trip to the Oregon Coast. He remembers the journey, crammed into a 1956 Ford wagon with his seven sisters and one brother, and watching the familiar landmarks pass by as they traveled west. Then, at last, the brightly-colored, tourist-friendly restaurant which was as important to the kids as the sea and sand.
Now that he’s a little older, and the owner of the Chowder Bowl in Depoe Bay, Rob likes to keep that tradition alive. He and Pattie have painted the exterior yellow, red and blue, and have just installed a new three-dimensional wooden sign on top.
“I like to think of Depoe Bay as a bright and fun place, kind of like a carnival, because that’s how it was when we were kids,” Long said. “That’s why we painted the front of the restaurant such bright colors, and that’s why we got a new sign, and it’s why we keep on serving the same clam chowder. People like things to stay the same. It’s part of the Oregon Coast.”
“We’ll always remember the good times at the coast, from when we were kids, and at the Chowder Bowl we keep that tradition alive,” Rob said. “We hope that people will always be excited to come back to the Chowder Bowl.”
The Depoe Bay Chowder Bowl, 40 S. Hwy. 101 in downtown Depoe Bay, is open for lunch and dinner every day, starting at 10:30 a.m. To learn more, call 541-765-2300.
Rob and Pattie Long may be the owners of the Chowder Bowl in Depoe Bay, but most customers associate this restaurant with its manager, the affable Aaron Paulsen. Nearly every day of the week, you’ll find Aaron greeting customers, bringing out burgers and serving up West Coast Chowder with a smile.
“He’s definitely got his own fan club. People will sometimes call before they drive over from the Valley, just to make sure that he’s working today,” said Pattie. “He’s a big part of the Chowder Bowl’s success.”
It may be hard to tell, but Pattie is also Aaron’s mother. The Chowder Bowl, which has been a landmark on the Depoe Bay waterfront for at least 45 years, has always been a family business. For the past seven years, it’s been in the hands of Rob, Pattie and Aaron. They juggle its management with their other restaurant, the 60s Café in north Lincoln City. Pattie says the family couldn’t do it without help: “We have been blessed with the work crew we have at the 60s Café and the Chowder Bowl.”
Both eateries specialize in tasty, family-friendly beach food, but – as the name suggests – the Chowder Bowl has an ocean-view fish house reputation. Visitors come in looking for fresh clam chowder, and Aaron is happy to oblige. He’s a man of few words, at least for a newspaper story, but he does admit that hospitality comes naturally.
“You’ve got to like people, and enjoy talking to people and hearing their stories. I always start with ‘Where are you from?’
The Chowder Bowl recipe, also called West Coast Chowder, is flavored with onion and bell pepper, thickened with potatoes and whole milk, and finished with chopped clams. It’s served by the cup ($3.50) and by the bowl ($4.50), as well as in a toasted “cannon ball” bread bowl ($8.25).
“We like it this way, good and creamy, made in a double boiler and served up fresh every day,” Pattie said. “We even sell the base, which people take to make at home, at $9.50 a quart.”
“With our name, that’s something that we’re always going to have, and people always can expect: great clam chowder,” Rob said. “We keep the recipe exactly the same and make it as consistently as we can. We never mess with a good thing. People remember it as being good, and they keep coming back for more.” Rob said Mike, the Chowder Bowl’s talented chef for the past four years, helps ensure the chowder is always a crowd-pleasing favorite.
Another old-fashioned Oregon Coast favorite is the Fish and Chips, served with garlic bread and your choice of chowder, cole slaw or a side salad. You can have the chef’s choice of fish for $12.95, or fresh halibut for $15.95. You can swap the halibut for jumbo clam strips, fried golden brown and crisp, as well as fried Yaquina Bay oysters ($12.95 and $14.95 for the full meals, respectively).
Weekenders, and weekday lunchers over from the Valley, are also fond of the Chowder Bowl’s Crab Melt, made with fresh, local Dungeness crab. Big chunks are layered on top of sourdough, then topped with Swiss and American cheeses, and grilled ($13.95). Like the rest of the sandwich menu, it comes with French fries, chips or cole slaw.
Seafood specialties also include salads topped with small, tasty Oregon bay shrimp or Dungeness crab, along with oyster stew, shrimp cocktail and crab cakes. Big appetites splurge on The Neptune, a platter of halibut, crab legs, scallops, clams and prawns, sautéed in butter, garlic, herbs and wine ($21.95).
The Longs know that vacationing families have varied palates to please, however, so they offer burger baskets, hot dogs, deli-style sandwiches and onion rings. Kids can have peanut butter and jelly, corn dogs and grilled cheese sandwiches.
The Chowder Bowl knows how to honor its traditions, but there also some Long family specialties that have been added to the menu in the last seven years. The most popular are thin, hot and crispy: house-made potato chips, unlike any Lays or Ruffles you have ever tasted. They also make a mean berry cobbler, and a memorable apple crisp. If the timing is right, you might get a chance at a jar of salal berry jam, a tradition in Rob’s family.
Another tradition, in Rob’s big family, was the annual summer trip to the Oregon Coast. He remembers the journey, crammed into a 1956 Ford wagon with his seven sisters and one brother, and watching the familiar landmarks pass by as they traveled west. Then, at last, the brightly-colored, tourist-friendly restaurant which was as important to the kids as the sea and sand.
Now that he’s a little older, and the owner of the Chowder Bowl in Depoe Bay, Rob likes to keep that tradition alive. He and Pattie have painted the exterior yellow, red and blue, and have just installed a new three-dimensional wooden sign on top.
“I like to think of Depoe Bay as a bright and fun place, kind of like a carnival, because that’s how it was when we were kids,” Long said. “That’s why we painted the front of the restaurant such bright colors, and that’s why we got a new sign, and it’s why we keep on serving the same clam chowder. People like things to stay the same. It’s part of the Oregon Coast.”
“We’ll always remember the good times at the coast, from when we were kids, and at the Chowder Bowl we keep that tradition alive,” Rob said. “We hope that people will always be excited to come back to the Chowder Bowl.”
The Depoe Bay Chowder Bowl, 40 S. Hwy. 101 in downtown Depoe Bay, is open for lunch and dinner every day, starting at 10:30 a.m. To learn more, call 541-765-2300.
