Lack of restaurants in Newberg leaves locals in a rut
Melanie Mock, Faculty Advisor
November 7, 2007
My family has driven a rut straight through the heart of Newberg. The deep groove carries us to the three or four restaurants we frequent (infrequently, as it turns out). When we dine in Newberg, we never diverge from a handful of places, never try anything new. Because, of course, in Newberg there are no new restaurants worth trying.
Similarly, each summer I join my friends for lunch once a week. Each summer, we end up back at the same restaurant, eating from the same menu, ordering the same kind of salad and sandwich. Once in awhile, we propose trying something new, but can never think of another Newberg restaurant with good ambience and good food worth consuming. Our rut runs deep, too, right to the French Bear.
I don't whine too loudly, or too often, about the dearth of good restaurants in Newberg; I recognize the gift of inexpensive and available food, as well as the blessing of enough money to afford the luxury of eating out. But sometimes I wonder: why can't Newberg, a college town close to a cosmopolitan area, offer anything better than third-rate dining?
Newberg does not want for restaurants. There are at least 25 in the Newberg area. Those who long for pizza, sandwiches, burritos, stir fry, or fast food have it made. In the past year, too, at least three Teriyaki places have opened in Newberg and Dundee. Much as I love Japanese food, I am perplexed. Do we really need three places to buy sushi?
I know that starting a new restaurant is hard work. But until someone in Newberg steps up and opens an Indian or Mediterranean or Italian or Greek restaurant, my family and friends will be driving elsewhere for good food. Or, we will settle again in to our rut, going to the same old restaurants where everyone knows our name-or at least what we order.