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| Jesse Ratcliff, with a hesitant entree, next to the live crab tank at Lincoln City's Roadhouse 101 restaurant & bar. |
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Lincoln City’s Roadhouse 101, where the only brawls are over the last glass of Pinot Grigio
By Niki Price
Oregon Coast TODAY
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You think you’re the type of character who could pull into a dusty roadhouse to swig a beer, hear a loud band and wipe the floor with anyone who looked at you funny. You’re one tough customer. Patrick Swayze would throw you out the back door. We understand.
But wouldn’t you be an even tougher customer — nay, a discerning customer — if you instead found a roadhouse that served brick-oven pizza, slow-baked prime rib and seafood fresh off the boat? A welcoming, clean establishment with live blues on the weekends and a nice selection of microbrews and Northwest wine?
Even tough guys like a nice seafood carbonara, the favorite recipe of Chef Victor Wind, who is in charge of the menu at Lincoln City’s Roadhouse 101.
“I’ve spent the last five years developing this recipe. We sauté pancetta bacon and shallots, then deglaze with white wine before adding prawns and scallops,” said Wind, who has been head of the Roadhouse 101 kitchen since 2008. “We reduce it, then add cream, parmesan and egg yolks so that it’s super creamy and rich. We finish the sauce with Dungeness crab and serve it over penne pasta.”
The devotion to fresh seafood doesn’t stop there. Roadhouse 101 chefs travel to the docks in Newport nearly every day, and bring home fresh halibut, tuna and crab. The finny fish they fillet and serve right away, on a cedar plank, fried with chips or in a pair of award-winning tacos. The crabs go into the live tank, where they reside until the moment they’re ordered (then cooked and served with fries and coleslaw).
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| Victor Wind's Seafood Carbonara has won rave reviews for the Lincoln City eatery. |
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The Roadhouse established its surf expertise in May, when its recipe took top honors at the first Lincoln City Fish Taco Cookoff. With seared ahi tuna in a tequila-lime marinade, fresh and piquant coleslaw and pico de gallo in a hand-pressed, sun-dried tomato tortilla, it was both the judges’ first choice.
There’s a big and beefy turf menu as well, with hand-cut steaks like the 12-ounce New York strip, the 16-ounce rib eye and the 12-ounce sirloin fillet. Brian Whitehead, owner of Roadhouse 101, said that the prime rib is one of his favorite meals.
“I really love the prime rib. We have two special ovens that are specifically designed just to make it,” Whitehead said. “It’s so tender, you can cut it with a fork.”
Whitehead is also partial to the Sugar Shack barbecued ribs, which are made with a recipe his family developed back in Minnesota. Each year, when he was a boy, his family gathered near their maple grove to collect, boil and bottle syrup. The vat has to be carefully watched through the night, or else it will burn.
“One of my brothers was on duty, and he and his friends burned a whole batch of syrup. I don’t know what they were doing, but they were probably drinking. That happens,” Whitehead said with a laugh. “But it had this smoky flavor, so you could not put it on a pancake. But we had a hundred gallons of it, and we really couldn’t throw it away. We ended up making barbecue sauce, and bottled it for everyone in the family. It was so good that eventually, we ran out and now we have to burn the syrup on purpose. It makes ribs to die for.”
The Sugar Shack Ribs come St. Louis style (bone-in, smoked and served with the signature sauce, ($15.75 for the half rack) and country style (boneless, $17.75). Both are served with fries, coleslaw and barbecued beans.
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| Victor Wind |
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But the smell of smoky maple syrup barbecue is not Whitehead’s only contribution to the atmosphere at Roadhouse 101. When he took over four years ago, the 1972 lodge-style building was, in his words, “real rustic looking, with a lot of dead animals on the walls.” He not only took out the critters, he took out the walls, and turned the lodge into a modern, airy dining space.
The décor is automotive, with hubcaps, road signs and even a real Harley-Davidson, all from Whitehead’s own collection. He found it all on eBay or, in the case of the giant used car sign, on the streets of Salem. That vintage 1950s piece was minutes from the wrecking ball when Whitehead hit the brakes and offered them $100.
“This place used to have a lot of walls, and felt small. Since the remodel, it feels big and spacious,” Whitehead said. “It’s an interesting building with a lot of interesting stuff inside.”
When he remodeled, Whitehead made sure to accommodate another one of his favorite things: live blues bands. In the past four years, Roadhouse 101 has become known for hosting some of the best in the Northwest, from the Strange Tones and Norman Sylvester to the Insomniacs and Kolvane. They were one of the first venues to give the young Ty Curtis a break. Now, Curtis is one of the hottest blues musicians on the west coast.
“I like to focus on blues, and not just because I enjoy that type of music myself. I think it appeals to a wide variety of people, people of all ages, and it’s my experience that it brings in a crowd that is friendly and easy to deal with,” Whitehead said. “I think they have a sophisticated taste, and I like having them around.”
The bands play on Friday and Saturday nights throughout the year; during the summer, there are sometimes Thursday and Sunday night gigs, too. The lounge offers big screen televisions, which are popular during football season, and beers like Rogue’s Dead Guy, Mirror Pond Pale Ale and Black Butte Porter (and a few other seasonals) on tap. Wines, by the glass or by the bottle, include selections from Maryhill, Eola Hills and Cooper Mountain.
These calming glasses are even served in the main dining room, where children are welcome. In fact, they have their own menu and are usually thrilled to find they can throw their peanut shells on the floor and watch their personal pizzas come out of the brick oven. Kids also marvel at the dollar bills stuck to the ceiling – so parents, be warned ... and bring a single. The staff will show you how they do it, but it’ll cost you. The cash is collected once a year for the Taft High School Boosters.
It might not be the dusty, rusty, rough-and-tumble roadhouse that your inner Hells Angel is wishing for. But would that place have steamed crab, homemade clam chowder and Broken Halo IPA? I don’t think so, tough guy.
The dining room at Roadhouse 101, 4649 SW Hwy. 101, is open from 11:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily. The bar is open from 11:30 a.m. to midnight Sunday-Thursday, and 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 a.m. Friday and Saturday. For details, call 541-994-7729 or visit the Roadhouse online.
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