I want to start off this post telling you that when I stopped in at the The Prodigal Son Brewery, I had no intention of reviewing it. I was hot, disheveled, over my trip to Boise and desperate for a glass of cold water.
My air conditioning on my car wasn't working, the forests were burning, and my eyes and my throat were suffering. The Prodigal Son was clean, cool and almost too good to be true. It really is the best place to eat in between Portland and Boise. Period. And I should know, I have done this trip quite a few times. So I thought, I should share this with the rest of the world- oh yeah, I blog!
The food was great, the service was excellent and the air conditioning was wonderful.
The Prodigal Son has a serious Portland vibe. Except it's in the middle of cowboy country! And here are the added bonuses, if this place was actually in Portland, it would be packed, and at least 25% more expensive. The first thing I noticed was a daily specials menu that was printed that day. That's a great sign, it says to me that the people that run this place are putting some effort into what they do.
And I like that!
We ordered sandwiches. I got the Fried Green Tomato Sandwich, made with local Way Of Life Farms' green tomatoes, local bacon and a super yummy soft roll and chipotle mayo.
I chatted our server up about the tomatoes and bacon, she said that Hill Meats are made there in town, and that's the only kind of bacon she will buy any more.
My husband ordered the Prodigal Reuben, with house-made corned beef, house-fermented kraut.
My stomach was rumbling, so I explored the rest of the building- it was a great distraction!
There's a sitting room (maybe a waiting room?), I don't know what it's used for, but it's still a cool place. There a room towards the back with an exposed outside wall with an old farm ad on it. Super cool! And a really good looking bar.
The main dining room is large and airy. The tables and chair are eclectic. You can see it wasn't that busy, at noon on a Tuesday, only 4 out of about 15 tables were being used.
Just as I sat back down the server brought our food over.
My fried green tomato sandwich was the kind of food that dreams are made of. Everything was so fresh, and delicious, let's just say- there were no regrets on my order. Oh and they had fry sauce! I always ask for fry sauce, and when I'm not turned down- it's a good thing!
My husband was just as happy with his Reuben as I was with my sandwich. The corned beef was so soft, and buttery- I was immediately inspired to work on a recipe of my own. He was most impressed with his onion rings, he considers himself an aficionado with rings. These were light and crispy, the batter wasn't breaded, more of a tempera style, and he was not wrong- they were delicious!
As we ate, we listened to the music (from Mumford and Sons to The Rolling Stones, no complaints there). We also listened to the bartender make small talk "Everybody's ordering lemonade and iced tea and I'm like 'who wants to drink whiskey!', I must be used to working nights". Yes, we thought, that's what you should expect in Pendleton.
The Prodigal Son is located at 230 SE Court Ave, Pendleton Oregon, 97801.
