Great lunch for everyone

A few weeks ago I caught up with a friend and decided to eat at Willamette's Goudy Commons.  It was SO GOOD.  Anyone can go there, you don't have to be a student.  In addition to wearing a backpack and pretending I was much younger and more hip - the food was great and I can't wait to go back.

But Goudy isn't your alma-mater's cafeteria (ok maybe is it if you went to Willamette University).  I felt more like I was at a high end resturant with self-service.  All of the items are labeled to help you make food choices that work for you like "no gluten ingredients" or "vegetarian" or "vegan" or "farm to fork".  On any given day there is a station with tacos etc (and OMG are they good), a grill station, sandwich station, pb&j station, soup, salad bar, and the list goes on.  They even have a dessert station that typically has GF items.

This day we made a bad call on when to arrive and the place was packed with students (had we waited 15 minutes it would have cleared out).  So I opted for the salad bar with GF pear vinaigrette and GF tomato-basil soup all for around $6.50.  They accept a school account, cash, and credit.

My one recommendation would be to check when school is in session, as I did make the disappointing discovery one day over the summer when I arrived only to find it closed.

What is your favorite thing to get at Goudy?

Wild Pear (Salem, Oregon)

The place where ladies lunch (for ladies who lunch)

For those of you who have not been to the Wild Pear restaurant in downtown Salem - you are missing out!  It has a fun atmosphere and healthy delicious food.  Wild Pear has been a treat-spot for me for some time, a place I go when I want good food and a good visit with a friend (or my Mom!).

Their menu mentions what is gluten free, and our waitress was very helpful about what was possible.  For example, she volunteered that all though the sweet potato fries were themselves gluten-free, they were fried in the same fryer as other things (too bad, they looked really yummy!)

I didn't have a lot of time for lunch before my next work meeting, so I opted for the ginger-carrot soup and salad (the one soup one salad on the menu).  I have to admit, this Wild Pear soup is a favorite soup for me, a soup for all seasons, and it was perfect yet again - and gluten free too!!.  Next time I'll have to try their gluten free pizza.....