Alice Finer

If Fox's Billiard Lounge was a Hollywood movie, I imagine the pitch would have been something along the lines of Color of Money meets Cocktail. It's unclear whether owner Marshall Fox is Tom Cruise's number one fan or just felt that Newport Avenue was severely lacking in a pool hall with bartenders who can juggle their shakers, but either way, his far-fetched concept has turned out to be shear genius. Throw in the abundance of games to play, the all-day happy hour and the Vegas décor including sparkly beaded curtains, dark leather couches and red felt pool tables, and it's hard not to suspect that it was all set up as a sting operation to lure you in, get you drunk and steal your wallet. But that's another movie. Fox's is gimmicky, yes, but certainly not a scam. With everything in the place priced well below the norm, it would be pretty tough to lose the family farm at Fox's.

If Fox's Billiard Lounge was a Hollywood movie, I imagine the pitch would have been something along the lines of Color of Money meets Cocktail. It's unclear whether owner Marshall Fox is Tom Cruise's number one fan or just felt that Newport Avenue was severely lacking in a pool hall with bartenders who can juggle their shakers, but either way, his far-fetched concept has turned out to be shear genius. Throw in the abundance of games to play, the all-day happy hour and the Vegas décor including sparkly beaded curtains, dark leather couches and red felt pool tables, and it's hard not to suspect that it was all set up as a sting operation to lure you in, get you drunk and steal your wallet. But that's another movie. Fox's is gimmicky, yes, but certainly not a scam. With everything in the place priced well below the norm, it would be pretty tough to lose the family farm at Fox's.

I was very concerned when the Downtowner left its Brooks Street location to combine with The Summit (Saloon and Stage), its sister operation. Not only was it a key inexpensive lunch option, but the space and environs seemed to suit its personality, and frequently my mood, so perfectly. Where else could I enjoy a beer and a delicious sandwich for $10 while catching up on the plight of the latest batch of wayward youth and growing population of homeless cat-owners in the Brooks Alley breezeway? Enter Lola's. From recent Bend transplant Amy Levinger (originally from Philadelphia by way of Portland, where she went to culinary school) with the guidance of former Cork owner Greg Unruh comes a new bar and restaurant worthy of filling the Downtowner's comfortable shoes.

I was very concerned when the Downtowner left its Brooks Street location to combine with The Summit (Saloon and Stage), its sister operation. Not only was it a key inexpensive lunch option, but the space and environs seemed to suit its personality, and frequently my mood, so perfectly. Where else could I enjoy a beer and a delicious sandwich for $10 while catching up on the plight of the latest batch of wayward youth and growing population of homeless cat-owners in the Brooks Alley breezeway? Enter Lola's. From recent Bend transplant Amy Levinger (originally from Philadelphia by way of Portland, where she went to culinary school) with the guidance of former Cork owner Greg Unruh comes a new bar and restaurant worthy of filling the Downtowner's comfortable shoes.

The most junior member of Central Oregon's league of microbreweries, Three Creeks has quickly made Sisters an important stop on the beer-drinkers' tour. The accompanying brewpub, an oasis in the high desert emerging from the trees as you enter town from the east on Highway 20, almost instantly became a local favorite. While there are plenty of places in Sisters to find a good meal, Three Creeks is the most versatile. It's perfect for a family meal on the restaurant side of the massive barn-style building, or on the bar side, a burger and football, a few pints and a game of pool or dinner and live music on a Saturday night. My visits have run the gamut – a quick beer on the way home from Hoodoo, bar snacks and baseball in the afternoon, the full dining experience – and in all scenarios Three Creeks fared well. It's the kind of place that seems to effortlessly suit your mood, whatever it may be.

The most junior member of Central Oregon's league of microbreweries, Three Creeks has quickly made Sisters an important stop on the beer-drinkers' tour. The accompanying brewpub, an oasis in the high desert emerging from the trees as you enter town from the east on Highway 20, almost instantly became a local favorite. While there are plenty of places in Sisters to find a good meal, Three Creeks is the most versatile. It's perfect for a family meal on the restaurant side of the massive barn-style building, or on the bar side, a burger and football, a few pints and a game of pool or dinner and live music on a Saturday night. My visits have run the gamut – a quick beer on the way home from Hoodoo, bar snacks and baseball in the afternoon, the full dining experience – and in all scenarios Three Creeks fared well. It's the kind of place that seems to effortlessly suit your mood, whatever it may be.

Sometimes when a new place opens, before you even try it you feel impelled to throw the full weight of your support behind it – in your head, you jump up and down and cheer in slow motion during the triumphant ribbon cutting. I was that way with Brother Jon's Public House, the latest addition to the burgeoning dining and nightlife scene on Galveston. Its stealth opening late last June, which would have escaped my notice were I not riding by on my bicycle that day, precluded any ceremony. But I got that feeling of excitement that comes at the sight of a solid right-place-right-time concept, when an establishment has really tapped into a neighborhood's needs and responded.

Sometimes when a new place opens, before you even try it you feel impelled to throw the full weight of your support behind it – in your head, you jump up and down and cheer in slow motion during the triumphant ribbon cutting. I was that way with Brother Jon's Public House, the latest addition to the burgeoning dining and nightlife scene on Galveston. Its stealth opening late last June, which would have escaped my notice were I not riding by on my bicycle that day, precluded any ceremony. But I got that feeling of excitement that comes at the sight of a solid right-place-right-time concept, when an establishment has really tapped into a neighborhood's needs and responded.

My name is Alice. A-L-I-C-E. And I'm a craboholic.
It started so innocently. A friend of a friend makes an annual Labor Day weekend trip to the Coast to go crabbing with family and friends. Do I want to join? Sure, why not? A couple days of good company, ocean air and a civilized crab dinner, where's the harm in that? What ensued was a 48-hour feeding frenzy that I'm still trying to come to terms with. And crab was only the beginning – my gateway crustacean, if you will, to a full-blown seafood bender.

My name is Alice. A-L-I-C-E. And I'm a craboholic.
It started so innocently. A friend of a friend makes an annual Labor Day weekend trip to the Coast to go crabbing with family and friends. Do I want to join? Sure, why not? A couple days of good company, ocean air and a civilized crab dinner, where's the harm in that? What ensued was a 48-hour feeding frenzy that I'm still trying to come to terms with. And crab was only the beginning – my gateway crustacean, if you will, to a full-blown seafood bender.