Isaiah Martinez, chef and co-founder of Yardy Rum Bar on Lincoln Street, noticed something about dining in Eugene: A lot of its restaurants, including Yardy, are in houses, much like restaurants in the Caribbean.
There is a unique charm to a restaurant in an old house, beyond just the implication of a “home-cooked meal.” Quality food matters above all else, but restaurants in a home also offer the sensation of discovering something special, hidden away in a place you’d least expect. For a restaurateur, that’s an advantage difficult to put a price on.
But opening and operating a restaurant is an expensive challenge anywhere, and nowhere more so than in an old home. It can be pricey to upgrade the space and to comply with health and safety codes. Likewise, an antiquated structure is not designed to accommodate restaurants like a new development could be.
Yardy, recently named one of the best restaurants in the United States by both The New York Times and USA Today, started in a food cart serving West Indian–inspired cuisine. Martinez says he and Nick Cifuni, co-owner and bar manager, didn’t intend to move Yardy into a house when they were looking for a bricks-and-mortar spot, but they were simply “charmed” by the space.
Sweetening the deal, Yardy’s Victorian edifice, built in 1873, had formerly housed a restaurant, The Vintage, saving the expense and effort of retrofitting the space.
On the downside, Martinez says, “I think people are confused by it because it’s a house: it’s dimly lit and there’s a line of people waiting” to get inside, in an area of town not known for restaurants. Still, the house offered a chance to create a funky, out-of-the-way spot, like the places Martinez loved growing up in New York and the Bay Area.
“I think certain people in Eugene are fully invested and love it,” Martinez says. “We’re in our own little spot. And it has like even more of a ‘wow’ factor.” (yardyrumbar.com)
Similar to Yardy, Nelson’s in the Whit, serving a Mexican menu, started as a food cart before moving into a home on Blair Boulevard that had housed several restaurants over the years, most notably the popular Papa’s Soul Food Kitchen and Barbecue.
The pros of running a restaurant inside a house include “that it provides the guest with a much more laid-back environment” and allows them to feel more “at home,” says TJ Mooney, Nelson’s co-owner. It’s “conducive to relaxation.” But Nelson’s house was built in the early 20th century, and Mooney says this creates its own set of challenges.
“The house is really old, and stuff needs to be fixed quite frequently.” Mooney says. Storage space is also an issue. “We never really put that much thought into it being ‘a house,’ necessarily,” he explains. “We just found that the building was very comforting and welcoming, and that’s what our whole brand is about.” (nelsonsinthewhit.com)
Eugene’s in-home dining scene doesn’t stop there. Other standout experiences include intimate tasting menus, seasonal pop-ups, and chef-led dinners hosted in private residences throughout the metro area. Too many to feature here, they’re part of a growing movement redefining what a “restaurant” can look like—and where it can live.
Akira is a popular sushi restaurant in a decades-old bungalow on Mill Street. For Kate Harsh and her husband, it’s their go-to spot for special occasions and when guests are in town. From a diner’s perspective, she says, “their smaller upstairs” seating area “creates an intimate and cozy feeling because you’re in a house, like you’ve been invited over to a friend’s house and they want to share their wonderful food with you.” (akiraeugene.com)
Hodgepodge Books and Taps is a bookstore that serves beer and food in a house on 14th Avenue. Unlike Nelson’s and Yardy, it was born when co-founders Stuart and Sophie Raymond spotted the old home.
In fact, Stuart Raymond says, “Hodgepodge was not really serious until we saw this property. Being in a house was a must-have for us. We felt it would bring a level of comfort and coziness to customers that’s not really possible to achieve in other settings. To us, Hodgepodge just always was meant to be in an old house.”
Still, retrofitting the home, built around 1900, added time, energy, and cost. “When we took over the house, it was a law office,” Raymond says. “To get it to code for a bookstore/bar required a lot of time and money.”
“A house is not really meant to have a bar in it,” so “we have to be really creative with how we use our space,” he adds, echoing Mooney’s concerns. “It makes it really hard to store things, and we have to be selective about what equipment we want.”
“I think that when people enter a house, there is a part of their brain that recognizes the familiarity of that experience,” Raymond says, and “that recognition helps them relax and feel comfortable. I find that people feel comfortable at Hodgepodge. It makes it more successful as a third space. Being a good third space was one of our goals.” (hodgepodgeeugene.com)
Other not-to-be-missed eateries include Beppe & Gianni’s Trattoria on 19th Avenue (beppeandgiannis.net), Tiger Mama Korean Pocha & Brew on West 3rd Avenue (tigermamaeugene.com), and the McMenamins’ High Street Brewery & Café in the West Campus neighborhood, each adding to a local dining culture shaped as much by place as by the food itself.
