Weatherford's Grand Lodge & Ballroom College friends bring fine dining to Oregon City
Clackamas County residents no longer need to travel into downtown Portland to get a high-caliber meal. Weatherford's Grand Lodge and Ballroom, 602 Seventh Street in Oregon City, provides locals with American fine dining and great service in a classic and stylish historic building with lots of extras.
Owner Eric Noel and General Manager Darin Smith met at Oregon State University in the 1980s. They developed a great friendship and fostered a mutual dream of someday opening a restaurant together. Smith worked his way up the corporate ladder at McCormick and Schmicks, performing virtually every job from bus boy to manager. Noel managed Michael's Landing and Sadie's Bar & Grill in Corvallis. Their combined experience prepared them admirably.
Weatherford's General Manager Darin Smith and Owner Eric Noel
When the building where their restaurant now resides became available, Noel and Smith saw this as the opportunity to fulfill their vision. Former home of the Oregon City Odd Fellows, the building is a very stylish classic structure about a half a block from the John McLoughlin House atop Singer Hill. The restaurant gets its name from an old classic dorm building at OSU. The name is very appropriate for this establishment. It has that upscale feel. And that's a perfect match for what Noel and Smith have created.
The 6,000-foot main floor houses the kitchen, a lounge and two large dining areas. There are also a couple of banquet rooms. The Wine Room can handle up to about 14 people and the larger room can serve up to about 65. The 6,000 sq. ft. upstairs features a large ballroom, a billiard room, a dressing room (for a wedding) and a prep or storage area. At present, the billiard room is a rentable room, but in the future Weatherford's hopes to open it to the public with a bar and food service available.
The dinner menu offers a wide variety of dishes guaranteed to satisfy even the most critical palate whether you prefer grilled meat, seafood or pasta. From the grill, you can have spice-rubbed filet mignon with a blue cheese glaze, rib-eye with a special butter topping, peppercorn New York, grilled pork chops, chicken piccata, half of a roasted chicken, roasted Cornish game hen, meat loaf or a slow cooked, mint encrusted rack of lamb.
From Neptune's Empire, the offerings include Dungeness-stuffed sole, grilled swordfish, halibut, scampi-style prawns, or Dungeness-stuffed bacon-wrapped prawns. Anchoring the pasta choices is chicken Alfredo, chicken al fresco, braised clam linguine, Mediterranean fettuccine and pasta pomadoro. For those who prefer vegetarian dishes, there's eggplant parmesan and pasta primavera. For those looking for a lighter meal, they offer a variety of sandwiches, burgers, salads and soups. The desserts are fabulous, so save room or take one home.
The lunch menu also features sandwiches and burgers, along with a few pasta and seafood offerings. Weatherford's has a full-service cocktail bar featuring fresh-squeezed juices, a few choice micro-brews and an excellent wine list. The Weatherford happy hour menu will delight anyone who tries it. With food offerings ranging in price from $2 to $3.50 and drink specials 4 to 6 p.m. daily and 9 to 11 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays, the place should be packed once the word gets out.
Weatherford's also offers a great deal for what they are calling the Tuesday Supper Club; $14.95 gets you a complete four-course meal including appetizer, soup or salad, entree and a dessert. The service at Weatherford's is top notch. While you have a primary service person, all servers work together to ensure that each and every customer gets the highest level of care. Noel and Smith are always available to make sure that all get the full Weatherford's experience. The restaurant is open 11:30 every day. They close at 9 Monday through Thursday, midnight on Friday and Saturday and 8 p.m. on Sunday. Reservations on Friday and Saturday evenings are recommended, but walk-ins are always accepted. To schedule an event, make reservations or just basic information, see ad this issue, call Weatherford's Grand Lodge and Ballroom at 503-723-9253 or check them out on the web at weatherfordsgrandlodge.com.