Restaurant – Rideshare Rex

November 17, 2022October 4, 2022

Sunriver Brewing Co. @ The Village at Sunriver

I was on a book thrifting adventure today before going to my local disc golf league and decided that I would give Sunriver Brewing Co. a shot since I’ve enjoyed a 6 pack of two of theirs throughout the year.

Walked right in & was greeted and seated promptly, it was busy but manageable & I was excited to peruse their menu which you can find below.

SRP-8.16.22-w-kids.pdf Download

Yeah pretty disappointing menu isn’t it? I’ve noticed a lot of local menu’s lately have been small with strange offering that wouldn’t pair well, & seem to not be have a consistent theme, Sunriver Brewing Co. is just that. and we haven’t even got to the pricing yet.

The decor though is nice & shows off a local flair along with their beer can art as well.

Lunch: Turkey Bacon Pesto Sando
turkey, bacon, pesto, lettuce, tomato, herb aioli, cheddar cheese, on a hoagie choice of fries, fruit, soup, fresh veggies or field of greens and a pickle slice $18

Ok where to start, this isn’t really a hoagie roll, it’s more of French bread as it has a hard exterior, that is tough to bite through & has that texture that would cut the inside of your mouth. There was a good amount of toppings, but they didn’t really mesh well as the ratio of sauce to bun/topping wasn’t enough which makes the sandwich taste dry. The fried were palatable with Portland Ketchup Co Organic Ketchup to pair, it was the best part of the meal.

Let’s talk about the price before we move on, $18 for a small sandwich and fries is really robbery, I can’t believe the prices here. Maybe it’s a ploy to get you to buy more beer. Speaking of Beer…

Rivermark – Bohemian Pilsner 16oz $7

As you can tell, I like a light or dark beer, and on a hot day like today, a Pilsner usually hits the spot. This one is crisp and clean, but $7 for a beer? Yuk 🤢 but I guess tourist will pay anything in Sunriver for a meal and a beer.

Overall the service was adequate, wait time was fine, seating options were good, but the prices and quality of food for that price is downright embarrassing. I’d go up the street to the Village Grill, look forward to a review on them soon.

October 27, 2022October 4, 2022

Village Bar and Grill

Located in the heart of The Village at Sunriver. Village Bar & Grill has been serving great food & drinks for over 40 years!

Vbag as they like to call themselves is a staple eatery in Sunriver that aims to meet your needs with an array of food options, drinks, and indoor/outdoor seating.

We were on our way down to Sunriver again on the hunt to fill up our Amazon Bookstore at ResellerRex, and narrowed our search for chicken tenders or burgers down to two spots, here and Big Belly Burgers & Brew, and we came here for the chicken tenders that actually turns out to be a photo of fish and chips 🤦🏻‍♂️, but oh well, we’re here let’s see what they got.

Now the menu, like Sunriver Brewing Co. is just a little small for my liking in a place like this, again, no chicken tenders (although looking at the table next to us, it looks like they are on the kids menu), and we were looking for smaller plates, or something to share, as thrifting on a full stomach is not ideal. The menu again does not flow well with options, and is pricier than a local would really like to pay. I settled on the Hazey BBQ Pulled Pork Sandwich with a side of fries (other options are coleslaw or cottage cheese). Fresh Haze (Deschutes Brewery IPA) braised pork with our house BBQ sauce, fried onion straws, and pepper jack cheese.

Now I usually don’t do this, but I’m starting with the fries 🍟 . These were the best fries I think I have ever had. They were a great temperature, crispy, seasoned, and flavorful. I had some malt vinegar on them & a side of ranch and that was all I needed. Best fries 🍟 in C.O so far! As for the pulled pork 🐖 sandwich 🥪, I was a little hesitant with the pepper jack combo with the pork, but I’ll tell you that small amount of heat paired with the crispy fried onion straws really elevated this sandwich to another level.

I really like this sandwich at $15 instead of $17, but I guess inflation is something we can’t really get around. On to the beer 🍺.

Beer: Three Creeks Brewing Mexican Lager $x

This thing was clean and crisp with a lime wedge to balance it out. A solid Mexican lager with a kick. Check out my review on Untappd.

Overall the food was good if not a little under seasoned, the deck atmosphere was nice except there was some event going on that day where an annoying noise happened most of our meal, but of no fault of Vbag, but beware The Village is usually packed with people and activities. They were “understaffed” with two servers, but they had 4 different food runners, so I’m not sure why the server thought they were so understaffed, but alas I just review, I don’t manage. I’d rexamend this as a stop if you are in Sunriver for sure.

October 20, 2022October 4, 2022

Bangers and Brews Eastside

Gourmet sausages with an Argentinian Flair

After a long day of hunting books and thrifts, we decided to have a nice sit down dinner at Bangers & Brews Eastside. We’ve been wanting to check out one of the sausage places in town & decided a trip to the Eastside location was a great place to start.

You start out at a cafeteria style line ordering first & then choosing a place to sit.

There is inside seating,

and a split patio seating shared with Hablo Tacos.

Winter set up with heaters, and open air flow in the summer.

You can order the traditional 1X2X1 or off the specials menu, and lastly have sides.

After ordering we took our beverages out to the patio and found a table, and old whisky barrel with a new top & high bar stools and we were set.

I opted to get the Reuben’s Lager which was a solid lager option from a Seattle brewery. Besides on tap, there was a cooler as well stocked with alternative drinks & fountain sodas as well.

We opened up with the 12” Pretzel and cheese for an appetizer, but before we received that we were brought out some warm bread and chimichurri. honestly the bread fell apart easily, and was not easy to dip in the sauce. And this will be the last complaint you’ll hear from me.

A warm buttery pretzel with a nice hot creamy cheese sauce with a good salt to pretzel ratio. A good opening once we got passed the bread fiasco.

I went with a (1) Elk/Pork Brat (2) Caramelized Onions & Sauerkraut (1) and Chimichurri. There is also an option to go bundles which I did choosing to have mine on a bed of mashed potatoes.

The chimichurri is nice with a cilantro kick, gravy is semi sweet & pairs well with the slightly gamey sausage, carmelized onions are a little under cooked and gives a nice texture difference to the sausage and potatoes. The sauerkraut portion is a little lacking but flavorful & melds well with the rest of the components.

Overall I’m impressed with both the price point & amount of food provided in the portion. I think this place is great (I ended up taking my dad to the Westside location a few weeks later. Smaller venue, longer wait times, go to the Eastside.) and am excited to try out some other combos & sausages. 💯 Rexamend this as a go to while in town!

October 6, 2022October 4, 2022

Ski Inn Taphouse Hotel 2: chips & queso and a brew

So after my first foray into thrifting in Sisters, I had to come back the very next day and finish what I started as they closed the store on us yesterday before we even got 25% through their inventory. I knew I had to get there with enough time, and after filling up my box with books & having 30% of the store left to source, sweating on a 92 degree day, I knew I needed to seek shelter, AC, and provisions.

My familiarity with Ski Inn from our last trip

& the 2 blocks walking distance made this an easy although unsettling choice. As I had driven by a few hours prior & the place was absolutely jammed packed, and as I walked up I could tell by the fact that every table sat un-bussed and empty, they were short handed and in need of a reprise. There were only 2 other people there post lunch rush, and so I made it easy on them with just an appetizer and a brew.

Chili con Queso -Fresh fried chips, and our house. chili con queso $8

OMG! Look at the size of those chips!!!!!!

The queso was spicy, but not a tongue burner, just enough heat to pair nicely with a few brews, obviously filling with the chips the size of your hands, I thought I’d run out of dip before finishing the chips, but paced myself nicely at the end and had just enough to finish.

Beer: I believe this was a Chapman Brown Ale, besides that the waitress didn’t know which Chapman Brewery it was (There’s 2) not it’s actual name. After doing some research on Untappd after the fact I believe it to be Still the One Chapman Crafted Beer (Orange County, Ca). Anyway, it was delicious, crushable, and thirst quenching malt light for a brown ale.

All in all nice friendly fast service, good food, and cold beer, worth a stop in Sisters when passing through.

June 22, 2022June 22, 2022

Tacos el comal

I was sitting at the airport yesterday with a grumble in my tummy. I was going to meet another Rideshare Driver, Sarge, for lunch later in the day when my ride came up in the app. 45 minutes west, ok so I’m thinking I’m going to Sisters so I won’t be back in town for another 1.5 hours so Sarge and I postponed and I picked up my fare which turned out being a couple kids going to summer camp past Hoodoo Ski Resort. Whew, what a trip.

As we passed through Sisters I knew I had to find something to eat on my way back and saw Tacos el comal’s sign on the end of a gas station and I knew it was the spot for me to try on my way back.

Looking at the menu it was a little tough figuring out what I wanted since there was so many tasty looking choices.

I finally decided on 3 Asada Tacos with verde sauce on the side.

Let me tell you, I was hungry and was barely able to eat all 3 tacos. THEY ARE HUGE! and at that price they well should be, but 2 would have been a more manageable order.

I really enjoyed them, the meat was seasoned well, nice big pieces of lime, pico was delicious, and the verde sauce wasn’t too spicy and was flavorful.

I’ll defiantly be coming back, the only downside was there were no drinks for sale, so a separate transaction in the gas station was needed.

I also need to mention that the space to order really only allows for 3 people to stand and order, and was even more compacted due to the merchandisers stocking the gas station, but wasn’t that big of a deal.

I can’t wait to try out the tamales and nachos next time, so I 💯 rexamend you visit Tacos el comal if you need a fix in Sisters!