Dining Spotlight
Good times at Washougal Times
By Toni Woodard
Sometimes I eat out because I’m hungry for a specific type of food, sometimes I simply don’t feel like cooking, and sometimes I am looking for an experience that goes beyond the food.
Washougal Times in — you guessed it — Washougal is one of those “beyond the food” places.
Quick to clarify on its website, Washougal Times is not a newspaper. It’s a restaurant and lounge where you can hang out with your friends, meet new friends, listen to live music, watch sports (I counted seven screens), play pull-tabs (I had to look that up) and eat solid bar food. It’s a “must be at least 21” crowd whose energy and gusto varies depending on the time of day and the entertainment.
Washougal Times has a relaxed atmosphere, which is reinforced by the ordering system. You can grab a table and scan a QR code to order your food and drinks from your phone, or you can go the traditional route and head up to the bar to place your order with a staff member. Each table is numbered, so you simply tell the cashier your table number, and your food and drinks will be delivered there.
As someone who is always sizing up seating, I spied comfy padded chairs in the back of the restaurant that are made more fun (or challenging) by being on rollers on a hardwood floor. There are also padded booths that look comfortable and metal stools that are perfect for millennials and their young, pain-free backs.
Washougal Times’ menu is varied, with hearty appetizers, a selection of baked potatoes, sandwiches, burgers, entrée salads and “supper” items like steak and salmon. There’s a full bar with pretty much any cocktail you want, along with some beer and basic wines.
On a recent visit, my husband and I started with the Pork Belly Dirty Fries ($16). The fries were great: perfectly crispy on the outside and softly potatoey on the inside. The fries were heavily drizzled with a surprisingly mild mustard-beer-cheese sauce that was tasty and not overpowering. I enjoyed the sauce with the accompanying scallions and chopped banana peppers. I wanted to love the chunks of pork belly sprinkled about, but they were a bit too dry and overdone and sadly didn’t add the extra bit of fatty wonderfulness I was hoping for.
My husband ordered the chicken cordon bleu ($26). The chicken fried chicken was just that: thin, breaded chicken fried until crunchy. The ham and melted Swiss cheese that topped the chicken made it taste more like a hearty ham and cheese sandwich than a chicken entrée. The ham was smoked and very good. The dish was topped with the same mustard-beer-cheese sauce as the fries, which added a fun hint of mustard flavor without getting in the way.
I ordered the meatloaf sandwich ($17), which I deemed the best of our selections. The meatloaf was thick and packed with flavor. It had a fennel sausage taste, but I couldn’t tell if it was from actual sausage mixed into the loaf or simply from fennel and other seasonings. Either way, topped with cheddar cheese, some tangy homemade barbecue sauce and crisp veggies, and housed between two slices of grilled rustic bread, the sandwich was the clear winner of our meal. I was happy it was filling enough — especially with the accompanying Tater Tots, which had a garlicky Cajun kick — to yield some leftovers.
On future visits, I would love to try the Spud. The Oktoberfest baked potato loaded with sausage, sauerkraut, grilled onions and mustard beer cheese sounds worth the antiacids later ($12). I’m also intrigued by the Black & Blue Salad ($20) with avocado cilantro sauce added to the traditional mixed greens, beef tenderloin strips and blue cheese crumbles. The grilled ham and cheeseburger ($17) would pair wonderfully with a beer. It boasts shaved ham, caramelized onions, sour cherry jam, white cheddar and American cheeses, banana peppers and black pepper aioli.
Washougal Times has a huge outdoor deck with a cover and firepit, and lots of seating. It looks like a fabulously fun and casual hangout in nice weather. There’s a happy hour from 3-5 p.m. weekdays, as well as Taco Tuesdays (not on the daily menu) and Prime Rib Fridays. The Washougal Times Facebook page is a great source for weekly specials for both food and fun.
Washougal Times
1826 E St., Washougal
360-835-2488
3-9 p.m. Monday-Thursday, 3-10 p.m. Friday, Noon-10 p.m. Saturday, Noon-9 p.m. Sunday
Facebook.com/washougaltimes
Toni Woodard is enthusiastic about food, fairs, llamas and writing. She is the author of “I'm Fine: A Practical Guide to Life with Chronic Pain.” Contact her at toniisfine@outlook.com.
