Zig Zag Inn

Sometimes you end up being the customers you never meant to be.
The Zig Zag is what it is: The place you stop for a bite between the mountain and Portland. It fulfills its duties properly with dependable food and enough history to make it interesting.
We were between the mountain and Portland and ate. Because of a tiny, tiny, tiny (like, really, really small) and understandable misunderstanding between the waitress and my son, we had to correct his order. He felt horrible. Who doesn’t hate a misunderstanding?
So when she came back and asked how the food was we all said fine and, after a beat, he saw his chance: «Great!» he said. But it sounded like a sarcastic, «GREAT.» As in, not great.
As she walked away he said: «That didn’t sound right, did it?» Which sent us all into hysterics and reinforced his unintentional sarcastic great.
The she wished us a happy father’s day and my wife told her I wasn’t the father (if you saw my nose and my daughter’s nose, there would be no discussion. You can only inherit a nose like that. But you wouldn’t want to. We all have our crosses to bear.)
Everything was fine even though everything seemed wrong.
Then we clogged up the toilet. After closing. After they’d cleaned the toilet.
I won’t out the particular culprit here, but it was an honest error.
Thanks Zig Zag. We’ll stop back in next time we’re between a mountain and Portland.

Amazing food! If you are on your way to ski or hike, you must stop by! Try the timberline burger! It is one of the good things about the mountain!

Meh… not too impressed. Food is not the greatest. Had breakfast and dinner here. Corned beef hash tasted like green peppers and was chewy. Eggs were almost not cooked enough. Biscuits were good. Iced tea wasn’t even good. Spaghetti noodles were over cooked, but meat sauce was good. Service is super slow. There are better places around.

Starting to favor the breakfast, but still love their dinners. Used to have the best pizza before al Forno Ferruzza’s moved in, but definitely still delicious enough to have us coming back for more. Our top spot up the mountain, nothing beats Zig Zag.

We ordered chipotle BBQ wings; 10 inch pepperoni, sausage and mushroom pizza; and a vanilla milkshake after a n afternoon of hiking at Trillium Lake and everything was so delicious! Loved the country look, great for pictures, and bought a cool shirt. Definitely a great spot for lunch.

Horrible. Cold eggs, bacon that was more like reheated ham, nasty syrup and a one-​hour wait from when we ordered to wen we received our breakfast. Server charged kids for adult portions and didn’t even apologize. After 3 tries, I’m never coming here again.

Stopped here on our way to Ireland. We decided on the grilled chicken burger and the bead barley soup. We really liked both which were seasoned perfectly. Had a great conversation with our waitperson and were made to feel right at home.
Thanks so much for a great experience, We will be back for sure.
Geocaching the world one cache at a time! May the wind always be at your back and the sun shine warm upon your face. As they say, look for fair winds and following seas.

I had the prime rib, fantastic. I read some reviews that some people weren’t happy with the food, not my wife’s or my experience. I thought they had great food and great friendly service. I spent two nights in Welches, for a ski trip weekend. I liked it on Friday went back on Saturday. I would eat there again if I’m ever that way.

We’ve given this place a try a few times. Each time the food has been less then exciting. It just didn’t seem like much effort was made to make it great. A grilled cheese didn’t have the cheese melted for example. The Pompeii sub was just too much bread. However, the chicken burger was delicious!
There is a reasonable beer selection though!
The place is pretty cool inside too.

We ate here after a long day of travel on our first night in town. We were incredibly disappointed. We were seated right away and the staff was very friendly, which was great. It was not overly busy and we waited an incredibly long time for our food to come out. We ordered the nachos as an appetizer, and it came out AFTER our main dishes. The ingredients on the nachos were clearly processed and pre-​made including a nasty «cheese» sauce and large slices of what I would call deli chicken. My husband ordered the meatloaf dinner and said it wasn’t too bad. My son ordered a gluten-​free pizza and only ate one bite. His backup were the nachos but none of us liked them. I ordered a Cobb salad, and the greens clearly came from a bagged iceberg mix. Do yourself a favor and skip this place.

Food tastes like it came out of a freezer. Like the $ 3 stuff you buy in the frozen aisle at your local grocery. Menu said chicken with rosemary ravioli. I dont know what i got, but there was no rosemary and i am skeptical that I received chicken.
Growler fills though! And a sweet bartender by day! however, the bartenders by night are not very accomodating.
Beside the frozen food came a side of «wait for dish» that kept me occupied for a good 30 min. Didnt time it or anything, but I was the only person i the restaurant.
That should be review enough

If you want to watch every game, head to the newly expanded bar! Great drink and Appetizer menu! On Monday nights you can win an exclusive sweatshirt that you cannot buy!!! At the end of the season you are invited to a great party and a picture to be placed in the «Zigzag Hall of Fame» no better place to watch all college and NFL games!!! Oh and an 80 inch T.V. With the NFL package!!!

What a great little spot. Walked over here after getting off the Hunchback trail, they didn’t flinch when I walked in withy backpack. The Timberline burger is ²⁄₃ lb of beef, perfect after a 2-​day hike, but I couldn’t finish the fries. Washed it all down with a craft ale, great way to end a hike!
Their prices are reasonable, the food is great. I’ll be back!

I’m new to the area, and hiking is something I’ve always liked, but never had much of an opportunity to take part in. When my family suggested we take a ‘quick’ hike up to see some waterfalls, I was like, ‘Yeah. I got this. No problem.’ I didn’t have it. Not at all.
My legs and back and feet felt like someone was stabbing me with flaming swords. Why would you do that to me, hiking trail? I don’t litter. I conserve water. Why do you hate me so?
So then after our 5 mile hike, in between groans and stretches back at the truck, a hunger swept over me like I have never felt before in my life. I could feel it in my bones, like it was a living being gnawing at my insides. This must be what actual hunger feels like. Not the sissy, whiny, I haven’t had a snack in an hour kind of hunger pangs I usually feel.
On our way back down the mountain, we were looking for some place to really tuck in and stuff our bellies. The Zig Zag Inn was practically glowing when came upon it. The parking lot was packed which is always a good sign, especially when you’re in a sparsely populated area. There was a patio area on the side of the restaurant where regulars sat spinning yarns and smoking like they’d always been there. The restaurant smelled good, but didn’t have a lingering odor of stale food. The atmosphere was comfortable and laid back. The lighting was dim and intimate.
We sat down at our booth and looked over the menu in shock. Not only could you get a prime rib, but it was only $ 15.00. I can’t speak for most folks, but that’s a pretty decent price to me. I had the chicken pesto pasta with extra sauce, and extra garlic bread. My aunt and uncle each ordered the prime rib and my cousin ordered the chicken tenders and french fries. It took a little while for our food to come out, or maybe it just seemed that way because we were all starving, but when the food did finally come out, it was hot and delicious and cooked exactly the way we asked for it. I sopped up all the extra sauce I could manage and inhaled my pasta. The portions were huge! I could easily have shared my dinner with someone, but I’m glad I didn’t because the leftovers the next day were just as good.
I highly recommend! Go hike, get dirty, work hard, and then stuff your faces with good, simple, wholesome food.
I will absolutely visit this restaurant again!

This place is an oasis after spending a few days backpacking. Now do not get me wrong; there is nothing better than hiking 10 to 15 miles in the Mt. Hood area. However after two days of freeze dried meals a solid breakfast served on a real plate is certainly a welcome luxury.
1. Service is super; prompt but friendly
2. Drinks; they make a top flight Bloody Mary
3. The «Jimmy the Greek» omelet with home fries and a biscuit was excellent. The skillet breakfast is massive.
4. Price is very very fair.

The pizza, lasagna, fish and chips are delicious. Want even a better time? Go to the bar in the back. Very cool! We come here several times a year, great start to a vacation.

My husband and I went there after a day of hiking and Sunday driving. The beers were cold and they had a good list of local beers on tap mixed with old school cans. Outstanding fried zucchini (probably frozen and not fresh but tasty, cheap and plentiful). We both had sandwiches — me the meatball sub and my husband the Philly. The meatball was good enough to order again but I think we’d not get the Philly (cold meat… not a ton of flavor).
We’ll go back and order the pizza — it looked delish!

This place always rocks. We stop here every time we head through the Mt Hood National Forest.
Service is friendly and the food it’s consistently good.
They have my favorite Deschutes beers.
Stop here for breakfast to cure your hangover. Or lunch… Or dinner if that’s how you roll.

What a great find. I was not expecting much from this place. But it ended up being one of my favorite «casual» meal spots during our visit to Portland!
We stopped by on our way back from Mt. Hood. Being from Hawaii (and also being a bit sheltered) meant that I had just gotten to snowboard, let alone SEE SNOW for the FIRST TIME. I will not divulge my age, but I figure that I am somewhat of a rare case.
Anyway, I took a beating up there. I had face-​planted more than once (goggle imprint only) and swore to my family that I had minor brain trauma and frostbite. They simply laughed and looked through more photos of me, stuck in the snow on my back like a cockroach, in my puffy red jacket with my snowboard in the air. So I told them that If I wasn’t going to a hospital, I better be going somewhere to have a good meal. I got that good meal at Zig Zag Inn.
Their pizzas were great! The small «personal pan» was more than enough for one. We got a medium (greek one with the artichoke, feta, olives and red onions) and it took up a third of the table! My fiancé enjoyed his hot roast beef sandwich with mashed potatoes. It was doused in rich, dark gravy. Yumm. My sister enjoyed the fish & chips… huge chunks of fish with crispy fries and slaw. My dad’s halibut sandwich seemed similar… both were good-​sized portions. The garlic toasts that accompanied most of the meals was so good. Thick slabs of buttery goodness.
So wait. Here’s the kicker: you want to know what I had, right? Yea, you do. Since I claimed that I had minor brain trauma from snowboarding, and if this was my last meal to have, it should have been something extraordinary or out-​of-​this-​world, right?
Well…first, I asked for a hot tea. And what I ordered for lunch happened to be the most unsuspecting dish of all.
I had…[are you in suspense yet?]…the cobb salad.
It was DELICIOUS.
It blew me away. The chicken was flavorful and juicy and cut into thin slivers.
The lettuce was fresh and crisp. And it was topped off with tomatoes, avocado, olives, and hard boiled egg. Even their Blue Cheese was good (and I always get it on the side since I usually do not like BlueCheese).
And now I’m just getting way too into things that normal people probably won’t appreciate, but can I also add that their dressing (I asked for ranch) was perfectly chilled, and of perfect consistency?
And that my friends, is how a cobb salad should always be done.
I would go back and face that mountain (repeat on the bruises and minor brain trauma) just to get that salad again.

Service: I was that customer… no, not that customer, that other customer with the infant. Yes, I was that customer. Not the crying infant, but the explosive projectile baby. They were absurdly nice about everything, perhaps because I have the world’s cutest baby, perhaps because I was asking for items to clean up the mess myself. But anyway on to the other portion.
Food: I ordered a medium pizza. For me a large pizza is something I generally work through in a meal or two depending on crust size. I expected to be left with nothing, but that was ok as I was not really sure if I was going to like their pizza.
When the medium arrived, it was significantly larger than I expected. The crust was also a lot thicker than I had anticipated. I made three meals out of one medium veggie pizza, and that was pushing it.
If you’re from elsewhere, be aware that if you get a pizza with tomatoes as a topping, chances are they’ll come in a bowl, cold. Had not run into that one before but am told it’s the thing.
The décor there is astoundingly hellish, it’s got to be seen. Antler light fixtures, eagles, and a general crazy hunting lodge feel.
Yeah, veggie pizza done right in a place that looks like a shrine to dead critters… it surprised the hell out of me.

Zigzag, OR, who thinks up these names? like Zzyzx Rd. (formerly Camp Soda) off the 15Fwy in California. And the city of Azusa which was name so after they couldn’t think of anything else and said hey «everything from A to Z in the USA» put it together and what do you get? AZUSA! (Well not really but it’s an old joke) Ok enough of that.
While in the Mt. Hood Village are the hubby and I stopped at the Zig Zag Inn for dinner. Walking in you immediately notice the antler chandeliers hanging overhead. At least it’s the first thing I noticed as my husband was scheming on how to cut one down and run off with it… obviously that didn’t happen.
Our server was an older gentlemen who gave me the feeling that he was about to make me an offer I couldn’t refuse and if I did my body would never be found after being dumped in the Mt. Hood wilderness. But with that said he was actually very nice in an Italian Mob sort of way, but nice nonetheless.
My husband ordered a ½ order of St. Louis pork ribs and I opted for Alex’s burger. I got that one because it came with jalapeños and boy did it.
He liked the ribs, well cooked and seasoned, with steamed veggies and coleslaw.
The burger was good my only grip was that buy the time I got done with the 1^st half of my burger the bottom bun of the other half was soaked and mushy with all the jalapeño juice.
My only other grip which unfortunately is out of the control of the restaurant, so I don’t hold it against them, were the people sitting in the table next to us. I did not particularly enjoy trying to eat as I listen to them talk about how one of their buddies got herpes from another one of their friends after they had unprotected sex… and that’s just for starters.
Yeah! I don’t really care to hear what and individuals sexual proclivities entail during my meal thank you very much!