I have recently been called a "foodie." According to Wikipedia, a Foodie is an informal term for a particular class of aficionado of food and drink. Wikipedia also claims it was coined in 1981. I guess me hooting and hollering when we drove by Salem's new food pod (3905 Silverton Rd, 1/2 block west of Lancaster) is proof enough that I am, indeed, a foodie.
A few years ago, I would have said it was very hard to be a foodie in Salem, home of the fast food joints and chain restaurants. Recently, Salem has started to grow up and we've got a number of good and diverse local restaurants. We've decided to not eat at non-local restaurants, that if we're going out to eat, we want our money to stay in our community (Confession: We make exceptions for our occasional fast food visit and I do frequent Starbucks on occasion).
As happy as all of the new development makes me, I wonder about something. It seems like many of the new restaurants opening are more of the fine dining type, with dinners generally costing $15 and up. Like most Americans today, we are saving more of our pennies, certainly being more careful with them. This limits the opportunity we have to visit these establishments. For us, they become "special occasion" restaurants. I do appreciate how a few of these restaurants like La Capitale, has a separate bar menu from their finer dining menu, offering a greater range in prices.
I wonder how many of these fine dining restaurants Salem can support. I would love to see more local, modest priced restaurants that offer a variety of dining choices. While Salem pretty much has the Mexican and Chinese restaurant scene covered, a good hometown deli that is open for dinner too or more bistro style restaurants, like Word of Mouth would be a great addition. And if they were opened in West Salem, I certainly would not complain.
So Salem, what kind of food do you want to see in Salem?
2 comments:
Okay. I don't live in Salem, but I work there. And I just found out about that food cart pod. I even drove by there today! I would love suggestions for non-fast food places to eat for lunch. Am having a hard time finding good lunches. Of course, ideally, I should just bring my own, but, well, I don't usually.
I actually rarely get to eat lunch in Salem, since I work out in Monmouth right now. But when I do, I enjoy:
Trudell's, which is a deli on Edgewater in West Salem.
La Margarita Express, Mexican food on Chemeketa downtown
Love, Love Teriyaki, several locations including North and South Salem and Keizer
Boon's (downtown) or Thompson's (out south) but service can be slow
Great Harvest
Cascade Baking Co (Downtown)
Goudy Commons on Willamette University's Campus
I don't get out to North Salem very often, but when I do, I've generally got my eyes peeled for Taco Trucks. I was informed last night that the Taco Truck in Knecht's Parking lot on the corner of State and Lancaster is one of the best. Mmmm.... tacos.
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