Restaurants in Eugene

Within the 153-room Holiday Inn, Amici envelops diners in salmon-hued walls as they feast on freshly cut pastas and overflowing paninis. Rob Sigmund of Wild Duck Catering mans the helm of the spacious dining room, where upholstered banquettes, dark woods, and modern lighting fixtures create an atmosphere of contemporary comfort. After excavating a savory strata of lasagna, patrons can search for a wine finale on the outdoor patio or for mermen in the hotel’s swimming pool.

Baristas brew up coffee, espresso, tea, and blended drinks at Global Delights, a quaint, locally owned drive thru that infuses its drinks with worldly flavors. The shop recently began roasting its own, certified organic coffee, adding to a menu that already includes pastries as well as gluten-free and vegan options from Holy Donuts. More than just an energy boost for its customers, Global Delights also demonstrates a passion for improving the community, both by supporting other local businesses and working with Eugene charities.

At Cozmic Pizza, the culinary team kneads organic flour made from local Willamette Valley wheat into crusts that are brushed with buttery extra-virgin olive oil. Then, they pile on toppings and set the pies to bake on 600-degree stones. The list of toppings—many of which are also organic, such as the apples and cilantro—breaks traditional pizza boundaries by including unique options such as smoked oysters, kale, and vegetarian meats, which offer an alternative to the eatery’s local sausage, smoked pork, and pepperoni.

These Jersey-Eugene-style fusion pies are the brainchild of Kirk Giudici, also the founder of Rising Moon Organics. When Kirk decided to embark on a second organic foods endeavor by opening a pizzeria, he found himself drawn to a vintage 1945 building that was an Edsel car dealership back when man didn’t travel only by hovercraft. While renovating the 4,000-square-foot auto display room, the same environmental principles that led Kirk to organics undergirded his decorating approach of using only recycled and repurposed materials. As a result, diners sip their homemade fountain sodas and Oregonian microbrews while perched at a bar made from a shuffleboard and lit with dryer-drum light fixtures from Kirk’s Laundromat.

The restaurant space, massive enough to have once housed a fleet of automobiles, enabled Kirk and his partner Alec to create a stage dubbed The Edsel, which has attracted national acts such as Michelle Shocked, The Be Good Tanyas, and eight-time Grammy Award winner Marcia Ball. In addition to musical acts, the pizzeria’s calendar is full of events such as Science Pub, when tipplers learn about topics such as why it’s impossible to teleport your clothes along with your body. Cozmic Pizza also engages in regular charity efforts such as a fundraiser for Greenhill Humane Society that caught the attention of KMTR.

In 1968—the same year that Richard Nixon was elected president and the Beatles released their _White Album_—the meat buffs at H&H BBQ slow cooked their inaugural batch of southern barbecue. Though the world has changed radically in the decades since its opening, H&H has continued to earn a devoted following thanks to the staff's dedication to forging homestyle barbecued meats and comforting side dishes. Amidst the buzzing kitchen, chefs whip up fall-off-the-bone ribs, beef brisket, and pulled pork, all of which are tender enough to dive into without a fork, knife, or modified oboe.:m]]

From the hormone-free Willamette Valley beef to the wall display of University of Oregon athletes, Tom and Johnny's kitchen champions all things local. Grass-fed beef burgers that have never known the icy touch of a freezer mingle with a staggering array of fixin's, ranging from guacamole to deep-fried pickles, on 20 burger combinations atop made-from-scratch ciabatta buns from The Bread Shop. Wings come dripping with one of eight sauces, ranging from Plain Jane to Hellfire, and 100% all-beef hot dogs and nachos bathe in house-made chili like a self-proclaimed king of the Texans. Diners pit fearless appetites against the Ironman challenge, packing in a 2-pound cheeseburger, fries, and browbeatingly hot wings for a chance at free food and eternal glory in the form of a picture mounted on the wall.

Smokin Joe's BBQ hands off freshly made breakfasts and barbecue fare to on-the-go diners at its speedy drive-thru-only location. Homemade breakfast burritos blend cheese, potatoes, and eggs, and barbecue lunches showcase succulent morsels of pulled pork and spare ribs. All of Smokin Joe's meats flaunt smoky flavors and tender textures thanks to their prolonged exposure to applewood, hickory wood, and character actor James Woods.:m]]