From the Sunrise Café in Pleasant Hill to Manley’s Tavern at Crescent Lake Junction, Highway 58 is dotted with popular drive-ins, diners and dives, and there isn’t one of them that hasn’t suffered mightily during the past year
By DOUG BATES/Editor, The Herald
The Oregon Health Authority’s easing of restaurant restrictions in 16 counties last week has been a relief for many struggling eateries in Highway 58 communities. For others, the new rules haven’t really helped much at all.
In Oakridge, for example, Big Mountain Pizza was seating a limited number of customers in its spacious, log-themed dining room Sunday, while nearby Stewart’s 58 Drive-In was a whole different story. Owners Gregg and Shannon Stewart had a horde of customers showing up for Sunday brunch, but they either dined outdoors or took their burgers and fries to go.
“Our dining room is rather small so we decided to just wait until restrictions have been lifted 100 percent,” an employee said. “Otherwise people would come in hoping to dine inside and then get mad if we had to turn them away.”
The state agency’s recategorization of Lane County from “extreme risk” to “high risk” of COVID-19 transmission is what allows restaurants throughout the highway communities to resume indoor dining for a tightly limited number of customers. Many restaurants in neighboring Klamath County, home to the 20-mile southeastern terminus of Highway 58, were already serving diners indoors under the “high risk” classification before last week’s announcement.
As a service to diners and eateries in all Highway 58 communities (and not just those located on the highway itself), The Herald is compiling a restaurant directory that will be published at least until COVID-19 restrictions are a thing of the past. Restaurant owners are invited to let us know by email ([email protected]) their hours and policies on indoor dining, takeout, curbside pickup and delivery.
The directory will be published in Highway 58 Herald as a free public service.
Herald Editor Doug Bates is a retired newspaper editor who lives in Oakridge.
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