Wednesday, February 29, 2012

I Heart PCNW: Backyard Brewers to Back-Alley Delicatessen (Eugene, OR)

A and I gave ourselves to the brewgods at a ripe young age. When we started to brew together we both had just started college and there was only one shop in town: Valley Vitner and Homebrewing. They had the knowhow and materials to turn your fermenting fantasy into bottled reality.

While the store is still A and I's brewshop of choice, they may have further monopolized our free-time with the Falling Sky Public House which was started by the brewshop to showcase their years of dedication to Oregon's intoxicating crop.


The atmosphere is amazing from the moment you walk in. This isn't a black-tie affair and there are no pretensions of gormet in the modest two-page menu. But, after you've ordered at the counter and the meal arrives, you can't bring yourself to call it just another burger stand.

Right now, I can say without a doubt that I would commit various criminal acts to get another taste of their "Back Alley Burger" with cheese and forest mushrooms. I took me until the end of the burger to realize they hadn't added ketchup and I really didn't care. Better yet, I looked around me and realized I'd found Oregon's best burger in a garage off 13th avenue. Looking at the menu, I realized that the burger's deliciousness was second only to its customization. I added cheese and mushrooms, but bacon, carmelized onions, and a fried egg are also options. A and I have already set the date for trying this alchemist's concoction of flavors (one that I'm naming the "Trash Can Burger").

I wish I could have rounded off my experience by sampling a beer, but the fledgling brewery (just on the other side of a glass partition from the restaurant) would not be able to serve their own draughts until mid-March.

Either way, the selection was great, I got to leave with one of the brewery's growlers (given it was filled with Ft. George's IPA), I had the memory of the Back Alley Burger resting gently on my palate, and my pints were 25 cents cheaper.

That's right, a quarter off the beer. Why? Because it was raining of course. At Falling Sky, there's every reason to love your Pacific Northwest.