UMATILLA COUNTY — Across Umatilla County, restaurants and arts events are popping up to add a little spice to life.
OMG! Burgers & Brew in Pendleton recently celebrated its first birthday.
Soon after, the Pendleton Downtown Association presented owner Rodney Burt with its 2019 Best Restaurant/Bar/Tavern Award. With a menu that includes the Gouda for You Burger and the Pendleton Whisky Burger, the Main Street brewpub is fast becoming a favorite with locals. Burt proudly notes that all their beef is locally sourced and never frozen, and the buns are baked fresh four doors down.
“Things are going great,” he said. “We’ve expanded into the building next door and doubled our capacity. Now we can host big parties for up to 125 people.”
Next, OMG has an eye on possible new locations in Hermiston, Walla Walla, and the Tri-Cities area.
If hot dogs are more your style, River Dawgs opened its doors this spring in Umatilla, with artfully prepared, extra long dogs and more toppings than you can fit in a bun. Those who’d like to try are welcome to build their own creations with everything from jalapeños to cream cheese.
Just up the road, Rae’s Dayz Diner & Cakery is hitting its stride after just over a year in business. The no-frills eatery offers old-fashioned comfort food like fried chicken, fish & chips, and prime rib. Customers in need of a custom cake can tap the skills of owner Raelynn Gallegos.
For a taste of Asian cuisine, Shiki Hibachi Sushi has been serving Hermiston for a little more than a year. Adventurous diners can try the unagi (eel) or uni (sea urchin), while novices may prefer a more familiar California roll and miso soup. And don’t forget the mango mochi ice cream for dessert.
On the music scene, the latest new venue in Pendleton is an old one: The Lodge.
After purchasing and partially refurbishing the former Elks Lodge, Lance Leonnig kicked off a monthly concert series, “Live From the Leslie,” in April in the roomy performance space upstairs. Slated bands cover a country-folk-R&B-rock mix of genres.
A sizeable grant in May from the Pendleton Downtown Association and Oregon Heritage will allow further renovation to be done, including a second stage and a future restaurant on the lower level.
“It’s a big beast but all of us involved fell in love with the building,” said partner Adam Mack.
Eventually, he said, the downstairs Stag Bar “will be open five days a week, and we want music on that stage every weekend.”
On the coattails of the highly successful Whisky Fest, Pendleton has launched another major music event this summer: The Jackalope Jamboree is set for June 29 in the Happy Canyon Arena. The daylong event features smaller regional bands on two stages — and more affordable tickets.
In downtown Hermiston, the festival street completed a year ago next to city hall is now seeing a lot of use. Creating the urban renewal district was a major step, said Main Street program coordinator Darin Foster, with the addition of planters, trees, and sidewalks that transition seamlessly to street.
“It was designed to make it a lot more pedestrian-friendly and easier to close off for events,” he said.
This year the festival street becomes the site of Hermiston’s first Summer Series. Six events, hosted monthly, will include wine and beer tasting at Cork & Barrel on June 29 and and the Spud Fest on July 13, with a carnival and vendor booths.
A few blocks to the west, the 4,600-square-foot Maxwell Pavilion saw completion in March. The new venue opened with the first annual Maxfest Craft Beer Festival, and the Maxwell Farmers Market wasted no time shifting to the new location in May.
The market runs every Thursday from 4-8 p.m., with live music starting at 5 p.m.
Originally published in the Eastern Oregonian