Bring your appetite
No-one leaves the Newport Café feeling hungry
By Daniel Gainer and Daniel Gainer II
For the TODAY
Driving south on the beautiful and scenic Highway 101 towards Newport, I mention to Daniel, aka D2, that tonight we are eating at one of his favorite spots on the coast, the Newport Café. I was Immediately interrupted with a giddy shriek followed by a proclamation and correction. “Don’t you mean Newport Caf-yay” he asked.
I was excited to once again get the pleasure of being served by the superhero staff and choose from an extensive menu filled with big portions of fresh, homemade comfort food, like the eight-pound Super Ultimate Burger that is also a food challenge for those bottomless stomach types.
What is the challenge? Just finish the huge burger in less than 40 minutes and get the burger, and a Newport Café sweatshirt, for free.
For those with less-than-bottomless appetites, there are four- or three-pound versions and the house one-pound burger. Even the one-pound burger can be a challenge for me to finish in one sitting. You can get these burgers, great for sharing with the family, and more for dine-in, takeout and delivery.
Pulling into the parking lot, D2 was excited to point out the Newport Café delivery vehicle that looked like one giant burger with a mascot of a friendly looking crab invitingly holding French fries. This is where the fun begins.
The café has a coastal community and family vibe. The old school diner tables give enough room to maneuver, but are close enough to maximize the space. Up front there are fantastic swivel stools so you can cozy up to the counter. For sunnier days, there is also an opportunity to eat outside on their picnic tables. The working port city ambiance is enhanced by glass floats, big ropes and buoys that feel like they have touched the salty water of the Pacific Ocean. They also offer cool, fun and colorful merch like hoodies.
We sat down and ordered an appetizer of fried calamari and a hot chocolate for D2. The hot chocolate came served with a mountain of whipped cream and the calamari rings were as good as I have had.
When D2 was roughly three years old, he tried some calamari and said “I love these onion rings!”
Overjoyed with his developing palate, I decided not to correct him until I had to explain the tentacles a few years later.
For the main course, I chose a club sandwich and D2 ordered a one-pound avocado burger. Every ingredient was fresh and put together with purpose and pride. On the side, we got onion rings and sweet potato fries and shared a cup of clam chowder. I was intending to split the chowder with Daniel. Unfortunately, I did not pay enough attention, and I looked over and it was almost gone. D2 instantly gave the chowder a 10 out of 10 and reluctantly let me finish it. I had to agree.
I am looking forward to the next visit and plan on trying some of the other items on the menu that caught my eye like the stuffed French toast for breakfast, the Monte Cristo sandwich for lunch or one of the many seafood choices to which you can add a steak for a surf and turf. I even saw an order of whole fresh Dungeness crab taken to another table.
I asked for a rating from D2 and,with his hands on his full stomach, he looked at me and said, “Look at me. I ate the entire one-pound burger, soup and calamari. I give the Newport Café five French fry-holding crab mascots out of five.”
It was a fun, friendly and for sure a filling evening. We are fans and hope you give it a try and become fans, too.
Newport Café is open daily from 7 am to 10 pm and is located at NE 6th Street and Hwy. 101. For more information, go to thenewportcafe.com or call 541-574-6847.