Slog - Comments on Road Food http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/08/road_food If you're driving between Seattle and Portland, I recommend timing your trip so that you hit Kalama, Washington, roughly around lunch time. Right off I-5 in downtown Kalama you'll find the Antique Deli & Pastry Shoppe. The sandwiches are huge, delicious, and cheap. And the cookies—one comes with your sandwich—are awesome. The frosted almond cookies are my favorite.... Copyright 2008 Thu, 07 Aug 2008 11:07:08 -0800 Wed, 13 Aug 2008 13:34:05 -0800 http://www.movabletype.org/?v=3.34 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss Comment by Fnarf You poor, deluded man.

Sandwiches. I swear to God.

What you really want to do is stop at either La Tarasca in Centralia, and have the carnitas, or Super Taco Express in Hazel Dell, where an eight-year-old boy will ring up your (practically free) taco order.

]]> Fnarf http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/08/road_food#c1094721 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/08/road_food#c1094721 Chow Thu, 07 Aug 2008 11:32:37 -0800 Comment by kid icarus Fnarf knows of what he speaks. Also Kalama freaks me right the fuck out.

]]> kid icarus http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/08/road_food#c1094729 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/08/road_food#c1094729 Chow Thu, 07 Aug 2008 11:36:56 -0800 Comment by Uncle Vinny La Tarasca is THE BOMB. No "huge cheap sandwich" comes close.

]]> Uncle Vinny http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/08/road_food#c1094731 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/08/road_food#c1094731 Chow Thu, 07 Aug 2008 11:37:25 -0800 Comment by princess is la tarasca easy to find??? i wanna go! how do i find it?

]]> princess http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/08/road_food#c1094744 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/08/road_food#c1094744 Chow Thu, 07 Aug 2008 11:43:00 -0800 Comment by Irena I'm heading down to Portland Monday en route to LA, but unfortunately it'll be through Yakima, so no cookie for me. Which sucks, because with no Tim Horton's in the US, I'll need to get my sandwich-and-cookie fix somewhere else.

While I'm here, does anyone know if there's any decent camping in Yakima? Is there any decent ANYTHING in Yakima? I want to buzz right through to Portland, but the boyfriend wants to take his time.

]]> Irena http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/08/road_food#c1094747 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/08/road_food#c1094747 Chow Thu, 07 Aug 2008 11:44:04 -0800 Comment by Balt-O-Matt You know what they say, Dan. A moment on the lips. . .

]]> Balt-O-Matt http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/08/road_food#c1094757 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/08/road_food#c1094757 Chow Thu, 07 Aug 2008 11:50:43 -0800 Comment by Fnarf Princess, get off at the main Centralia exit and head towards town on Main. Just follow all the signs towards "City Center" or "Town Murals" (do not look at the murals, your soul will die). If you get all the way into the downtown area you've gone too far. On the left. Funky little place with angled-out windows, might have been a XXX Rootbeer joint or something like that in a previous incarnation.

While you're there, admire the window displays at Centralia Knitting Mills across the street, which don't appear to have been changed since about 1978.

]]> Fnarf http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/08/road_food#c1094758 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/08/road_food#c1094758 Chow Thu, 07 Aug 2008 11:51:14 -0800 Comment by Bethany Jean Clement Do NOT go to that old-school looking diner in Kalama, the one with the neat arrowhead neon sign, for pie. Their pie was so bad, it made me cry.

]]> Bethany Jean Clement http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/08/road_food#c1094762 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/08/road_food#c1094762 Chow Thu, 07 Aug 2008 11:52:32 -0800 Comment by Julie Thanks for the tip. Sandwiches and cookies are possibly my favorite food groups (sadly, Fnarf, tacos are about #283), and I will be driving by Kalama in about a week and a half.

]]> Julie http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/08/road_food#c1094764 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/08/road_food#c1094764 Chow Thu, 07 Aug 2008 11:53:43 -0800 Comment by elswinger You couldn't take a picture of the sandwich? The cookies just look ordinary.

]]> elswinger http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/08/road_food#c1094776 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/08/road_food#c1094776 Chow Thu, 07 Aug 2008 11:59:39 -0800 Comment by Dan Savage Yeah, Fnarf. Three guys locked in a hot car all day -- what we need is Mexican food.

Nope, smells bad enough in here already, thanks.

]]> Dan Savage http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/08/road_food#c1094811 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/08/road_food#c1094811 Chow Thu, 07 Aug 2008 12:17:59 -0800 Comment by violet_dagrinder Anything called a "shoppe" is sure to be some brand of remarkable.

]]> violet_dagrinder http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/08/road_food#c1094819 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/08/road_food#c1094819 Chow Thu, 07 Aug 2008 12:23:30 -0800 Comment by COMTE @5:

If you head down the Canyon Road (WA 821) between E-burg & Yakima, drive south about six miles from the I-90 junction. As you come out of the first large right-to-left curve directly adjacent to the river, you'll see a public campsite on your right.

There are roughly a dozen semi-secluded parking/camp sites, many right on the river bank, although I wouldn't recommend swimming, as the water can be very swift due to the small island there that splits the flow of the channel.

Otherwise, absolutely gorgeous - and best of all, free!

]]> COMTE http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/08/road_food#c1094827 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/08/road_food#c1094827 Chow Thu, 07 Aug 2008 12:30:53 -0800 Comment by COMTE @5 addendum:

Here's a link to it on Google Maps:

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=Yakima+WA&ie=UTF8&ll=46.894425,-120.504227&spn=0.005411,0.017188&t=h&z=16

You'll see the island I mentioned, and the camp sites just to the right of that.

]]> COMTE http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/08/road_food#c1094829 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/08/road_food#c1094829 Chow Thu, 07 Aug 2008 12:34:24 -0800 Comment by COMTE Also, if you're heading down Portland way, leave time for a stop at Superior Smoked Meats in Woodland - best jerkey (I highly recommend the buffalo!) and pep-sticks in the state!

Oh, right. Three guys in a warm car - probably want to skip the pepperoni then...

]]> COMTE http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/08/road_food#c1094838 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/08/road_food#c1094838 Chow Thu, 07 Aug 2008 12:40:13 -0800 Comment by Irena Free camping? Sounds perfect. Thanks, Comte!

]]> Irena http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/08/road_food#c1094844 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/08/road_food#c1094844 Chow Thu, 07 Aug 2008 12:42:46 -0800 Comment by Fnarf Properly prepared carnitas will make your farts smell like bougainvillea blossoms, Dan.

How were the antiques? Or was that the cookies?

]]> Fnarf http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/08/road_food#c1094851 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/08/road_food#c1094851 Chow Thu, 07 Aug 2008 12:47:04 -0800 Comment by max solomon who stops between portland & seattle to eat? there's food in portland.

]]> max solomon http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/08/road_food#c1094879 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/08/road_food#c1094879 Chow Thu, 07 Aug 2008 13:00:10 -0800 Comment by Josef Krebs Dan (and Bethany), I also stop in Kalama whenever I travel to Portland, but I go to the Kalama Burger Bar. Their burgers are excellent, and they make their onion rings non-greasy-like (baked?) and they always have in-season local ingredients for handmade milkshakes.

]]> Josef Krebs http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/08/road_food#c1094954 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/08/road_food#c1094954 Chow Thu, 07 Aug 2008 13:51:17 -0800 Comment by a.d. On my trips from Portland to Seattle I stop at this great little hole in the wall place in Tacoma. It's called Popeyes.

]]> a.d. http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/08/road_food#c1095024 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/08/road_food#c1095024 Chow Thu, 07 Aug 2008 14:38:08 -0800 Comment by Jake I am bored at work and I need you to update your blog more.

]]> Jake http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/08/road_food#c1095058 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/08/road_food#c1095058 Chow Thu, 07 Aug 2008 14:55:59 -0800 Comment by PDX_Paulie Dan, I need more detailed information on these cookies! Chewy & buttery?? Crisp & Crunchy?? And are you bringing a box of them down to Portland with you, and if so, where can I get one from you??

]]> PDX_Paulie http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/08/road_food#c1095262 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/08/road_food#c1095262 Chow Thu, 07 Aug 2008 16:51:28 -0800 Comment by It's Mark Mitchell We stop in Kalama too -- the antique stores are terrible and overpriced, but it's like we can't help ourselves. I have to go in to most of them anyway, just in case. We eat at the Kalama Burger Bar. The food is in the 'revolting' category, but it's like picking a scab or something. I think because it reminds me of the "Dairy Charm" diner back home in the Land of Lincoln.

]]> It's Mark Mitchell http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/08/road_food#c1095279 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/08/road_food#c1095279 Chow Thu, 07 Aug 2008 17:12:53 -0800 Comment by oneway To hell with all of you. If you can't get there by public transit, you shouldn't be going there at all. I'll bet their to-go package is a styrofoam box carried out in a plastic bag! The horrors. The horrors!

But, hey, if you're going to indulge, I recommend the pepperoni pizza at the Bagdad in Portland for dinner.

]]> oneway http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/08/road_food#c1095427 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/08/road_food#c1095427 Chow Thu, 07 Aug 2008 20:20:16 -0800 Comment by Catalina Vel-DuRay Dan, Amtrak doesn't have a stop in Kalama!

]]> Catalina Vel-DuRay http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/08/road_food#c1095463 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/08/road_food#c1095463 Chow Thu, 07 Aug 2008 21:20:18 -0800 Comment by Hungry The little Kalama Antique Deli shop is a quick, clean, and delicious place to have lunch. The sandwiches are great, the cookies are fresh, and the pies are nice and fattening. I have had enough of questionable sloppy mexican food. The Burger Bar has good shakes, but they can keep the rest.

]]> Hungry http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/08/road_food#c1099209 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/08/road_food#c1099209 Chow Tue, 12 Aug 2008 14:13:10 -0800 Comment by Don W Eat at the laundromat in Kalama. The owners are very nice young ladies. The service is excellent. The food is good. And the peppermint mocha is great. Plus you can do your laundry while you are there if you feel like it.

]]> Don W http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/08/road_food#c1100221 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/08/road_food#c1100221 Chow Wed, 13 Aug 2008 13:34:05 -0800