Pizza Mountain Style

Apr 30, 2011   //   by Rick Dancer   //   Destinations  //  5 Comments

Kathy and I were tired, exhausted and just not in the mood to drive into town (Eugene/Springfield) to grab a pizza for dinner. I’d just been to a memorial service and lost my zeal to be around people.

So Kathy looked at me and said let’s go to Ike’s Pizza in Leaburg. We stopped there once on the way home from Bend and brought a pizza home. Leaburg is only about 15 miles (East) from our house but it is like visiting another world.

We ordered a beer while we waited for our pizza. Ike’s has a great selection of beer. Local stuff and some brews I’ve never heard of before. Oh, and they also have the staples Coors Light and Bud.

The salad bar looks great and Sweet Potato Fries and Deep Fried Zucchini fly out of the kitchen like you wouldn’t believe so it must be good.

There’s the big stuffed Ike in the room that’s kind of a theme for the place (big foot). A ton of local’s hangout there. It’s just a comfortable place to go on a Friday Night. Right across the road is the McKenzie River and the pizza is great. (We brought ours home)

The atmosphere inside is nice. Lots of wood and kind of a lodge feel. The only problem with Ike’s is the lighting. It’s a little bright inside, especially following a long day when you need dim lights to soften the mood. Lighting is a big deal in a restaurant and a lot of restaurants don’t understand that. Yes, we need to be able to see the menu, but I a candle on the table will do just fine.

Overall I really like Ike’s and the people who work there are great.

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5 Comments

  • Barbara April 30, 2011 at 9:39 am

    I agree lighting is important; but I never found one candle to be sufficient to read a menu or see my food! lol I LOVE sweet potato fries; I hope I get to stop by there sometime!

  • Rick Dancer April 30, 2011 at 9:42 am

    Kathy and I go to a place in Cannon Beach called JP’s. They have really dark lightening and when you struggle to see with the candle light bring you a small light to shine on your menu. Classy and very cool

  • Thomas April 30, 2011 at 2:59 pm

    I found Ike’s Pizza in Leaburg in the summer 1997 while working on a HAZ MAT Spill that threatened the channel water which flows back into the McKenzie after it flows through the drop turbine.

    I love this little get away by the lake. I do not get there, as often as I pass though, but I always take note and want to stop.

  • Steve Underwood April 30, 2011 at 3:32 pm

    Thanks a lot Rick! I am living in Clinton Iowa for the next year or so and miss Oregon so much. Ike’s has been my favorite pizza place since I was 10. I would canoe across the lake with a friend and we would play pinball and eat the best pizza. I miss that place even more now after seeing your pictures and reading what you wrote. Thanks. It made me think about home.

  • Stacie Avery May 1, 2011 at 6:19 am

    We discovered Ike’s way back when our kids were in school and sports. The volunteer coach for our youngest son’s baseball team (who is now 30) has a family member who owned the pizza parlor so he took the team there quite often for pizza and end of season award nights were there. The pizza has always been great, a nice, scenic drive to get there, the beautiful river accross the street, and a friendly atmosphere with the “locals” make it well worth the drive. For those with younger children, going up on a Saturday afternoon to the fish hatchery, feed the ducks at leaburg and then pizza for dinner makes for a great family time together.

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