McMenamins East 19th Street Cafe

I used to love this place but they have clearly started cutting costs. The service was good, but the portions have become smaller. Smaller burger patties, smaller salads. I swear, even their pints aren’t 16 oz anymore. They tried to pass off ranch with a miniscule amount of blue cheese crumble in it as blue cheese dressing. I will now sadly not be returning to a place I have been coming to for years.

This place feels like home, easy going staff predictable food and McMenamins atmosphere.

My fiancé and I stopped in for a happy hours snack and they aren’t doing happy hour because of an NCAA tournament. This blatant price inflation is so preposterous that we felt obliged to take our business elsewhere.

We were happy to find this spot for dinner, so close to Hayward Field after attending an evening event. It was not only suitable for my under-​21 daughters, but we were seated immediately. My gluten-​free, vegan daughter was thrilled with her Jamaican rice bowl with added tofu. After being a bit overwhelmed with so many enticing-​sounding menu items, my other daughter and I both ordered the Gyros, hers with salad and mine with great fries… Skin on, and just the perfect amount of crispy. The gyros were so flavorful. I loved the tzaziki. Shaun was a friendly and attentive waiter. We will go back when we’re in the area again!

Our hostess, Cheyenne, was exceptional! She was very friendly and attentive. Also, our tater tots and Black and Tan brownie were super good.

Edgefield Cider is delicious! Not too sweet and crisp. The Cajun tots are awesome. The Hammerhead house ale is reminisce of a Sierra Nevada.
I was debating three stars but due to the quality of service. It’s a solid two.
After we were seated, we sat about 10 minutes before our waiter approached us. Then, it took 20 minutes for us to get our drinks (beers on tap). We asked for ranch dressing for our tots and it’s been 15 minutes and we still haven’t gotten it. We’ve finished the tots already.
I wouldn’t come here again unless I had some serious time to kill.
UPDATE: the waiter apologized: «Sorry it was so slow, I’ll take better care of you next time.»

Recently moved to Eugene from California in January! This café is on the corner of the street that we live on, making it convenient to come in. Loved it the first time we tried it! I’ve only tried the burger but it was delicious, service is great and environment is nice. Will be returning a lot!

I am a much bigger fan of the McMenamin’s on High St. But this one is better for groups and families. It’s well lit and much bigger.
I do enjoy their food. It’s pretty much the same at any McMenamin’s, but that’s par for the course, really.
Service seems to be a little bit more on point here. Maybe it’s just a different setting that changes that. The last time I was here, I was with my husband, a couple of friends and their small daughter, so it was during the early evening, when minors were permitted in the dining room.
Like I said, it is good for groups and families. They didn’t mind my friend’s kid running around. She wasn’t disruptive or anything, but wasn’t sitting at the table the entire time either. No one complained or was rude about her getting bored and wandering around a little.
I do enjoy the dart boards they have. Beer and a friendly game of darts goes hand in hand quite nicely.
I can’t say I frequent this one the way I do the one on High St, but I have never had a complaint here.

The best onion rings in the entire United States of America.
My boyfriend and I eat onion rings at pretty much every establishment that serves them. We always eat them with a side of ranch and we always eat the whole plate.
We ate the whole pound with no hesitation.

First time here and getting lunch on New Year’s Day kinda slow at 2:15. Getting a water and server takes about 7 min

It’s a McMenamins. They are very good at being good. Not excellent. Not average. But good. And good is good.
The usual selection of beers. This one had some distillery flights. That was pretty good. They always have a good variety of offerings, and people love their tots! There’s plenty of good here. Not much to complain about, and while it won’t wow you, there usually isn’t disappointment with McMenamins, and that’s nice. It’s good. A solid good.

I was here in August prior to visiting Cottage Grove on a pre-​birthday trip. This was our last stop with our passport so we «won» free fries and tots. The orders were very large and the server said they were the smaller sizes. We were quite impressed that the smaller size could feed more than us. We actually did finish them because they are so tasty and down right good. Loved our food. Place looks like a typical chain McMenamins, nothing too different, however, there is a neat lion mural on the wall close to the bathroom hallway entrance. Fun times and food.

I’ve been to a couple of restaurants in the McMenamins chain and this was the most recent, being on 7÷23÷15. It was for a birthday and when more people arrived than what our table could accomodate, they had no problem letting us sit out on the patio at a larger table, which was nice.
The meals came separately in groupings of three and two, which was fine as people ordered and arrived separately. Everyone (except for one person who got the gyro) got burgers.
I and my boyfriend ordered water and a cider, respectively, and it took me asking twice to get my water after he got his cider.
However, from the first grouping of food orders, one gentleman’s burger was cold when he received it and also had fries instead of Cajun tots. The waitress didn’t particularly seem bothered that the order was wrong.
I found my burger adequate but not worth the almost 11 dollar price tag.
My boyfriend loved the gyro and so did the birthday boy when he got to try it.
Service was pretty slow, even though the restaurant didn’t seem busy.
I likely will not return, as I just wasn’t impressed. Would be fine if you had the time and money, although at this price point I would prefer Little Big Burger down the way.

The hubs and I ate here last Friday and will return again this Friday for our cheat meal! We live just a couple of blocks away, so it easy really easy to walk to. On our first visit, David was our server. He was so nice and humored me, since he was popping our McMenamins cherry! The food was delish and the beer/​ciders were also great. For dessert David suggested the HIPA (a mix of Hammerhead and their IPA). Killer!

Great service and great food
I had the asian salad with medium-​rare tuna… it was delicious

I’ve probably eaten here more than anywhere else in Eugene as I used to live on the same block in college and still come back since I moved. They still have my favorite burger in town. It used to be a little smelly in there but its better since they expanded by devouring the little video rental shop that used to be next door. I like the addition of billiards, shuffleboard, darts and pinball. And that metalwork and stove, nice. The addition really brought a lot more to this McMenamins but kept the same feeling.
I’ll be honest, this place is close to my heart. It’s timeless and hip all at once without a shred of pretension. Going out with friends, sitting alone at the bar, first dates, slipping in to get take out, getting tipsy before a concert, first kisses, falling in love, getting into arguments, epiphanies, crushes, conversations… it’s all happened here and I know I’m not the only one by far. What initially made me feel at home here was the great music they play to provide the soundtrack for all of these life events for all these people. Oh, and the burgers. Yea, the other food is good too. Whatever, that’s not my point.
There is the way the fries have subtly changed over the years. The communal tip jar. The coasters. The employees that come and go and the ones that have seemingly always been there. The booths and the memories associated with each one for me and for all the other people are palpable here. The posters and the murals on the walls. The countless encounters between people I’ll never know that give this place life. This is about more than just the food to me.
I’d be very sad to ever see it go.

They have a smoker out front… so naturally I drifted towards and inside. You want me to wander in somewhere? Put a smoker out front. I’d regularly attend church if you tempted me with sweet smoked meats.
So I got to try both — smoked turkey served reuben style, and a traditional brisket and slaw sandwich. If you are torn between these two smoky mistresses than I recommend the leaner one (*cough* turkey). It got a great rub, just the right about of smoke, and the melted cheese + kraut go awesome with it. I personally like the bread served with the rueben more than the kaiser-​style roll that the brisket comes on.
And let me say this: the waiting staff here works HARD. I was served by the kitchen staff because the lovely lady who was serving me was working like 10 tables by herself at lunch time. She still was so friendly and made sure to check on my every time she passed by. Normally this would mean opportunity for a waiter/​waitress to lose their patience — but not these guys. Lots of games here too. Good place for a gathering — give it a try for sure.

This was the first place order went to in eugene, it was like a million years ago.
Now we only see this place as my step mom pretends to buy the kids ice team while in reality she is just satisfying her cravings…
Well not this year, I grabbed my brother in law and ran across the street for a beer… genius idea!
This is s great spot!!!

I ventured to three McMenamins in Eugene one weekend; East 19^th Street was the last of the three. It had a college-​town feel to it, which was cool.
We initially came here for their birthday celebration (& to receive the birthday stamp in our passports), but we didn’t arrive until about 8pm, and the birthday celebration was over.
The server was nice enough, the beer was good, and the tots were crispy & hot. However, it was cold in the restaurant, and even though we were sitting at a bar-​top table directly in front of the furnace, I had to leave my jacket on.
I thought the furnace would have let off more heat, or that they would turn the heater on at some point. Brr.

The 19^th Street Café was having their 25^th Anniversary the Saturday evening we went. It’s a nice location, just on the outskirts of the University, and it has a main dining room with plenty of seating as well as an adjacent game room. We came on the day of the Civil War and they had a huge projector screen showing the game. Amidst some shuffle board tables, pool tables, pinball, and darts, it seemed like a great place to be when there is some energy in the place. Unfortunately, I think due to the holiday weekend, the energy was low.
The coolest thing about this McMenamins location is the giant wood-​burning furnace in the game room. They lit it up in the evening and it probably takes some time to heat up the room, but it’s very cool to look at. This location has beers from the local Eugene High Street brewery as well as some shipped up from the Roseburg brewery, so after trying beers at the other 2 Eugene McMenamins over the weekend, it was a pleasant surprise to see that they had something different on tap here.