24 A R C A D I A F O O D
SANTA ROSA, CA
West Side Grill opened in February 2005 and is known for its friendly atmosphere, great selection of 12 beers on draft, awesome pub food and of course the 14 TV's to watch whatever sport you want. We have all of the major league sports packages so you can really watch what you feel like! Happy Hour is Monday-Friday from 3-6pm which features $1 off all beer, wine and appetizers.
dusty driveway and squeeze into a gap between two pickup trucks. The dining room is about as big as a midsized apartment, entirely paneled with shining wood, complete with bar along one wall and patio seating toward the back. After being seated by a friendly waitress, it was soon clear that most of the customers were regulars, all chatting amiably while stirring sugar into their coffee. Monte Rio is a small nook of a town, and so the cafe naturally has a homey, small-town feel to it; the coat hook in the corner is made from old horseshoes, homemade butterfly paintings adorn the walls, and each table has a small plant growing in a coffee cup. I brought my teenaged sister, the ultimate judge of pancake and French toast excellence, who promptly ordered a short stack of the house pancakes ($4) and deemed them some of the fluffiest she’d ever had. I opted for the breakfast quesadilla ($9.50), a spin on the breakfast burrito, with eggs, cheese and roasted red peppers all grilled up in a spinach tortilla. (Les Jumelles is most popular for its omelettes, which all run about $10.) Throw in two Arnold Palmers—iced tea paired with freshsqueezed lemonade—and we had found a new favorite spot. Continuing along 116, and trying to digest breakfast as soon as possible, we came upon everyone’s favorite fringe town, Duncans Mills, population 85. Anywhere worth finding food and drinks will be found on Steelhead Boulevard, the main strip in the middle of town, and so it was that we found ourselves parked in front of the electric blue tavern and restaurant the Blue Heron (25300 Steelhead Blvd., Duncans Mills. 707.865.2484. N 38° 27.192´; W 123° 3.120´). Recently reopened, the Heron seems to have invigorated itself all over again for
summer, offering live music five days a week, barbecued oysters on the patio on Sundays and deliciously long tavern hours. We stepped over the friendly—and, at that moment, thoroughly passed out—in-house dog on the way into the cozy dining room, where full windows take up one wall and look out over a small meadow, and were met with an extremely warm staff. (Right away, I noticed the spray of wildflowers on each table, and couldn’t help but wonder which server had to wander around in a field somewhere to gather them.) Serving up a menu of hearty lunch and dinner selections, the Blue Heron specializes in those guilty pleasures that everyone loves: spicy chicken wings, calamari, crab cakes, burgers—the works. Lettuce lovers shouldn’t fret, as the salad and pasta menu holds its own. The highest price on the menu stands at $18.95 for a full order of baby back ribs, but everything else falls between $5 and $15. If the urge to push farther into the wilderness, lose all cell reception and drain that tank of gas won’t let up, it doesn’t get much more far-flung than Jenner. After 20 minutes of driving along curving roads nestled next to towering cliffs in inevitable coastal fog, losing count of the cows we passed in the long stretches of fields, we arrived at Cafe Aquatica (10439 Hwy. 1, Jenner. 707.865.2251. N 38° 26.940´; W 123° 6.8760´). Next door to a gift shop with plastic seagulls parked all over the porch, Cafe Aquatica appears to be just another weatherbeaten shingled shack on the side of the road. Inside, however, it is a brightly colored and snug coffee, tea and sandwich shop, with a back patio area featuring perhaps one of the best up-close views of the river joining the Pacific in the area. Not only does the charming owner whip all of the '-
Our friendly staff makes you feel right at home as you walk through the door to eat, drink and have fun...West Side Style! Kids are welcome till 9pm and we are open for lunch and dinner 7 days a week. There are 2 pool tables and Golden Tee Live to test your game skills if you're in the mood!
3082 Marlow Road, B-8 Santa Rosa, Ca 95403
707-573-9453 Located on the west side of Santa Rosa on the corner of Marlow and Piner.
THE BOHEMIAN
07.22.09-07.28.09
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