The Embers

We enjoyed two delicious meals of chicken fried steak and New York strip steak. Both were perfectly prepared to order and delicious. Laura behind the bar is engaging, professional and gracious. The Karaōke Hostess, Patty, provided a fun and entertaining singing experience for all after dinner. I highly recommend the dinner at The Embers in Eugene.

The corned beef hash was Delicious. It was homemade and perfect. Actually everything was perfect. It took a while for us to get our food, which was a little annoying but not enough to ruin the delicious food and super sweet server. I’ll be going back regularly. I love this place

My family ate here this morning, after our normal breakfast spot has become less than pleasing. The appearance is a bit miss leading, but after reading some reviews we decided to try it. The service as stated in previous reviews is a bit slower but it definitely wasn’t the worst. The food however is awesome my hash was fresh and delicious, my wife’s chicken fried steak was perfectly friend and the gravy was out of this world. Don’t let the looks scare you off try this place. It is worth it.

Four stars for superb food. Especially the corned beef hash!
Minus a star for the time it takes to receive said food. I’ve been here a few times now and slow ticket times seem to be the norm.
However, the hospitality is generally awesome and for that (and the food!) we keep coming back.

This place is kind of intimidating in its non-​intimidation when you walk up to it. As my mom said, «This looks like the Elks Club.» Which is to say it doesn’t have a standard restaurant entrance – no «seat yourself» or «wait to be seated.» The bar/​lounge sounded busy. It’s separated by a Ducks curtain from the restaurant! They’re probably more set up to greet people over there.
But the staff was all very charming, and you could see that it would be easy to feel like a member of «The Club» once you’ve been there once. The steaks we ordered were good. The desserts (my moms both had a flourless torte deemed VERY GOOD) were, well, very good.
Anyway, the place makes you feel like part of the group. Part of the people who know this great place. The whole staff was awesome – including the son of the owners, who seems to have just come in to help and tell stories! My mothers tried to marry me off to him so he’d come over and tell them stories all the time! Cracked me up!
The moms have added it to their «usual restaurants» they frequent, and I hope to visit there when I’m visiting them. It was better than those fancy Italian places my moms are always taking me to downtown!

This place is an old school American style hole-​in-​the-​wall place that hasn’t changed much since the 1960s. Want a place you can take Grandma to and not have her fuss about the menu being too exotic? Want a place for a good and filling breakfast without the fancy-​schmancy brunch ambiance? Head here. I’ve dined here a few times and the food reminds me a bit of what I ate as a kid when we went out to the old fashioned diners; it’s good, honest, simple food. One of the handful of places in the area with a working broaster, it’s kinda nice that you can still get a good broasted chicken here. The spelling on the menus and signage could use a little proofreading, but it adds to its charm.

Updated after many visits …
I live nearby so I go there every couple of weeks. I’ve taken my parents, aunt and uncle. All really enjoyed it and were surprised given that it is a very old school club/​restaurant combo like they hadn’t seen since the 70s.
Service is often iffy after 1pm, especially at night, as they are under staffed (past 7pm there is 1 server for the bar and restaurant). On later visits, around 8pm or so, I go with the expectation that I’ll need to walk up to the register to pay. No big deal.
While the server may be slow, the kitchen is efficient on cooking times.
The food is tasty. They buy as much local food like beef and veggies as they can as well as make their own jams.
Their broaster is in good condition. They serve breakfast all day (and I like their buttermilk pancake recipe, rare for me, with their strawberry jam sauce instead of syrup). They have –excellent– corned beef hash and eggs. Their specials are often new and done well. Veggies with dinner are fresh, lightly pan fried in oil and salt/​pepper which is a method I like as they retain a lot of flavor.
Can’t remember any times my food has been off except for one time a pancake wasn’t quite done and that was quickly replaced.
Oh, and one reason I go back often is because I have some spine problems and they have comfortable dinner chairs with cushioning and rollers.
Not a fancy place by any means, but I kind of like that as it is always laid back. Except on the occasional live band night, but just get there by 7 and you’ll be done with your meal before they start to play. Out of a couple dozen visits that’s only happened twice and late in the evening.

Was looking for a place to do brunch before we left Eugene, Or. The reviews on Unilocal led us to The Embers. Driving up, I was a little intimidated about what we were getting ready to walk into but the staff was very nice and quickly put me at ease. Food took a little longer than I would have preferred but it was DEFINITELY worth the wait. The burger was delicious! My husband and son had breakfast and would have actually licked the plate if I had let them.

I cannot believe I haven’t done a review for this place yet. I am the Duchess all the time! HA HA I love love love Embers.
First of all Sara and Sahara are AMAZING servers. Definitely request one of the two of them. This location is open for breakfast, lunch and dinner. They have a bar area that is open LATE night and serves classic late night snacks etc… There is karaōke on Sunday and Mondays and always a good time. Lots of OG regulars here… There is live music on weekend nights and some weekdays too. Because the location is somewhat intimate it can get loud.
Where to start… let me just go over a few dishes. .
The mushroom in wine sauce with crustini is outstanding — a modest portion and soooooooo yummy! The owners son (maybe he is the owner now) created it and it is YUMMYLICIOUS.
Onion rings are some of our favorites in town next to Dairy Queen.
The Quesadilla is FANTASTIC — yummy and huge. Lots of cheese and meat with veggies. I like to get this for dinner.
Nachos — okay Sorry Embers do NOT get this. It is sorely lacking in what Nachos should be. Regular store bought chips with some cheese sauce that wasn’t very cheesy. First thing I have had here that is not good. Go to Rivas down the street and get Carne Asada Chips or Nachos from Burrito Amigos.
Breakfasts are all good here — we are known for ordering a pancake or two at dinner just because they are really good size and YUMMY perfectly made.
Bacon is cooked crisp and is big thick slices. I crave it from here. They make their own Strawberry Jam and it is out of this world good… I can’t stop eating it. They have a Mango one too but it tastes, to me, that it is made with green mangos and I like sweet mango flavoring.
Mom says the chicken fried steak here is her favorite in town. It is okay. It isn’t my favorite but it is good. Nothing terribly wrong just the gravy isn’t exactly what I like for CFS.
The Broasted Chicken here is fabulous and typically is a great portion. Every now and then they must use a smaller chicken otherwise it is FANTASTIC. Order it right away if you want it because it takes 20 minutes to make. It comes with salad, potato thing and vegetables with texas toast. All in all a fabulous value for $ 11.95.
Their salads are all good — the cobb is my favorite. They used to have two sizes and since I can put away salad I used to get the large. I think they must have found most people were wasting some so they now only offer small and it is good and only $ 8.95.
Their dressings are awesome. They make homemade ranch that is fantastic!!!
I like their burgers — all good and cooked right. I am currently on a burger steak kick and I get it with gravy, bell peppers and onions topping it with mushrooms and cheese… ummm yum.
Dinners all come with a potato item and vegetables and a salad. I LOVE their mixed veggies.
I also love their baked potatoes but I am a tater tot lover and this place has them and makes them crunchy just like I like them.
The Halibut basket is one of my favorites. Pieces of perfectly fried halibut in this basket — I just love halibut.
The Club sandwich here is one of the best in town — if not the best. It is huge. We cannot ever finish it. We ask them to not toast it as much and then it doesn’t cut your roof of your mouth all up ha ha.
Mom like the french dip here too okay…
Desserts are all ok… the carrot cake is out of this world good but it has gotten to be smaller pieces than it used to be so that is disappointing. For the gluten free peeps almost everything can be made gluten free here and their flourless chocolate torte/​cake is YUMMY but a tiny tiny piece although rich. Tiramisu is pretty good as is the chocolate mousse.
Drinks are always refilled quickly — they do NOT brew their own iced tea so stick with soda or their coffee is outstanding too!
The bathroom is always clean and smells great — note there is ONLY one stall for women.

Love it! Had the prime rib with salad, mashed potatoes, vegetables and Texas toast. All for $ 18.95. The food was excellent.
The service is friendly and helpful. We didn’t have to wait long for our food and everything came out just as we had requested.
The carrot cake was really yummy, too!

Going down in flames!!!

Stopped in for dinner after reading the reviews about the chicken fried steak, my boyfriend’s favorite. It took a while for it to be cooked but worth the wait. Had unexpected entertainment while we waited. Apparently the first and third Wed of the month they have a live Dixieland band. For dessert I had the tiramisu and the boyfriend had a flourless chocolate torte, both in excellent.

This food at Embers is so yummy. Breakfast is so great.
Dinner is good too.
Yum Yum Yum …

If there was the possibility of zero stars that’s what I would give this place. I tried to take my Mom here for her birthday Saturday night. We walked in with my father and my fiancé and were told to sit anywhere. We grabbed seats and were given menus and silverware by a waitress. After that no one ever returned to take drink orders, bring us water, or even acknowledge our presence. The waitress returned to the room several times to take care of a larger group but never even looked at our table. We got up and walked out and went to a different restaurant. Would never go here again!

I had a great bar night experience here (4 stars for what it was). A lively and engaging barmaid, Coupe de Ville playing live music, and an order of chicken fingers that was the best I’ve ever had. I had a great time at the bar neighboring with the other folks there and enjoyed three drinks and two sets of music.
Another night, I went about 7 or 7:30 on a Sunday to get dinner. I had read so many great reviews, and I had enjoyed so much my chicken fingers, that I had high hopes. The restaurant seating area was nearly empty, but the bar was full because it was karaōke night. Wasn’t what I was after, but OK.
As I walked in a nice young guy encouraged me to order the special, which was beef stroganoff. I wasn’t in the mood for pasta especially, but he was pretty insistent that I wouldn’t be sorry. So I ordered it. I also ordered a glass of the Altos Malbec which is a popular wine choice in a lot of Eugene restaurants.
At first taste I wondered if the wine had turned. It got a little better, and I’m no fancy wine connaisseur, so I let it go.
It took forever for my food to arrive. The preoccupied if not indifferent server dropped it on the table and disappeared. It was barely above room temperature. It took at least five minutes for her to come into view so I could ask that it be reheated. That took forever too, but I am grateful that it wasn’t microwaved. The server, to her credit, was apologetic and discounted my bill without me asking.
The gravy was tasty, and the texture of the pasta was OK. It was full of fresh mushrooms which struck me as extraordinary. The morsels of meat were likely leftover prime rib, and were tender and tasty. Both of them. Seriously, there could not have been more than one or two ounces of meat in my entire serving. So close to a really good dish and yet so far!
I will try Embers again. The food reviews and my experience with the chicken fingers have been too strong not to give it another shot.
The website says they’re open until? But I would not go on a Sunday night. While they were technically open, by 7 PM neither the server nor the kitchen were interested in serving dinner. I’ll try again when it’s busier.
I stopped in one weeknight to grab a drink. There were a couple other folks at the bar– a friendly guy next to me and I chatted a bit. It was a different barmaid this night, and she was efficient but not friendly or congenial. $ 5 for a Maker’s Manhattan is a bargain– a little smaller than a more expensive place but a bargain nonetheless!
I went to the Embers again last night but just for drinks and to listen to the band (Coupe de Ville). Definitely not a Gen X crowd but I’m a Boomer so it was fine. Sara at the bar did a great job in an intensely busy setting. I had cocktails which she made very well and was very pleasant although slammed. Kudos!
I need to have a satisfying meal before I’ll raise my rating further but my sense is I’m going to like this place a lot.
So my net on Embers is very mixed. Like I said above, I’ll give it another try and then update this review.

I’m giving a 5 star because of the service and the food we received. We came here because we have had a rough few weeks and really didn’t feel like cooking on Thanksgiving, so I looked on Unilocal and had seen they were serving a turkey dinner. I was craving it. We have not been here in years but I remember I did like the food. I’m not sure what kept us from going back.
I ordered the turkey dinner, and it was really good! They smoked the turkey, and had home made cranberry stuffing with fig. I came in hungry because I almost cleaned my plate. It came with a slice of pumpkin pie and I was so full I had to take it home. We chatted with the owner about food which was cool because we are foodies! We will be back my other half wants to try the home made corn beef hash for breakfast. I want to try the chicken fried steak. It sounds really good, as well as the strawberry salad.
We have been back several times, and ordered several menu items and have still been impressed! One of the best rib eye steaks at a restaurant you can get besides making it at home. I am picky about my steak because I personally think it’s better grilled in your own back yard if you know what your doing. But seriously. It’s good here! And so is the corn beef hash! I am glad we went back.

We walked in and the place was pretty empty, however, it was a Monday night, approx. 5:45PM. We noted the specials, reviewed the menu, and committed to giving it a try. You’ll notice in other reviews that the ambiance is lacking, but really, I insist you shake it off and expand your horizons.
This place has some of the largest portions of food I have ever seen for the price. We ordered beef tacos, small cobb salad, and the prime rib –think taste & value oriented.
The taco that I ordered, ended up being 2 fairly large tacos, they were very good beef with cabbage and an amazing chipotle-​style sauce was served on the side.
The small Cobb salad was NOT small. I split it with my date and still had salad left over — it was huge, hearty and a healthy helping of avocado, tomato, egg, chicken, blue cheese, bacon and the usual Cobb salad toppings (feel like I may be missing some)!
Now the prime rib, I think we’ll be dreaming about the prime rib for many months to come, juicy, mouth water, cooked perfectly, hardly any fat, and way more than 2-​average-​size-​people could eat. The doggies were absolutely stoked to receive the left over trim. The prime rib also came with fresh, from scratch, cream of mushroom soup and when dipped with the Texas toast, its a match-​made in diner heaven. It also showcased mash potatoes and gravy, and steamed mixed veggies. The veggies were probably the least exciting, but they were definitely fresh and not frozen.
There was NO room for desert, but they had an extensive desert menu. I wish they offered wheel-​chair roll-​out service to your car, we were stuffed. If you have a big eater, this is the place to take them.
I also noted that they have Thanksgiving dinner for $ 11.95 — it included turkey and ALL the fixings, plus pumpkin pie. I have no doubt it would be great and substantial. I jokingly told my date we’re skipping his Mom’s and going to Embers.
Random side note: used the ladies restroom on the way out, and I’ll say that it is the NICEST room in the building. I was completely stunned by how cute and done up it was.
Do it!

$ 17 for a ribeye! And it was properly cooked medium-​rare, not excessively fatty and well seasoned! I guess I had better luck with this steak than my husband did last year when he ordered it, but the dining room was fairly slow at 3 in the afternoon, so that may have made a difference. I thought the cut was a decent portion and my mashed potatoes were made from real potatoes, not flakes, with a nice brown gravy on top. Vegetables on the side were simply zucchini and carrots with nice grill marks. My salad was good, and I like that the dressing comes on the side in a large squeeze bottle so that you can apply exactly as much as you like.
Hubby got the Philly steak sandwich, loaded with provolone and veggies and accompanied by a large portion of crinkle-​cut fries. Our waitress was the same as we had last year, and she was super attentive and competent. She brought horseradish sauce for hubby’s steak sandwich, which was much appreciated, and she kept our N/​A bevs refilled regularly.
No room for dessert this time, but I’ll keep this in the rotation for when I’m craving a steak and I don’t want to pay steakhouse prices. The décor is quaint and outdated, but it doesn’t detract in any way from the experience.

Not completely up-​to-​date to look at, but the food is AWESOME. Gene and Sarah have done a great job updating and perfecting the menu.
I had the chicken fried steak with hash browns and eggs. Easily the best I’ve had. I was just mentioning to my wife a few days ago that I miss Cracker Barrel. This’ll do.
Due to their location on the other side of Eugene (I’m in Springfield), I had not known about The Ember’s except from Groupon. Now that I have eaten there because of Groupon, I WILL be back.

People used to flock to places like this, a traditional sit-​down restaurant with down-​home favorites on the menu, some fancy cocktails and a band set up on the stage across from the bar with enough room for a dance floor. From the looks of the place on a Friday night, I’d say the same folks who came here 30 years ago are still coming here for their monthly night on the town, and maybe driving the same car.
The décor is straight out of 1979, with leatherette chairs, ratty carpet, wood paneling and popcorn ceiling. They may as well call it Ambers, since it seems preserved from a bygone age. Believe it or not, they just renovated the kitchen, but didn’t touch the dining room.
The same can be said for the menu, with breakfast served anytime, simple sandwiches, and lots of broiled, fried and roasted items. DLW wanted to try this place for the broasted chicken, their signature item. It’s something that lots of restaurants used to offer, but it’s fallen by the wayside over the years, maybe because it requires a special piece of equipment to fry and pressure cook at the same time.
Entrees are quite large; the broasted chicken was half a chicken served with mixed veggies, choice of starch, soup or salad, and garlic bread. I had a ribeye, which was fairly grisly, and too thin to cook to the requested medium. DLW liked the chicken, but put it somewhere down the list of best chicken she’s had. Her cucumber and mint gin and tonic was quite good, however, and the wine list, though small, is not bad. You can also get something better than Coors Light on tap. Tiramisu for dessert was serviceable and seemed homemade.
Server was the sort of highly friendly type you used to see in these places all the time, calling regulars by name and advising us not to get an appetizer. Who doesn’t upsell anymore? We had leftovers for the next day and paid a relative pittance for the meal. Sturdy recipes and low prices are what keep this place in business, I’m sure.