Redding eats

[Sarah]

Will be attending a screening at Cascade Theater in Redding on Sat 3/8 -- need dinner, bkfast and lunch before driving back to BA -- any special places to eat (and stay)?? Thanks!

[Sarah]

Since no one responded, I will give an update. Redding is home to each and every chain restaurant, you name it and it's right there on Hilltop Drive (H/Motel Row) or nearby, and some I never heard of, Logan's Roadhouse, quite the stomping ground. Unfortunately, we never had a chance to try these venues. Not much of an update I fear.

[millvillemurphs]

Sorry we didn't see your request earlier. Redding does have some decent places that are not chain restaurants. A few are right around the Cascade. Vintage Wine Bar and Market Street Steakhouse are right on the same block. Vintage is okay; they have a changing menu of small plates and full size dinners (http://vintagedowntown.com). Haven't done Market Steet yet, so can't really comment on it. Also, Jack's Grill (a landmark) is around the block - haven't eaten there either, so others might be better suited to comment. Maritime Restaurant just around the corner is worth a look also. We have been pleased with Moonstone Bistro out on Placer (http://moonstonebistro.com) - they have recently expanded to seven days a week and started offering a Sunday brunch as well. Haven't tried the brunch yet, so can't comment on it.

We are still in search of a really good breakfast place. The brunch at CR Gibbs is okay, but it's a buffet and you can only do so much with that. I'd love to hear what others have found.

We found the best Carnitas at Taqueria Los Gordos - they now have two locations, one on Churn Creek and one at Tehama and Pine. The owners are transplants from the Soquel (Santa Cruz County) area.

For Thai food, we like the Thai Cafe on Butte street. Nipa Thai on Churn Creek is also do-able. Sushi has two pretty good options: Sakura on East Street, and Kampai out off of Lake Boulevard.

So anyway, there are options besides the chains, but you have to do a bit of work to find them.

Where did you eat, and where did you stay?

[Sarah]

Thanks for your response! Chico is our next stop, I think. What's there?
We stayed at the Oxford Suites (kinda group decision) and got into Redding so late, we relied on their Evening Reception to grab a bite (crudites+) and a glass of wine and then tore off to the Cascade. Afterwards a private party we weren't expecting to attend. Next morning (today) we were flummoxed by the time change so we had coffee+ at the OS' breakfast buffet (well-intentioned but lacking) which held us until we got to V-ville where we had major bad chain restaurant food. Ah, home!

[ThisNThat]

Apologies Sarah, I haven't been on CH much lately. Sorry to miss your post and leave someone traveling my way to fend for themselves in the sea of chains up here. millevillemurphs gives some options, however since moving to Redding close to 5 years ago and trying nearly every restaurant, my advice is to steer clear of anyplace trying to be "nice." The most frustrating thing at those places is usually the service being totally horrendous and the food being lackluster - especially if you have access to really good food elsewhere to compare it to. My favorites are all pretty much in the slightly dive-y category.

My favorite Redding restaurant is called Racha Noodle. It's a Thai place that also serves some pho'. It's located on Hwy 273 south at the intersection with California Street. Other than one night when the beef pho' was really bland, everything we've tried has been delightful and we usually eat there at least once a week. My favorite dish is a spicy soup called Khao Soy (chicken.) It's a huge portion of spicy curried soup with chicken, rice noodles, bean shoots, a hard boiled egg and perhaps a few additional assorted vegetables. I dream of the stuff and that's saying a lot for Redding. Other than that I recently started going to a mexican place called El Mariachi's on Churn Creek road. I had always discounted it because the parking lot was so full (tends to be a bad sign here) but this place does some actual Mexican food. Their mole is delicious - it's in the chile coloradito style, sweet and hot. They also do nice machaca, albondigas soup, and menudo.

Other than these two places, we've yet to find a place where everything is good. It's hit or miss, dish by dish. We do like to go to a place called Jeff's California Cattle Company on Cypress Blvd. for breakfast. They have great buttermilk pancakes - plate sized and very fluffy plus good link sausages. Everything is enormous, so we usually order a pancake for each and an order of link sausage for the table of 3. I've seen other tables order any of their other gigantic offerings. The plates are so big I can't get my mind around the idea of anything but the pancakes since they're good. That's it for now...I'll post more if I think of anything else.

As to where to stay - after trying a few different places (including Oxford - yikes!) during phases of a house remodel, I would recommend the Hampton Inn. No view etc., but it's new and had nicer sheets than I expected for the price. There is also a Hilton Garden Inn (same company as Hampton) in south Redding that has river view rooms, but it's not near any food establishments.

[ThisNThat]

There is a place in Chico called Red Tavern that is supposed to be great.
www.redtavern.com

[Sarah]

Thanks Mvm and TNT for your advice. Too late for me for my last visit, but perhaps it'll guide someone headed your way. Thanks also for the Chico info which may come in handy soon in the future!

[Sarah]

Reposting to better time...