Oregon Coast This Week: Birds, Blues, Storms and Eateries in the News

Published 04/02/2010

Tsunami Grill is the newbie on the block in Wheeler.

(Oregon Coast) – The week began with a wacky spring storm and ended with a bigger one, albeit a briefer one. It left bundles of snow on the Cascade mountains, making skiers and snowboarders happy, but on the coast there was little to no damage.

In between the storms, there was news of a big festival returning to Pacific City, and plenty of new restaurants have popped up on the beaches.

Birds and Blues Festival on Oregon Coast. The seventh annual Birding and Blues Festival returns to Pacific City, the Nestucca Bay National Refuge, and numerous top birding locales in the area on April 9 to 11.

The event features three days of presentations at Kiawanda Community Center by renowned birding experts including noted photographer and featured speaker Paul Bannick, and oystercatcher biologist Peter Moore, as well as two Birds of Prey exhibits. Bannick’s book, The Owl and the Woodpecker, released in 2008, was selected as one of the five finalists for the 2009 Washington State Book Awards in the General Non-Fiction category. Moore comes to Pacific City after spending 27 years working for the Department of Conservation in New Zealand where he specialized in projects helping threatened species, particularly oystercatchers and the albatross. full story....

New Restaurants Spring Up on Oregon Coast. Lots of new eateries are dotting the coastal landscape, many with a decidedly Asian slant. Wheeler, Lincoln City and Depoe Bay especially have acquired some new ways to stuff yourself

Tsunami Bar & Grill is the new kid on the block in Wheeler – which itself is merely comprised of a few blocks. It’s in the old Guido’s/Nina’s Italian Restaurant building.

There are lots of burgers and fish ‘n’ chips, but the real stars here are the Asian selections. Entrees (around $8) include massive dishes of Korean short ribs, lemongrass chicken, curry chicken or bento. Especially amazing are the spring rolls, which are vibrant little monsters full of taste, and they come vegetarian or with shrimp and pork. For a seriously ethereal effect, wrap them up in green leaf lettuce, cucumber and mint leaves, then dip them in the Tsunami’s frighteningly delicious sauces. These are waves of pleasure.

Depoe Bay has an addiction-inducing new addition: O’Downey’s, their answer to an Irish pub. The bar area has many of the things you’d expect from an Irish-themed joint, and the regulars and barkeeps are friendly and fun. There’s also a nifty view of the bay. They are featuring a fair amount of live music as well, mostly blues and classic rock stuff, but also as much Irish as they can find.

Down on the central coast, Lincoln City recently sprouted a bundle of new eateries. Asian cuisine is at  Lum Yuen. Burgers and a wide variety of stuff, including barbecue, can be found at Nelscott Café and Vivian's Restaurant. For those looking for a slightly pirate-like adventure on Siletz Bay, there’s The Black Pearl Bar & Grill. Full story....

Wind Warning for Coast, Snow for Inland Oregon. A wild mix of spring weather is coming to the coast as well as parts of inland Oregon, as the National Weather Service (NWS) has issued a high wind warning for the coast and a special weather statement that involves snow and heavy rain for other areas of the state.

“Another strong front is heading for the coast early Friday,” the NWS said in a bulletin. “A strong low pressure system will move into the northeast Pacific late Thursday and early Friday morning.”

The NWS said the system will drive a strong warm front onshore into the northwest late Thursday, creating windy conditions. It means potentially damaging winds along the coast and in the coast range, which could result in gusts as high as 80 mph on the beaches.

Near Yachats: conditions like these may mean crazy foam on the beaches that is so frothed up it looks like snow. Full story....

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