Posted November 14, 2017 at 11:40 AM | Updated November 14, 2017 at 03:25 PM
Ken Kesey Square
(AP photo by Brian Davies/The Register-Guard)
There's more to the EUG than the University of Oregon and Fifth Street Public Market
You had us at "Eugene-landia," Washington Post.
Last week, the newspaper's so-called guide to Track Town roiled Oregon media from Portland to Eugene itself. Sure, the city may not be at its best during the rainy months. But visitors passing through between November and April are surely more appreciated — after all, you're bringing in the bucks during the slow season.
We saw WashPo's guide and thought, "Surely there must be some hip places where Grandma Irma wouldn't dare tread." Well, we rounded them up and put them in this list because you deserve a roundup of joints that isn't bougie AF.
Here are 34 businesses, eateries and other locales you should visit if you've ever been tempted to ask a Eugenean, "So, where do the locals go?"
--Eder Campuzano | 503.221.4344
ecampuzano@oregonian.com
Get drinks at Rye or the Cooler
These places are total polar opposites. And they both have something to offer.
Rye on Third
One of the best bars to open in Eugene over the last five years is Rye on Third, where the menu and atmosphere alike channel a pre-Prohibition aesthetic. (You'll feel as if you're drinking inside of an old whiskey barrel.)
The cocktail menu also helpfully breaks drinks down by price range, so you never have to worry breaking the bank.
444 E. Third Ave.
The Cooler
If you want to hit up a Ducks tailgate party without the actual tailgate, The Cooler is going to be your best bet. If you're not expressly looking for it, you'll probably miss it — the iconic sports bar blends right into the background on Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard.
And if you're celebrating someone's 21er, you're in luck: The bar special on your birthday is a Long Island iced tea served in a fishbowl. (Don't worry: They give you four straws.)
20 Centennial Loop
Or spend an evening in the Barmuda Triangle
Eugeneans have long known the area just west of Kesey Square as the Barmuda. It's where longtime residents and twentysomethings sick of the campus bar scene flock to when the weekend rolls around.
There's almost too much good stuff here to list, but here are the highlights:
Luckey's Club
The oldest bar in Eugene hosts a GLAM night once a month, features local bands on the same stage from time to time and because it was once a cigar shop, boasts an aesthetic that can't be beat.
933 Olive St.
Cowfish
Feel like dancing? That's Cowfish's forte. Tunes range from Euro-pop to techno and everything in between. The Wayward Lamb, just a block west, is also worth checking out. (The tap selection is much better there, too.)
62 W. Broadway