RECONS

Quackers:

I was the last one to arrive to this old school establishment. Go figure, not because I got lost but just so I could arrive fashionably late. ha ha. There was a chill in the air but as I got closer to the patio door I was warmed by the glowing lights coming from inside the bar. Having scored a seat by the window my partners in crime saw me coming and instantly reached for the door. Alas, it was not to open it for me but to quickly try and lock the door. Funny times.

The bar was pretty packed, in fact I have never seen it so busy. Lots of new faces and lots of regulars. All smiling and having a great time. I heard bits and pieces of the story that the Big Man's son is taking over the restaurant and bar. Don't quote me on that. But the Happy Hour menu has changed. It still ends at 6pm on regular days but the appetizers are only $1.95. Yes that's right $1.95. And for the size of the platter of Hot Wings, that Peanut can devour all by herself, that's a great deal. The fondu is also $1.95 and when the boss man isn't there it comes with 2 bowls of cheese. Awesome and yummy. The service always comes with a smile and a smart ass comment. Ron gets frazzled when there are more than 4 people inside the bar and Mike gets testy if you don't arrive when you say you will. Get there on time and with an appetite or prepare yourself for his wrath.

The only bad thing was the smoke in the air. It's hard to get that smell out of your hair let me tell you. But it is a bar, so how can I really complain?!

Submitted by: Two

Our roving Recon Reporter checks in from the Cascade Lakes Highway south of Bend, Oregon

Lots of great food and suds available at this newest restaurant in the Bend area. Located on Century Drive just below beautiful Mt. Batchelor it has the look of a ski lodge with the huge rock fireplace and exposed beam ceiling. For a mere $30 annual fee you can own one of the numbered Cascade Lakes mugs. Along with your membership comes the privilege of using your mug each and every time you visit and getting happy hour prices on your choice of brews. For the non-members Monday night was the night to visit for cheap beer prices. The food and wine offerings were good. We sampled a grilled turkey sandwich, fries and nachos served in a fried flour tortilla bowl. Both tasty and interesting presentation. Besides the food and beverages the pub had shirts and mugs and other products for sale with great logos advertising the different brews produced at the brewery.

When one is on vacation it is a good time to go to new places and sample the local happy hour scene so I went to a great bar that is located in Palm Desert called The Yardhouse. This establishment is one very large room with a HUGE round mahogany bar situated in the middle. The Happy Hour is from 3:30 'til 5:30 every day and the seating is first come first served. We arrived on the scene about 5 O'clock and were able to find seats at the bar without any trouble at all. The good looking, young servers behind the bar were friendly and very helpful with suggestions on the drink and food offerings. Yardhouse has a reputation for an incredible variety of beers that they offer on tap - said to be 180 including many imported from all around the world (yes they had Stella and Spaten), but they also had many lesser known brews from all around the states and some they make themselves.

The place is called the Yardhouse because they will serve you your choice of suds in a yard high glass that is said to contain approximately the equivalent of four pint glasses. They also offer a half-yard sized drink as well. Yardhouse offers an extensive appetizer menu, all of which are half price during happy hour. We sampled the calamari, coconut prawns, and Muu Shu egg rolls. The coconut prawns were slightly overcooked, but the calamari and egg rolls were excellent.

The group who bellied up to the bar beside us had a humongous order of nachos that looked fantastic and a stack of onion rings served on a dowel that was about a foot high. Happy hour included discounts on most of the brews, well drinks and martinis (their specialty.) It is a pretty classy place (located just off El Paseo Blvd.) so I suggest no uniforms if you choose to visit.

I've waited and waited
and wondered and anticipated
when o when is that restaurant
the good one, the one that i want
going for the vote
so every one in the tribe please note
I've been patient, I've been cool
now its time to use my Special Ed tool
when its all over you will be glad
now you all know its my famous hanging chad
I bagged and pleated
even thought about how I cheated
lets take the vote now
because I always win somehow
" 2" will not understand until later
how I won, like the people from the state with the gator
well o well lets not cry in our beer
clink your glass and give that great cheer
then grab your partner and off to bed
count your blessings, its not with SPECIAL ED
Submitted by: Special Ed

This was the first time I had ventured into Billygans and I must admit it was a delightful surprise. There were plenty of tables and booths to handle the Happy Hour Tribe. Lots of high tables with the bar stools, a big plus in my opinion. Gives you an elevated feeling of superiority. Just kidding. :) Plenty of appetizers to satisfy the diverse tastes of the tribe. The bartender was great too. She made a killer strawberry margarita, (right Ed?) and paid attention when our glasses became emty. Another bonus was the treat of throwing your peanut shells on the ground. At first it just felt wrong, but as the night wore on it, it felt good to be bad. Yeah, I don't get out much. :)

As soon as we were seated in this pub the owner/bartender greeted us with a big smile and warm conversation. As I asked about the beer on tap it was revealed that they served Stella. Recon almost fell out of his chair. Apparently Stella is an all time favorite of Recon, who sat in amazement with a huge smile on his face. In typical nature he then bombarded the owner with question after question. Go figure. The establishment was comfortable and showcased some great tunes. There were plenty of tv's placed strategically throughout the pub for those who have roaming eyes. All the tables were arranged with enough space between them but close enough together to listen in on other people's conversations, (right Ed?). Yeah, booty call for the young ladies. It was a good night: Ed stepped outside of his box of Coors light and iced teas and sampled margaritas, Recon was reunited with his ol' pal Stella, and Midnite Mover surprised me with her covert manuever of removing a Stella glass without setting off any alarms. :) Ha ha. JB O'Briens received high marks from all who attended that night. Highly recommended for the next five Happy Hours. But that's just me.

Going to the Oregon coast is always a nice drive, er that is unless you get behind the usual weekend convoy of RV's who seem to drive a little slower than you want to. Enter the day trip.

Sunday has to be the best day of the week for our tribe. Most of us have it off, and we can usually convince our families that we've worked too hard during the week not to be able to sprint out of town on that most cherished of days, our day off. And being the kings and queens of day tripping, it's either mountains or beach, and since the mountains weren't offering Seafood festivals, we choose the beach.

Astoria is a beautiful small town located on the northwestern corner of the map of Oregon, reminiscent of similar sized towns in the Cape Cod region. They have a county fairgrounds located not far south of town, and hold the Crab & Seafood Festival yearly.

The Fest reminds me of a wine tasting festival, in the midst of booths of fine soaps, artists paintings, more wine tastings, and here and there a few food booths. Our good buddy Steve seemed to think that the Fest should be renamed to something closer resembling a winery, but I have to admit I had a great time, floating from booth to booth, taking in the sights, and talking with the booth staffers, many of whom were the owners of the business represented.

All in all, prices weren't that bad, with tastes of wine going for 50¢ and up, and glasses starting around 2 bucks depending on the vintage.

I tasted no bad wine, smelled no bad fish, and want to do it all over again next year.

Steve, on the other hand, will cart his family elsewhere, perhaps to the mountains, and still won't drink alcohol, which will certainly make his trip a little safer.

Having Reconned Big Red's myself, I was looking forward to doing this place. I'd gone snooping the restaurant a few weeks back, and thinking ahead, had managed to pass my Happy Hour Club business card (available by request) on to the Bartendress. We had talked about the prices, and offerings, which seemed pretty reasonable, but I noticed that the bar itself was on one side lined with a few booths, and had four or five tables with those hi-chairs Midnite Mover hates so much because her legs dangle. So I asked if groups sitting at the nice 11 foot long table near the bar could still expect to be charged only the happy hour prices and being the fantastic Bartendress she was, she assured me the Manager would have no problem with that arrangement.

It was one of those days where you couldn't get out of work quick enough. I had packed a civvie's backpack, so after paying a few bills, I headed on off to Big Reds. Sure enough, the Bartendress was true to her word, and she had seated us at the long table and the few lucky people who had managed to beat me to the goodies were already being served.

Beers were well apportioned, with your choice of the usual domestics, and four other microbrews, including a seasonal from Deschutes, 2nd on my list of breweries to Full Sail. Appetizer selections were geared towards the tex-mex variety, with chicken strips, etc.

Around 8 O'clock, most of us decided to move on, and paying was not a problem. Big Red's passed our discerning tastes with flying colors, and whether we hold a meeting or a recon, we'll be back for more.

We were welcomed back by the head usher, Dawn, with a great big hug. Same great seats-4th row off first base (no I don't have tickets). The beautiful Maria is not there this year (off to school), so our new waitress is Shawndra (Dawn's daughter), she is quite a good host. So the rule is: If you sit with me, you will order food and drinks and leave a big TIP - this is non-negotiable. No cheap capes allowed. But you will have a great time (my company), and you will see a lot of young athletic men in tight uniforms... and... and... a lot of beautiful women... and maybe two ugly ones... (yes.. yes there will be one for Pat)......and again yes they do have Limes...I'm in...

The Keg

How could we miss this one? A venerable Steakhouse in the Portland area, The Keg Steakhouse and Bar continues to offer a Happy Hour complete with Bar Menu to match. Suggested by Midnite Mover, this place is dieing to be checked out. Who wants to put it on the Recon calendar?

After a walk in for a to go menu, and a gander at their web page, Pesaro's Grill & Bar was added to the Meeting Places page. Who wants to do a recon?

The first time I went to Salvador Molly's was about the time it opened up. It's always exciting to go to a new area restaurant that's close by, and since this one had little bottles of hot sauce all over the inside walls from every known corner of the universe, I figured I just had to go check it out. That was about 15 years ago or so... Hey! Ya couldn't go wrong what with the first of the McMenamins Brewpubs, the Hillsdale Tavern, just next door.

In what used to be a very small hole in the wall back then, Salvador Molly's has grown into three times the space, and added a catering business along with an East Side location. I'd call that a success. Salvador Molly's started life as a great place to get the best tasting Tamales this side of the California border, and they seemed to steadily add more and more Caribbean tastes as the years went bye.

You can still find the same Tamales, but there is quite a bit more room to stretch out, the service is infinitely better, and the bar tender assured our party that if ya got there Friday nite before 5 you could be rest assured of a place for ten. And that meant resting assured during happy hour!

As a reward for never having had a bad meal at Salvador Dolly's, their name was added to the coveted Meeting Places listing by the unanimous vote of the Recon party present.

The last thing we expected to see on the Damon's window was a flyer announcing to prospective customers that Damon's would be glad to have you visit it's one remaining location located in Jantzen Beach. Uggghhh! So we decided to scratch off that planned recon and check out one of the other 'possibles' on our very long list of tasty establishments, Applebee's. Applebee's of Lake Oswego is opposite I-5 from where we were, so we packed ourselves back into the recon-mobile and thank gawd they hadn't decided to downsize. We pulled into the spot, and the fun seemed to start even before we got out of the car. Ever seen a ghost? We did that night. It seems one was driving the tiny manual transmission Nissan parked in the spot directly in front of us. Ummm, the word 'parked' is used loosely here, because as we watched, this car must have slowly slid back five feet from it's original position. We tried boarding the runaway, found the doors locked and decided to enter the restaurant with the news. A young couple was very interested to find out they're car had sprouted wings and that was the last we saw of them.

Applebee's is billed as 'The Eating Good in the Neighborhood' restaurant. We managed to sidle up to the bar and with the smile still on our lips from the runaway car incident, we grabbed up a menu and ordered our favorite, the Coconut Shrimp. Mmmmm... Tasted great! I ordered a brewski to go along with it, and my choices were not as plentiful as I'd like, but I did manage to find an IPA worth swallowing. Besides the regular Special Ed type domestics, Applebee's sports a full bar, a ribs and steaks and seafood menu, good wines, and three or four microbrews. Not enough microbrews to get excited over, but just enough to find something you like.

Applebee's doesn't see fit to print a happy hour menu, but they do have a twice daily happy hour of half off the regular menu appetizers (except the one that you want, the humongous Sampler Plate), and a dollar off the beer price. I've seen worse. Times are from 3 p.m. until 6 p.m., and 9 p.m. until the closing time of Midnight.

All in all, I've seen better places for cheaper drinks or grub, but for those of us interested in well made food, and decent libations, minus the usual rock bottom prices, ye can't go wrong.

After a very nice string of unusual spring days measuring in the near 70's in the sunshine, we decided to lay low in a nearby establishment called RODNEY'S. Rodney's is located on Pacific Highway in the same building where Capone's used to be. I must admit, Capone's had some bad ass pizza. The owner/operator of Rodney's, did happen to mention that somewhere, buried deep in the bowels of his office, he may be able to find a copy of the pizza recipe. We'll see. But not being ones to hold our breath, we dug into the existent menu.

Where Capone's was an Italian restaurant in the style of old Italy mixed with a rowdy bar room crowd, Rodney's has chosen the Steak and Eggs approach. Breakfast is served each and every day, with daily specials chalked onto the board. If you're an early riser, don't miss the breakfast, with your choice of skillets, omelet's, real hash browns home style, and service that's down home.

Dinners are heavy on protein. Massive steaks sharing the plate with a baked potato and veggies, along with garlic bread, or corn bread. Hamburgers to die for, and the prices are very reasonable.

At the time of the recon, Rodney's Happy Hour menu was undergoing revision, and he assured us that by the date of our next meeting that the menu would be ready to go, with discounted well drinks, draught beers, and food specials from the kitchen.

The atmosphere had changed since Capone's. The old Restaurant area was now the Bar, and the old Bar area was all tables. Suits us! The room wasn't too smoky, and windows let in a lot of light from the outside.

RECONS

Billygan's, and J.B. O'Brien's

The Keg