The Bridge Bar and Grill

Sadly, The Bridge is no longer in business. New name, new owners at this location. The Bridge, as it originally was, will be missed! Good luck to the new Restuarant now doing business there!

Service was good, not great and food was good. Had the French Dip with Fries and thought it was good, not great. Prices were a bit high for lunch. The three of us all ordered something different and walked away saying it was good. It deserves three stars from this Unilocaler, can’t say I would give it more.

Been here several times — last night was with my office staff for Christmas party/​dinner. Could not have asked for better service — perfectly suited for our event. Food was excellent. It isn’t a high-​brow restaurant so don’t expect French cuisine (in fact, don’t expect that anywhere in Eugene) but it is inventive and very reasonably priced for the quality of food. Happy hour is an excellent value. Ambiance isn’t necessarily my cup of tea but it is quite suitable for an evening with my wife or a night out with a bunch of guys.

We stopped at The Bridge on a drive through Eugene. We were on our way to the Portland area so the location was good to drive to. The place was completely empty when we arrived. We were ordering take-​out as our dogs were with us in the car. The service was fine, just fine. The place looks like it has a huge to do list. Décor was sort of cool but when no one says anything to you when you walk in? Weird. I actually had to interrupt a conversation to get any attention.
We split the turkey sandwich. It was okay, nothing to write home about, edible. But when a restaurant uses sliced turkey and not fresh, well that sort of wraps it up.

A really great place to eat for a delicious/​inexpensive meal in Eugene. I come here with my parents whenever they’re in town because they love the atmosphere and the food is always good!

Not even worth a 1. Service was crap. Order was messed up. Only saw our server 1x. Every one was done eating and I’m still not seeing my food. Never again coming here.

Sports Bar with a euro café look
Decent food & wine selection
Lots of TVs — flexible seating

BEST BURGER EVER. This place was so great. We ducked in here to get out of the rain at the last duck game and it did not disappoint. It got a little «college student-​y» later in the night but earlier it was more laid back. Definitely will become a regular stop on our long drives from Portland to Medford in the future.

Went on St. Patrick’s Day. I probably should have gone on a more low-​key day in order to get a better feel for the place.

After leaving the Eugene airport, we were on a mission to find a restaurant. We passed up several on Franklin Blvd. When we saw people sitting outside at The Bridge Bar and Grill, we just had to stop. Selena our waitress was brilliant and since it was our first time here, mentioned it was Happy Hour. The blue cheese fries were so delicious. My Martini was made with Amsterdam Gin and I’m now spoiled rotten. My Caprese salad was the best I’ve ever had and the reduction of Balsamic vinegar was excellent. Miss Picky and Mr. Picky both ordered the French dip and enjoyed it. We were told the chef is very experienced and it really showed. We will now make The Bridge our Eugene restaurant stop. Wonderful dinner and we talked about it all the way home…
UPDATE:
This restaurant is no longer there. It is a different restaurant now.

This place is so utterly unremarkable, it’s amazing I’ve been here three times – once on groupon, once with a happy hour crowd, and once because someone I know had their birthday there.
Every time I’m here I feel as if I could have eaten better at Applebees. And I do not use the A-​word lightly. It’s just one of those incredibly meh bar food joints. The best thing on the menu – which I have sampled extensively – is the blue cheese fries. They’re wonderful, but do have a nasty side effect of making you wish you were dead after eating as many as you are inevitably bound to eat.
What is most disconcerting about this place is the… how shall I say this??? The eerily attractive waitstaff. ALL female. ALL well-​endowed. ALL wearing a ton of makeup. And tan. WHY are they all tan? Don’t get me wrong, I don’t mind women who look like part-​time models serving me food. But the fact that they ALL look like they’re about to sorority rush makes me question whether the management has something hinky going on. It’s like a slightly classier Hooters. And I mean no disrespect at all.
If you’re into beautiful women waiting upon you, the Bridge has that going for it.
And blue cheese fries.
And absolutely nothing else.

The Bridge has moved. Their food is no better, their reputation worse, douchiness has gone up. This is really less a restaurant than a student bar (bro-​fist!). And I haven’t even started on what I heard about their shenanigans as tenants at the old location.
And what’s up with the owners’ FB pics, do these people live in their own private Jersey Shore?

This is the 3^rd time that I have been to this restaurant. There are so many things on the menu that I would like to try. So I just keep coming back. This time I got the Blackened Angus Beef Tips. I cannot say enough good things about this dish. The reduction sauce was nice and rich. The mashed potatoes really balanced out the flavor of the blackened beef with Blue Cheese crumbles and reduction sauce. I had to force myself to stop eating it because it was so good. I also had the Peach Lemon Drop and it was pretty tasty. It was a little on the weak side in terms of alcohol content but it tasted delicious.

Nice turn around from what it was before. Talk about retrofitting and sweet modern interior design. I like what the owners did with the layout of the place. Definitely different than the typical Eugene experience. The food is pretty standard bar food with a little world flavor.
I like the décor, but I’m not too impressed with the food. I got the fish and chips. My fries came out soggy. One of my buddies ordered a Greek salad and it came out without any olives! Another one of my buddies sandwich did not include the avocado! Cook failure, but the server took a few bux off their bill. Definitely good customer service!
If the food were better and cheaper then I’d probably come here more.

The Bridge has just re-​opened at a new location, on Franklin across from U of O’s Knight Arena and the «Glass Cube». Alas, it would appear that their bad service and poor attitudes have moved over as well (see previous reviews). I went in for lunch about 1:15pm last Wednesday. Waitress came over fairly promptly. I ordered some sort of lunch salad (Greek, I think…). 35 Minutes went by. I got up and asked my waitress how much longer and she said she would check (no apology, even after I pointed out that 35 minutes is a long time to wait for a salad). I waited 5 more minutes, nothing.
So, because I had a talk to give in 2 hours, I did something I very rarely do: I left and ate elsewhere.
The new build-​out is actually rather pleasant, and they have a number (8?) of large flat-​panel TVs showing mostly sports shows scattered around the bar/​restaurant. The place definitely has potential. Since I work nearby, I am hoping they can get their act together sufficiently so I want to drop in sometimes. Unfortunately the above experience suggested the kitchen is either under-​staffed or poorly organized, and the waitstaff is less than engaging… which seems depressingly consistent with recent reviews dating from before their move.

I had been here before for a late night drink around 4^th of July and had a much better experience but I had such an uncomfortable time at this place recently that I won’t be back anytime soon. I went here with my girlfriend on a Thursday night, arriving at the bridge at about 9pm. The place was pretty empty, just a couple of business guys inside and a few couples outside. The inside is pretty industrial looking, which I think is pretty neat and gives it more of a bar feel.
We started our order with 3 appetizers, the calamari, a sampler tray of hummus and veggies, and the hot wings, and 2 Ninkasi’s. The calamari was interesting, instead of the usual small curled pieces that you would get at a restaurant, we got 4 bricks of it. Ignoring the presentation though it wasn’t too bad. The hot wings were very good, as was the hummus dish.
Here’s where our night turned south fast. We had bought a crusaderdeal (or livingsocial I can’t remember) so we had to spend $ 40 (or at least wanted to get the most out of our coupon). We decided we were full from the food so we opted to order a few cocktails from the menu, the bridge being a BAR, we didn’t think there would be a problem. However, when I walked up to the bar and ordered the drinks from the waitress she laughed at me. Literally laughed. I thought it was a nervous laugh at first, maybe because she had never made the drinks before, but she looked at me and said, «Well it’s going to be a few minutes because I already cleaned everything».
(insert akward pause)
It was one of those moments where I knew she wanted me to say «Oh, you already cleaned everything? Nevermind». But because of the way she laughed and looked at me, I just wanted to scream at her, «AND MAKE ME SOME WAFFLE FRIES TOO!».
I didn’t, but whatever, It felt good to yell that at her in my head. I said OK and walked back to my seat a little confused. I mean it was only 9:30 and we had checked the closing time before we had even left so we knew they were open til 11.
A little later a couple and a guy came in about the same time. The guy sits at the bar and the waitress says, «Sorry, we’re closing up». This makes the couple turn around and leave while the guy, seeming like somewhat of a jerk orders a beer anyways which made my girlfriend and I smirk a little bit. She reluctantly serves him a beer, and while my girlfriend and I argue about what the appropriate amount to tip her given the event’s that have occured we check the time and notice that it’s ONLY 10:15.
I mean I get it, I’ve worked in the food/​service industry before. It sucks when people come in 5 min before close and maybe sometimes you should turn them down. However, I don’t think you should stop serving people 45 min before you close.
On top of this, when we presented our coupon she said that our coupon can’t apply to happy hour prices. So instead of cleverly pricing our dished to only pay a few cents plus a generous tip we ended up paying $ 25 plus the $ 20 for the coupon. I understand that this is not the waitresses fault but it did not make our experience any better.
To sum it up: the food was good, although overpriced, the drinks were great, and the service sucked.
And to our waitress,
I understand that you want to get off work as soon as possible and that you clean things early in hopes of not having to reuse them, shortening your clean up time. I understand that it’s annoying when people come in an hour before you close. But understand that I am a poor graduate who doesn’t go out to eat at restaurants often. I look forward to going out for a date night with my girlfriend. I’m not asking you to sing to us, or be overly peppy. Just don’t be openly standoffish to customers and make me feel like a nuisance when I’m at your restaurant.

I went here for drinks and appetizers with some friends last week, and here’s how the evening went:
We arrive and we are promptly seated, which, at the time, impresses me – there are eight of us, and it’s around 7:00.
We order drinks.
I get up to use the restroom, ask a waitress where it was located, and am told, cheerfully, «oh, it’s closed tonight!» Wait. What? The restroom IN your BAR is closed tonight? And you aren’t going to offer either an apology OR an explanation? Okay…
I sit back down. Waitress brings our drinks — which are all fine, nothing awesome, nothing bad — and takes food orders.
We wait. We laugh about the restroom thing. I wiggle in my seat.
Food arrives — which is all fine, nothing awesome, nothing bad. As we start eating, waitress informs us that if we want to order more food and/​or drinks, we better hurry, since there’s a water problem and they can’t wash any dishes.
Waitress scoots away quickly after delivering that piece of information, and we laugh about the comedy of errors going on at the Bridge. I wiggle some more. Other members of our party also start wiggling. We assume that the water problem is also responsible for the closed restroom, and we wonder what they plan to do when they run out of clean dishes.
We decline additional drinks, mostly due to the fact that there’s no available restroom, but also because we have begun to worry about whether the dishes they ARE using are really, truly clean.
Waitress takes a pretty long time to bring our checks, but she is nice enough to split them up for us.
We leave.
2 stars for now. Honestly, for me, it was a one-​star kind of experience, but I’m guessing this was a really weird night. Besides, two of my friends swear that the blue-​cheese fries were amazing.

Unfortunately, my daughter and I too went to The Bridge for dinner before going to Wicked. I had a very similar experience as is being related here. The heading should read for mine also, «Run away, don’t walk across to The Bridge.»
As we walked in the door, the first thing that met us was a ‘hostess’ grooming her nails at the entrance. She said hello and proceeded to take us into what we assumed was the area for a quick sandwich and sports… we told her that as we were here for dinner, we would prefer a booth in the dining area… no reply. Just a look. Again, no reply from said hostess, just a look… okay. My 24 year-​old daughter was appalled. Wait, no, livid is the accurate word. We kept silent hoping that she was just the second string and the A Team would soon take over.
Our waitress was extremely friendly which was nice but it to the degree of not really knowing what to do as a waitperson. After ordering our food, we had time to sit and enjoy what was probably one of the best mixed drinks we have ever had in all of Eugene. Fresh and a nice change. The prices of which were more like an upscale restaurant in Portland or Ashland, but nevertheless, amazing. Sadly, aside from the salmon, it stops there…
After 20 minutes I noticed that my daughter’s calamari and quinoa salad was sitting under the warming light. A full 30 minutes later, my food was sat next to it. And there it sat for 5 more minutes. No, it wasn’t busy. Ours were the only meals they were preparing…. Then our peppy waitperson brought it over and we pretty much had been sitting there for 35 minutes stewing… not a good thing, right? The calamari was not a true calamari but a ground up mozzarella fish stick looking thing. Which was stone cold. The quinoa, was bucket sized and not that delectable. Of course we sent the cold calamari back… of course. Our bad. Forgive us for expecting edible food ;0) She took it back and 10 minutes later she brought us back the same calamari that the cook just plopped back into the deep fryer. It was now dark brown. Must have been to match the quinoa??? Sadness.
On to my salmon… which was grilled to perfection! Again, an additional draw back is coming… I was expecting their garlic promised mashers… instead, I was given overly cooked/​nuked beans under a bed of, wait for it, STONE COLD rice. Rice you ask? So did I. Our waitperson thought that I had asked to substitute rice. Really? You got rice out of, «Mmmmm, I will choose the salmon because it comes with the garlic mashers!» Did she bring me a side of mashers? No. Did she offer? No. Hence the, «sweet waitperson but does get customer service» comment. I would have given this restaurant a non-​star, but the salmon and drinks so deserve at lease to share one solid star ;0)
I liked that the décor of the place tried to be trendy and industrial, albeit as cold as the rice and calamari, and I really wanted to like the rest also, but, I couldn’t. Sadly, the salmon doesn’t rescue the restaurant. If the wait staff hadn’t been so lackadaisical, I would consider going back for the drinks and to watch sports. I keep hearing the same thing from other folks, but I had been hoping that it was just a new restaurant working out the bugs and that they would get things sorted out eventually… but they have been open long enough to work out a new situation. This is just too hit or miss for my pocket book and scarce free time. If I want to gamble, I will head to the coast ;0)
Again, keep walking. I wish we would have.

We had been thinking of going to The Bridge for a while. It’s quite convenient to our own business, and it would have been wonderful to have another good restaurant close by. Alas, that was not to be.
I found the Facebook page for the restaurant (and, from there, the website) this weekend. The menu LOOKS incredible. It says that it’s a «new menu for the new year.»
I enjoy good, strong flavors, and there is an all vegetable dish called Spanish Grilled Vegetable Plate (vegetarian) that is SUPPOSED to be «tomato, fennel, peppers, potato, onion, and seasonal vegetables, served with a tomato saffron and crushed roasted garlic romesco sauce». That’s directly from the menu.
Our server was very friendly.
I asked what the «seasonal vegetables» were for the day. She went into the kitchen and came back to tell me «squash and green beans.» I ordered.
There were NO potatoes, NO onions, NO peppers. There was NO saffron, there was NO fennel. If there was a lick of garlic anywhere close to the place, I would be remarkably surprised. There was also BREADED, DEEP-​FRIED eggplant (I am NOT fond of eggplant and don’t generally order anything with eggplant in it). The green beans and the mandolin-​sliced yellow squash were uncomfortable in the mouth — they were very greasy/​oil-​coated, and the green beans were just the other side of raw (I like crunch… I can get raw at the grocery store for much cheaper, thanks!) All this for $ 13.00.
I asked the server about the disconnect between what was on the menu and what I got. She checked in with the kitchen again. Apparently there is some dissension regarding this dish. The kitchen, apparently, would like it removed from the menu… or listed just as grilled vegetables. In other words, when the server went in to ask about what was on the dish, no one bothered to suggest that she tell the customer that what was on the menu was NOT what was going to be cooked. Ridiculous!
Had that happened, I wouldn’t have been happy… but I would have ordered something else that, potentially, might have been better than what I got. It might, at least, have been identical (or at least similar!) to what was on the menu.
As it stands, although my partner’s meal was okay, it was expensive for what it was… and my meal was… as I just detailed.
They lost customers. We won’t be back.

This place feels like a Hooters that’s trying to be a T.G.I.Fridays. And although I wouldn’t be the typical client at either of those joints, I’d sure rather eat there than at the Bridge. At least I’d be guaranteed good wings, and a crazy special.
Hubs and I were excited to try out a new place in a relatively unexplored part of town for us. Granted, I used to live in the Whit, but I tended to frequent spots that were considerably to the west of the Ferry St. Bridge. We wandered a bit before heading inside, and noticed some cool live/​work spaces just to the west of Bridge that hold promise for some new joints sometime soon.
I was the first to walk in, and the place seemed desolate. There was one other table, and three waitstaff milling about. I had to get their attention to ask if they were even open. «Oh, yes. Come in. See if you can find a spot to sit [nervous laugh].» We try to find a clean table, but nonesuch. Eventually, we flag over the one waitress who was actually pretty good, and she says, «Oh, those must be all sticky from last night,» Ew! It’s 1:00 on a Sunday, though! But, she wipes it down and we feel comfortable taking a look at the menu.
Which is interesting (the menu). There are Scotch eggs and garlic fries; spicy tuna rolls and chicken wings; and the fusion theme continues through the list of entrees. Interesting. I wonder what they’re trying to do here? The man and I settle on splitting fish and chips, ’cause my OCD got the best of me. The place was really dirty, y’all.
While we’re waiting for our meal, another couple walks in. They seem to know everyone pretty well and start conversing with the chef and the bartenders. Apparently, there are some personnel issues: someone partied a leetle bit too hard last night, and hasn’t yet shown up for their shift. The female half of «the couple» decides that she’s going to be the one to call and tell this poor soul that, «if he’s not in by 2:00, he can just forget coming in at all.» How do I know this? Because she places the call from the front of the bar, facing the customers. Awk-​ward!
At this point, I jump up to wash my hands and check out the bathrooms. Wow. And you thought the tables were dirty? I couldn’t get out in time. I’ve NEVER been in a women’s restroom that smelled this strongly of pee. I wonder if there was a urinal in there that I didn’t see? *Shiver*
We decide we need some distraction, and ask for one of the flat screens to be turned to Red Zone. This requires a conversation between two of the waitstaff, and «the couple,» with a lot of that back-​and-​forth talking that people sometimes do when they think that others can’t hear them. «Shhh! Ask them what game they want! We don’t HAVE the ticket … Ask them what game will be okay!» Finally the TV gets switched and we look forward to turning our attention away from what appears to have become a very awkward holiday family gathering.
So then, inevitably, our food arrives. For $ 13.95, we had a MOUNTAIN of fries, topped with 4 small strips of breaded fish, and a dollop of warm coleslaw. We ask our waiter for an extra plate, and she returns with two full-​sized dinner plates. «We’re saving all of our small plates for a private event in a couple of hours.» Um, sure. okay.
We sit, surrounded by plates, and dive in. Unfortunately, the fish is sog-​gy. The bottom of each piece looks like it was set to rest on a wet paper towel. We pick off the breading, eat our fish, and ask for the check. Our entire meal experience seemed to be monitored with mild amusement by «the couple,» who by now were loudly announcing that they were drinking 151 and coffee. Hair of the dog.
By now you’ve probably deduced that «the couple» are, in fact, the owners of this joint. And the chef was there when we dined too. I know this because I was searching to find some more information on this place, before awarding my hard-​to-​achieve 1-​star rating, and found this clip from our local news station:
Aw, shucks, man. Really? You guys watched this whole thing? And made us feel awkward through our entire meal? Bummer.
I know there’s much more on the menu, but I definitely won’t be back. This place might be bomber for a 21-​er nightclub, but as a restaurant it doesn’t suit.