By Jove, I Think They've Got It!
It was a lot smaller than previously thought, that much was certain.
When one thinks of a treasury, one typically thinks of splendor and abundance, but neither was found at the old Boones Treasury Pub in Salem Oregon. Instead, the grand ideas of a large facility with no less than guilded plates and splendors adourning all walls passed and were replaced with a much more quaint and McMenamens-ish quirkiness.
Boones Treasury is a small brick pub on the inside, and easy enough to find on the outside since it sits right at a three way intersection. Nothing of interest lies outside of it, but inside one can find enough amusements to pass a meal. If the décor of an old building with a hundred years of history, including 200+ year old Hungarian headboards for bridal beds, street signs from the Netherlands and an old navy propaganda poster fails then there are enough concerts and modern references sprinkled around to do the job. Waitstaff of yore have left their mark on the bar with Tigger stickers, spiderman figures and other flair sprinkled around while the customers have enjoyed the usual cheap entertainment of marking up the bathroom stalls. Its a fitting mix of interests to go along with a building that has been an armory, post office, and your choice of diety knows what else before becoming a part of the McMenamins empire. In other words – a darned good place to spend a Sunday afternoon lunch.
Even better than the building and decor? The waitstaff.
During the hour and a half my associate and I hung around we witnessed not only one 'above and beyond' move, but four. This beats out the typical restaurant staff by... well, four.
Act of Awesomeness #1 – Knowing the beers enough to encourage you to try a sample of whatever you're curious about. Often times waitstaff uses this as a copout to knowing what kind of goods they have on tap, but you can quickly discern the liars by their quick 'Ohh... umm, you want to try it?' rather than 'sample whatever you want, Id rather see you with something YOU like'. It didn't hurt that he let us move tables to a booth to correspond to our beer juju. Cheers to you, barman.
Act of Awesomeness #2 – Actually giving the customer what they want. When a woman came in to the pub alone and asked for the waiter to turn on the hitherto blank TV for her enjoyment he not only pulled up a stool to turn it on, he channel surfed for her until she found the football game she was looking for, made sure the signal and angle were alright and only then did he hop down. I should have bought him a beer right there.
Act of Awesomeness #3 – Without any training or debriefing from McMennamins on it, the petite chick working the tables KNEW HER STUFF. Since we don't live around Salem (actually we avoid it at all costs generally – sorry locals) we asked her for directions back to I5. She gave us two different routes along with a report about the traffic on Sundays. Since she was so nice about it we decided to test her and see what we could find out about the place. She told us all about the performers, when to come in, where the best seats were, what all the items in the place were, their historical significance – she couldn't be stumped until it came to piddly details such as why the décor was chosen for Boon's. Speaking as a history major, it was a breath of fresh air to find someone who not only did their job, but appreciated all around her.
Act of Awesomeness #4 – When a customer wanted to sit at the bar but couldnt quite reach the counter since she was shorter they offered her not just any book, but a DICTIONARY, which suggests that they searched until they found one that trully fit her to a T. She even joked that she was going to have to steal it for use on the grey hound buses. Not a regular here? No problem. Same great service for all.
The one and only complaint I can think of is the somewhat sparse burger options. They have less than I have seen anywhere else – only the basic characters made the cut, with even Communication Breakdown and Dungeon Burger being left off the list. In its place I did find one unique burger, a veritable garlic lover's treat. Think basic cheeseburger with Mozz rather than cheddar and more roasted garlic than you can shake a stick at. It was heaven.
In summary this McMennamins was a delight, whether it was due to every good employee mcmennamins has being left in one inconspicous corner of a mainly forgotten capitol, or sheer luck on our part. The beer was flowing, the food they did have was cooked wonderfully and the staff and building was great. Were this McM's in my hometown, I would be hard pressed to frequent another.
Beer: 80.
Food: 70.
Service: 95.
Atmosphere: 85.
Total: 330/400.
When one thinks of a treasury, one typically thinks of splendor and abundance, but neither was found at the old Boones Treasury Pub in Salem Oregon. Instead, the grand ideas of a large facility with no less than guilded plates and splendors adourning all walls passed and were replaced with a much more quaint and McMenamens-ish quirkiness.
Boones Treasury is a small brick pub on the inside, and easy enough to find on the outside since it sits right at a three way intersection. Nothing of interest lies outside of it, but inside one can find enough amusements to pass a meal. If the décor of an old building with a hundred years of history, including 200+ year old Hungarian headboards for bridal beds, street signs from the Netherlands and an old navy propaganda poster fails then there are enough concerts and modern references sprinkled around to do the job. Waitstaff of yore have left their mark on the bar with Tigger stickers, spiderman figures and other flair sprinkled around while the customers have enjoyed the usual cheap entertainment of marking up the bathroom stalls. Its a fitting mix of interests to go along with a building that has been an armory, post office, and your choice of diety knows what else before becoming a part of the McMenamins empire. In other words – a darned good place to spend a Sunday afternoon lunch.
Even better than the building and decor? The waitstaff.
During the hour and a half my associate and I hung around we witnessed not only one 'above and beyond' move, but four. This beats out the typical restaurant staff by... well, four.
Act of Awesomeness #1 – Knowing the beers enough to encourage you to try a sample of whatever you're curious about. Often times waitstaff uses this as a copout to knowing what kind of goods they have on tap, but you can quickly discern the liars by their quick 'Ohh... umm, you want to try it?' rather than 'sample whatever you want, Id rather see you with something YOU like'. It didn't hurt that he let us move tables to a booth to correspond to our beer juju. Cheers to you, barman.
Act of Awesomeness #2 – Actually giving the customer what they want. When a woman came in to the pub alone and asked for the waiter to turn on the hitherto blank TV for her enjoyment he not only pulled up a stool to turn it on, he channel surfed for her until she found the football game she was looking for, made sure the signal and angle were alright and only then did he hop down. I should have bought him a beer right there.
Act of Awesomeness #3 – Without any training or debriefing from McMennamins on it, the petite chick working the tables KNEW HER STUFF. Since we don't live around Salem (actually we avoid it at all costs generally – sorry locals) we asked her for directions back to I5. She gave us two different routes along with a report about the traffic on Sundays. Since she was so nice about it we decided to test her and see what we could find out about the place. She told us all about the performers, when to come in, where the best seats were, what all the items in the place were, their historical significance – she couldn't be stumped until it came to piddly details such as why the décor was chosen for Boon's. Speaking as a history major, it was a breath of fresh air to find someone who not only did their job, but appreciated all around her.
Act of Awesomeness #4 – When a customer wanted to sit at the bar but couldnt quite reach the counter since she was shorter they offered her not just any book, but a DICTIONARY, which suggests that they searched until they found one that trully fit her to a T. She even joked that she was going to have to steal it for use on the grey hound buses. Not a regular here? No problem. Same great service for all.
The one and only complaint I can think of is the somewhat sparse burger options. They have less than I have seen anywhere else – only the basic characters made the cut, with even Communication Breakdown and Dungeon Burger being left off the list. In its place I did find one unique burger, a veritable garlic lover's treat. Think basic cheeseburger with Mozz rather than cheddar and more roasted garlic than you can shake a stick at. It was heaven.
In summary this McMennamins was a delight, whether it was due to every good employee mcmennamins has being left in one inconspicous corner of a mainly forgotten capitol, or sheer luck on our part. The beer was flowing, the food they did have was cooked wonderfully and the staff and building was great. Were this McM's in my hometown, I would be hard pressed to frequent another.
Beer: 80.
Food: 70.
Service: 95.
Atmosphere: 85.
Total: 330/400.
posted by McMenamensch | 10:05 PM
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