Oregon’s got a new sports bar, aptly named Headquarters Bar & Restaurant and located on the southeast side of town. It’s a welcome environment for families, Oregon High School Panthers Athletics and of course, sports fans.
I ordered a cross section of items from the large, but not unwieldy, menu. Right off the bat I picked a winner with the Buffalo Cheese Curds ($7). They have a nice hint of heat, and the buffalo flavor within the batter perfectly complemented the white cheddar. I probably could have eaten two dozen of these.
Another hit came from the Smokehouse section of the menu. The Headquarters Sandwich ($9), filled with brisket, pulled pork and coleslaw, was generously portioned, had the right amount of BBQ sauce and wasn’t too sloppy. Next time, I’ll probably tackle the rib plate ($14 for half rack).
Of the burgers I enjoyed the Yucatan ($8.50), which is topped with guacamole, Cajun bacon and Havarti cheese. It’s a great combination of flavors and textures.
Fool me twice, shame on me. That’s how I felt about Headquarter’s super dry chicken. In one visit, I had the Pesto Chicken Melt ($9), which did have a tasty pesto, but it couldn’t support the aforementioned dry chicken. In another visit, I had to douse the Big Chicken Wrap ($8) with ranch sauce to get through it.
You get a choice of bottomless fries, waffle fries or garlic Parmesan chips as sides, or you can upgrade to onion rings or sweet potato fries for $1 more. Out of these choices, I recommend the waffle fries. The chips had almost no garlic flavor and just a sprinkling of Parmesan cheese, and the onion rings were just the standard frozen variety.
The restaurant becomes a popular hangout on Friday and Saturday nights. A second room that’s often closed during dining hours can take the overflow crowd, plus it has its own bar and lounge chairs.
Headquarters is open every day for lunch and dinner and breakfast on the weekends. A staff member told me the sand volleyball court should be constructed this week, or at least by the time league play begins at the end of the month.
***
See more photos in our Headquarters Flickr set.
