- Restaurants |
- Nightlife |
- Shopping |
- Movies |
- All
The Wild Goose Cafe
Category: Restaurants American (Traditional) American (Traditional) [Edit]
2365 Ashland StAshland, OR 97520
(541) 488-4103
- Price Range:
-
$$
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Parking:
- Private Lot
- Attire:
- Casual
- Good for Groups:
- Yes
- Good for Kids:
- Yes
- Takes Reservations:
- No
- Delivery:
- No
- Take-out:
- Yes
- Waiter Service:
- Yes
- Outdoor Seating:
- No
- Wi-Fi:
- Free
- Good For:
- Lunch, Dinner, Breakfast
- Alcohol:
- Full Bar
- Noise Level:
- Average
- Ambience:
- Casual
- Has TV:
- No
- Wheelchair Accessible:
- Yes
27 reviews for The Wild Goose Cafe
Review Highlights
"And the pan fried oyster I impulsively tried was heavenly."
(in 3 reviews)
"...care of you, and great food, breakfast, lunch and dinner."
(in 3 reviews)
"...and the perfect, amazing hash browns it was served with."
(in 3 reviews)
Loading...
27 reviews in English
-
Review from Chris B.
Pullman, WA
12/26/2011
Great value, healthy options. It was a great find.
-
Review from Jeanine H.
Garden Valley, CA
1/17/2012
4.5 stars for LUNCH. The Oyster Po-Boy was ordered by two of our group. They both liked the large portion and flavor. Patty Melt was flavourful and numerous fries. Good place to stop after moving furniture for a few hours and are HUNGRY!!!!
-
Review from DL T.
Gresham, OR
1/4/2012
How many times have I driven past this place on visits to Ashland assuming it was just some grody roadhouse bar--if I noticed it at all? The blinds are perpetually drawn, the featureless ugly little building floats in a sea of asphalt, and the "cafe and bar" description on the one colorless sign really doesn't give any sense of what you're in for. Fortunately on my last trip yelp set the record straight and sent me to check it out.
I only managed to stop for breakfast on my way out of town, so I didn't get a full sense of the menu. But things like "Cajun Pan-fried Oysters" on the breakfast menu were enough to tell me this place was more than I expected. I had the Rocky Mountain Omelet (ham, green pepper, onion, cheddar), and it was maybe the best I've ever had in a restaurant. Omelets are the kind of thing that sound great when I'm ordering them but usually turn out to be pretty terrible when they're served. This one actually exceeded expectations. I dreamed about it afterwards.
The husband had the french toast, and unfortunately I can't be as complimentary about that. It was made with french bread, and it seemed like the bread had more likely been placed on a counter in close proximity to the egg batter rather than actually dipped in it. It was pretty much just... bread. I think there's a good chance it was just a bad batch, but I wouldn't order it again.
I'm old and cheap, so to me $10.50 sounds a little high for a pretty basic omelet (yes, I know what century it is now, leave me alone), but actually I'm pretty sure that's less than anywhere elsewhere in town. It's not the cheap-o joint it looks like from the outside (in fact, once you start adding on extras like the oysters or ribeye steak to your breakfast, it can get quite expensive!), but neither is it cheap-o quality food. Except for the one misstep, everything was great.
They just need to do something about their marketing and image! I never would have dreamed of stopping here if not for yelp recommendations. And just the night before I'd heard someone at our hotel (Best Western Windsor Inn, practically spitting distance) ask if there was any place nearby open late to get some food after getting back from the theater. The staff thought and said no, just the minimart at the gas station. This is exactly what he was looking for, and the hotel that's *right there,* staffed by a girl who'd previously told me she was in her *final year* at SOU didn't even have a clue about it! And how often must that after-theater question come up for them? What a loss.
One good thing about the ugly asphalt wasteland around this place, though--access and parking is never an issue, unlike some places in town. -
Review from Kim Y.
Olympia, WA
6/12/2011 1 Check-in Here
Can I give them 4.75 stars??? No place is PERFECT but this place was VERY good!!! They had a HUGE selection (healthy and less healthy if you just want to be "bad"). They had no issues with sauces on the side, eliminating some things I didn't want, etc. I didn't feel like I was "being a pain" to ask for something a little different. The waitress was friendly and very efficient. The chef would call the names of the wait staff when an order was up so they could serve it promptly. Very organized!
I'd also overheard a Sikh man asking to look at a menu. The waitress asked what he what things he couldn't have or what he was looking for and pointed out some suggestions. She also offered to give him one of their (nice) menus to take out to his car so his family could look at it. he declined but she definitely went above and beyond to help! I WILL go here again when I visit Ashland!
(Date was evening shift on June 9th, 2011, in case managers/owners see this review! *smile* -
Review from Ronn C.
Roseburg, OR
9/5/2011
We stopped in for breakfast at about 8:30am Labor Day Morning. Our impression is pretty basic. This placed seemed pretty mediocre. From the food to the service.
-
Review from Johnny W.
Looks really can be deceiving - who would have expected a diner next to a seedy looking motel to be so tasty? Waking up past the meager "breakfast" service at the Rodeway Inn some 50 feet away, I decided to eat a proper breakfast here instead, dropping in and ordering their chorizo omelet for ~$11.50, substituting the bread for a marionberry muffin.
The omelet, simple as it may be to make (I certainly can't make one this well though), was incredibly tasty, enhanced by the bits of chorizo that were mixed into the fluffy egg itself, and the perfect, amazing hash browns it was served with. And while the salsa tasted like cheap salsa from a jar, it did wonders for the dish. As for the muffin, while nowhere near as tasty as a simple blueberry muffin, is totally worth it for the small substitution charge.
Now, I generally hate diners, with their mediocre, overpriced, easily made-at-home dishes - but among all these countless, disappointing diners I've been to, Wild Goose easily takes its place as the second I've ever been to that I've enjoyed, with their tasty food and friendly waitresses. And with a menu as extensive as theirs (multiple steak options for breakfast? So tempting!), you're bound to find a thing or two that you'll enjoy here. -
Review from Leslie T.
Los Angeles, CA
9/24/2011
Stellar breakfast.
When we rolled into town in the evening, this place looked a little sketchy, but so glad we decided to stop in for breakfast.
The coffee was locally roasted and delicious. Marion berry muffins were fantastic, fresh out of the oven.
And the pan fried oyster I impulsively tried was heavenly. Plump fresh, smooth like butter.
I'd definitely go back and sample some more of the menu next time I'm in town. -
Review from reyz a.
3/12/2011
There's something about fast food or greasy spoons off I-5 when travelling. At home, I would ignore them, but on road trips, they've always been an essential part of the standard pit stops. Road trips from Canada to the Bay Area and back, since we were just little kids (yes, I can barely remember the first trips as Woodstock was blaring on my dad's radio) included stops around Grants Pass, Medford or Ashland. Somehow, the stops here have always been good.
It's breakfast, lunch and dinner here for the Ashlanders and infrequent visitors like me. It is a convenient place to stop--right off I-5.
I had breakfast, and it was standard Americana. Eating here evoked childhood memories, ghosts of the past (I didn't see any ladies with the big blue beehive hairdoo though) or maybe I was just plain hungry--because the food tasted good. The hash browns were hashier, the eggs were tastier, the bacon, crunchier and everything reminded me of what not to eat according to Dr. Oz. In fact could feel my arteries harden. Heck, that is part of the appeal!! -
Review from Erin S.
Santa Rosa, CA
1/1/2011 1 Check-in Here
This place is just charming.
Its not about the food, which is okay/good, but the conversation. A place where people call you hun and genuinely care about your story.
Good stopping place for a little refuel on I-5.Listed in: Portlandia!
-
Review from Rick C.
Houston, TX
6/21/2011
This place is diner, dinner, nightclub all wrapped in one building... We came for breakfast....no frills.. breakfast was spot on goood...easy...in and out! It's amazing how many breakfast diners can't cook 'eggs over medium'... Not a problem here!!!..
-
Review from Mychal S.
Medford, OR
8/22/2011
I've been here a number of times and very much enjoy the food. Delicious breakfast, but some of the waitresses can be downright unpleasant. Some people dig it, I just don't.
-
Review from Holly D.
7/31/2011
Found this place on yelp because we were passing through and needed a good meal off I-5. Yelpers were right...again....great good, hysterical server (who had never heard of yelp!), Everyone in our party of ten found something they could eat (had some picky ones in the group) Very healthy to the gut bombs. Just goes to show you that you don't have to drive all the way into Ashland for a good meal on the way down the freeway!
-
Review from Matt J.
Plano, TX
10/23/2009
It was years ago when we my ex-wife and I first made it to Ashland. Dinner was upon us, and her grandfather proclaimed that we were going to eat at a "truckstop". To this day I don't know if that was his true impression of the Wild Goose, or if he knew that what we would find there would be a far, far cry from your traditional greasy spoon. Either way, the Wild Goose cannot and should never be seen as something as pedestrian as what it was made out to be.
That first night I had the razor clams that were on special....and I was blown away.
Years later, two Texans with kids in tow decided to make the drive from Dallas to Ashland starting on Christmas Day....in a 2-wheel drive Expedition...without snow chains. The logical outcome of that journey was a two day stay in a small very Northern California town atop Mt. Shasta because we got snowed in. The first place we stopped as soon as the pass reopened was The Wild Goose for breakfast. To be honest, I had been craving it since Los Angeles. That time was scrambled eggs and cajun pan-fried oysters.
Every time I had been back, The Wild Goose has been on top of the list of places where I MUST go....and I have never been disappointed. If you ever find yourself just North of the California state line, don't think or even pause. Stop here and eat. -
Review from Veronica G.
San Francisco, CA
9/7/2007
I didn't go to the cafe part. I went to the bar part. Yeah yeah yeah, that's how I am. However, I will give the young lady who works in the cafe extra special props because even though it was ten to midnight and she was almost finished closing, she was still willing to seat me and my honey man down to eat some late night grub, so props to you hun.
Ok on to the bar!....
First off, there is some bitchin' local art work for sale on your way into the bar on the walls and in some knee level racks. Definatly worth taking a peek at and definatly worth spending $ on for that one of a kind memento from Ashland.
Second, you walk in and it has all the characteristics of a local dive. Dark lighting, indoor smoking, pool for 50 cents, beer on tap that's less than $4 a pint (yumm...Mirror Pond), people playing musical chairs while playing the lottery machines--see my forth coming review of Virginia City for a more in depth analysis--and locals chattin' it up while playing songs on the jukebox. And let me say that for a random Tuesday these people had some taste in their musical stylings! Miles Davis, Louie Armstrong, Tom Petty, Dave Matthews Band (and not the same songs you hear on every radio and every college dorm room circa '99)--good good stuff. For as brooding as the atmosphere was, everyone I saw was in high spirits and it wasn't because they were filled with spirits either.
Very friendly, very local, very conviently located off the highway next to a very clean and friendly motel. Great experience all the way around. -
Review from A D.
Berkeley, CA
7/3/2011
Just okay, salmon was over-cooked and a bit dry. All dishes were average in taste; larger portions though.
-
Review from Saba B.
7/9/2011
Downtown Ashland and the Railroad District offer up plenty of excellent dining choices, but it pays to stray off the beaten stage a bit (have to give props to OSF aficionados). The Wild Goose is the only authentic city diner in town in that offers breakfast, lunch and dinner almost simultaneously, employs Flo-like staff instead of students, and prices its eclectic menu choices reasonably instead of attaching the cost of a marion berry muffin to tourist volume. The chef is top notch and the plate presentation has never failed to impress.This time I chose the Mt. Ashland scramble (red peppers, red onions, artichoke hearts scrambled up with a delicious tangy vinaigrette). The egg dishes are named randomly after local landmarks, but this one is exceptional. I could've eaten two, but actually took part of it home just so I could taste it again later. The hash browns and home fries are clean and crisp, creamy inside but somehow almost devoid of grease. WG provides many vegetarian offerings, and the Boca burger here isn't an afterthought. Grab a calendar at the front door and check out their music nights in the back - a real live honky tonk does exist in Ashland. The decor - deep booths, retro swivel bar stools, clunky local art - is a welcome break from the streamlined swank of Martino's or Alex's, and the buck bang is a rare treat here.
-
Review from Judy W.
San Francisco, CA
4/1/2010
We love eating here because the food is good, the waitresses are cranky old locals most of the time (rather than way too perky and sometimes cluelessly patronizing college kids), and it's never packed with tourists from the 'burbs.
We may be tourists ourselves when we are in Ashland, but we are not from the 'burbs and we can pass for locals in some of the funkiest places, and that is a Good Thing :)Listed in: Ashland, OR
-
Review from J S.
Sylmar, CA
10/14/2010
Every trip to Ashland, we end up eating here - partly due to the weird hours we keep (they serve until midnight, 'till 1am in the bar!), and mainly because they're just that GOOD. The nice people take good care of you, and great food, breakfast, lunch and dinner... I wish they were closer to my house :)
-
Review from Toni M.
8/29/2009
I can't remember when Nina and I first had breakfast here but it was decades ago. I remember the sense of walking in and being surrounded by locals bantering w/ waitresses, etc. I loved it. We've had many breakfasts here over the years. The food is straightforward and good. They used to have a combination of plain yogurt, fresh fruit and a bit of granola. It was my favorite and then they discontinued it. Pissed me off and I don't think we ate there last year. We had breakfast there this morning, just a couple of eggs, fruit and muffin. Service was perky and adorable, although occasionally intrusive in our conversations. Everything was good. Nothing fancy, but good, honest food. The bathrooms are clean but the stalls are minuscule, earning them the title of second worst bathrooms in Ashland.
Listed in: My Ashland List
-
Review from Mike W.
Portland, OR
7/20/2010
Such a great breakfast restaurant! Their scrambles are fresh, and plenty of options. You have to try the biscuit and gravy - rich and flavorful. The coffee is robust, locally roasted by Noble.
-
Review from Dan R.
Fairfield, CA
11/17/2010
Very empty on a Saturday night but still, the drinks were stiff and the food good. I recommend.
-
Review from Genie M.
Sacramento, CA
1/18/2008
right next to the knights inn ...
+DOG ART by one of the waitresses
+colorful, tasetful re-do of a denny's
+large menu with gourmet influenced food
+realitvely cheap, wonderful service
+kick ASS coffee, which we needed alot of
-: we had to leaveListed in: DA HOOD!
-
Review from Mark M.
Ashland, OR
8/2/2008
The Wild Goose is a study in contrasts. They are actually quite child friendly, but for a while there, they had this silly sign posted, requesting children to stay in their seats. The food is remarkably creative and fun, for a divey little diner. Remember the character "Adam" from Northern Exposure? I envision him cooking in back.
The Wild Goose was a main stay for us when we lived on that side of town. Now, because it is more of a slog, we don't get there as often (maybe 5 times/year).Listed in: Top Restaurants
-
Review from Sean S.
San Ramon, CA
8/2/2009 1 photo
Great selection, good food, and a friendly atmosphere. I've visited this place before (so far only the diner side) and the food is always good and the desserts are out of this world. I've had a different waitress each time and they have all been friendly. This last time I took my whole family and they are just as happy to see kids.
-
Review from Contiza C.
Fremont, CA
9/23/2010
Porkchops were delish. Burger too good to pass. Atmosphere higher scaleish bar well compared to what is expected and considering it is close to aand I mean next door to Knight's Inn motel.
-
Review from Jeff M.
Redding, CA
10/17/2010
Don't be confused by outward appearances of the restaurant. Yes it looks like it could be a Denny's but do not be fooled! The food is excellent. It is very fresh! I had fish, mashed potatoes, vegetables, and salad. Everything tasted home-made. The fish even had a bite too it with jalapeno pepppers! I loved it and went back the next day. So not only is the food great but it came fast. We had a super sweet and cheerful waitress that really met our needs and seem to care about everyone there. A real gem! ;) I will definetly be going back!
-
Review from barry b.
San Rafael, CA
8/28/2010
Had a great lunch of pan-fried regional oysters, fries, coleslaw with a local brew. The oysters were marvelous, the fries were fine, but nothing extra ordinary. The service was good and everyone was friendly. Definitely worth a stop when passing through on I-5 as it's right off the freeway.
