I nearly skipped this place thinking "I'm not much of a taco fan." However, my husband loves tacos…read moreand wanted to try it, fortunately for me. We ended up coming back the next day without hesitation for 2 days of tacos in a row and I'd return in a heartbeat if ever back in Hood River. These tacos are addictive! With their mix-and-match fusion menu, your taco of choice can really taste any way you like. The Hawaiian taco with grilled shrimp was my favorite, but I also enjoyed their Thai taco with chicken. I wish I could have tried all of them as everything featured good, fresh ingredients. Don't skip the drinks here either. I usually avoid cocktails but they offered to make their frozen margarita spicy for me and I couldn't resist -- fantastic! The service was over-the-top amazing. This is a casual restaurant where you order at the counter, seat yourself with a number, and wait for your food to be delivered. Service at such establishments is usually pretty perfunctory, but not at Love & Hominy. The servers are all super friendly and seem genuinely enthusiastic to be working in their restaurant. That in itself says a lot. As mentioned, this place is casual but still fun and eclectic. While eating your tacos in-house, check out the wall on the entrance side. It's pretty entertaining to look at.

Love & Hominy is a rather small restaurant in downtown Hood River, seating only perhaps 25 people…read morein a mixture of tables and countertop seating. It's a brisk business, so while ordering is counter service style, the tables turnover quickly. When we visited at 12:30 on a Sunday afternoon, there was a small line ahead of us to order, but only around 5 minutes or so after we ordered, several tables cleared out and we were able to sit down. The food took about 15 minutes to arrive. Combo, Vietnamese w/ Pork, Mediterranean w/ Chicken, Salsa ($15.50) - The chips, half moon shaped, seem to be fried in house, being really thick, great for dipping with no breakage, and perfectly crunchy. They have somewhat of an oily sheen on the surface, but aren't overly greasy at all. They aren't salted too heavily and instead seem to be slightly sweetened. The salsa included in this meal is refreshingly tangy and creamy. It's completely mild, though, with no hint of heat whatsoever. The chips easily dip in without getting soggy. The tacos all seem to use the same base - a fried corn tortilla heavily seasoned with a doritos locos-esque spice mixture, then filled with tender basmati rice. I believe they store a bunch of tortillas filled with rice sitting in trays, which can then be grabbed off the shelf to customize to order. That would explain why the shells get completely soggy and why the sauces are all applied on top of the rice rather than below. They are also wrapped in aluminum foil, which allows the rice to basically steam inside the taco shell, creating more sogginess. Overall a disappointing base. The Vietnamese combines fish sauce and banh mi pickles, combined with sweet creamy kewpie mayo drizzled over the rice and thinly sliced cucumbers as a second wall complementing the taco shell. The pickles and cucumber are crunchier than the shell. There are jalapenos but there's no heat at all. The pork is shredded and tender with a somewhat smoky quality, but there's not much included at all, perhaps only a tablespoon or two of meat. It's mostly vestigial against the massive amount of pickles on the top. I'd say the flavors are somewhat similar to a vegetarian banh mi. It's definitely missing in the meat department. There are so many veggies piled onto this taco that things fall out left and right while eating. The Mediterranean includes acidic pickled onions, a slaw lightly dressed in vinaigrette, thinly sliced cucumbers, a bunch of salty feta, and shredded mint leaves. There's some tzatziki drizzle, but not enough to make a huge impact. The chicken is shredded very finely and again not given in enough of a quantity to really do much for the taco. I feel like the chicken is precooked white meat, similar to the chicken in those packaged salads. Combo, Thai w/ Chicken, Tex Mex w/ Shrimp, Queso ($15.50) - The queso is served warm. It's thick and cheesy, tasting like pretty standard queso with again no heat whatsoever despite tiny flecks of red. The Thai includes a red bell pepper, cabbage, and edamame (why edamame?) slaw, lightly dressed in a peanutty and sweet vinegar. On top of the rice is a thicker peanut and ginger drizzle, enough to give some freshness and boost the umami. The overall flavor profile does remind me of an Americanized Pad Thai with mostly sweetness and nuttiness and no tamarind fruity tang. The Tex Mex is interesting. They actually char the corn quite well, so it's sweet and smoky in flavor. They add the same queso as the dip for the chips, then cilantro and then soy bacon crumbles, which I found to be disturbing in texture, almost like crunchy egg shells. They do include three or four pieces of sweet shrimp which aren't overcooked. The seasoning on the taco shells doesn't work for me. The flavors clash with the unique ingredients used in the creative tacos. In addition, I'm so confused why they use the same rice base. I guess it's a cost cutting measure? They add a ton to every taco and it spills out all over the place. They could easily amp up the unique qualities of each taco. For example, cilantro rice for the Tex Mex, Jasmine rice for the Thai, vermicelli for the Vietnamese. It's okay to use rice, but it's just such a boring and uninspired base when they are trying to be so creative with the flavors. It feels like filler used to cheapen up the tacos. I have similar feelings towards the meat. It's the same for every taco, no uniqueness in flavor or texture. The only thing different are the toppings and the slight bit of sauce on top. Just think - for the Vietnamese, sweet lemongrass grilled pork, for the Tex-Mex, lime chile grilled shrimp, etc. Then again there's so little meat included in the first place. Overall I left a little disappointed. It seems to be targeted towards people who want fusion food without straying too far away from Americanized roots. It's just not for me. Bathrooms - Single unisex room. Note: Love & Hominy charges a 3% credit card fee

Gluten free pizza! The pizza was great and they did have a gluten free crust. Likely some cross…read morecontamination (it is a pizza place) but I didn't have any issues as a celiac. The star of our meal was the roasted carrots. Absolutely incredible and can't wait to go back to try more of the vegetable options. Busy place, there was a wait for 2 people but it allowed us to explore the river while we waited.

We had the Sweet & Spicy pizza and absolutely loved it. The chili crisp ricotta on it was SO good…read moreand gave it the perfect kick without overpowering the flavors. We also had the Caesar salad, which was lightly dressed - exactly how I like it. Fresh and simple alongside the pizza. Only warning... be prepared for the $10 NA canned beer. Ouch. But overall, definitely worth checking out. Service was great.

Service, food, ambience it's great! The BEER QUALITY 100 %…read moremy favorite brewery. IPA lover. Please add your chicken and waffle to your daily menu, BEST I ever had!!!!

Was in the area for the day and I pulled up my Yelp app to search for places to dine & grab some…read morelunch. This popped up & I read the reviews. It looked great so I stopped in. It was busy as it was right around peak lunch hour. There is both indoor and outdoor seating. I opted to sit indoors because the wait for outdoor seating was over 15 minutes. I ordered the fish and chips and a flight, which came with six choices. I loved the fish and chips. The fish was made perfectly not a lot of batter which is the way I like it & as for the flight I opted for 6 IPAs. All were so good but my favorite was the tropical IPA. Staff were really friendly. There's street parking. The six I chose were: IPA 6.8%, 65 IBU | Citrus, Pine, Tropical Fruit SOUTH PACIFIC IPA 6.8%, 45 IBU | Nectar, Gooseberry, Pineapple WEST COAST IPA 6.8%, 45 IBU | Strawberry, Cannabis, Tangerine, Bright TRINITY WEST COAST IPA 7.0%, 50 IBU | Grapefruit, Lemon, Berry, Pine TROPICAL HAZY IPA 6.3%, 35 IBU | Pineapple, Mango, Passion Fruit HAZY IPA 6.8%, 35 IBU | Clementine, Tropical, Fluffy

The Tonya has the best homemade wrap I've ever tasted... A hint of coconut, and unlike most wraps,…read moreit doesn't overwhelm the rest of the sandwich. Delicious! My husband had the Italian, which he loved. My grandson had the grilled cheese and it was loaded with everything he loved, cheese! A fantastic discovery, as we were driving out of town.

It was difficult for us to find a nice celiac-friendly place for lunch that would allow us to bring…read moreour dogs, but this cute little store met all our needs! They have plenty of outdoor seating for your little pups, though the water dish they left out was unattended to. As far as food, they had a whole plant-based menu to meet my vegan needs. More important, they were able to make a gluten-free sandwich for my partner with celiac. They took precautions to minimize cross-contact with gluten items, including wrapping the sandwich up separately and bringing it out to us first before bringing out our gluten containing items. The three in our group had mixed reviews on the food quality. I enjoyed my reuben very much. My partner and his mom thought their food was okay, and their portions were too small for the price. As far as the actual store goes, they carry a lot of what your typical natural foods store or food co-op would carry, though the prices seem more along the lines of what a Whole Foods would charge. For example, $3.50 for a single avocado. Considering that they are a small business in a somewhat touristy town, I guess that is a sound business decision. All in all, a good experience, just expect to pay a little more if you are going to shop or eat there!

Mugen Noodle is such a great find, especially if you, like me are traveling with vegan and…read moregluten-free peeps and don't want anyone settling for the sad "side salad option." The vegan and GF choices here were actually exciting. My friends ordered the vegan Khao Soi and the Kati noodle soups, and both were full, thoughtful dishes, not afterthoughts. It made dinner so much easier and way more enjoyable for our whole group. This isn't a traditional ramen shop, but my husband's black garlic chintan was every bit as satisfying as some of our favorite ramen spots back in the Bay. Rich, comforting, and absolutely worth ordering at $19 for a hearty bowl. (The others were slightly pricier at $24 a pop) That said, the star of the night was my spicy shrimp ramen. Easily. The broth reminded me of a laksa base with a deep, layered flavor heavy with aromatics and umami. The shrimp on top were excellent in their own right, perfectly seared, well-seasoned, and not just a garnish pretending to matter. I also want to give the ramen eggs a shout out. I can't believe how many places get this wrong. These beauties were perfectly marinated and served warm. It's one of my biggest pet peeves to have an ice cold ramen egg dropped into my hot soup and I appreciate the consideration given to addressing this common faux pas. Fast service, a beautiful outdoor patio with a great view, and food that genuinely impressed all of us. Highly recommend if you're in the area.

Excellent food, excellent service! We were visiting Oregon and took a chance on Hood River…read morerestaurant options. This was SUCH a win. I'm usually not a huge fan of ramen only bc I'm not used to it but I can't stop thinking about this ramen dish. It was the perfect meal. I wish I lived closer so we could go more. The kids had fried tofu. My older son ordered buttered noodles and didn't like it but I think that's bc he doesn't really like butter at all (and idk why he ordered it haha). I think he was hoping for something soupy. The little guy ordered chicken off the kids menu and it had a little teriyaki sauce - the kids both ended up eating that and loving it. My husband ordered a pork ramen dish and was so happy w his choice. I asked them to make mine "medium" Spicy which - big mistake- it was too spicy for my weak self! I ended up asking them for like some sort of coconut broth to bring down the level of spice and they did without batting an eye and ensured that that broth was vegan as well despite my forgetting to ask them to make it vegan. The ambiance was very family-friendly and medium-loud chatty noise which is good for kids. After we finished they had tshirts and practice chopsticks and other items to purchase by the register and my husband, who loves collecting tshirts to remind him of places/events/etc as a souvenir purchased a Mugen tshirt! The kids purchased two practice chopsticks. One of the folks in the restaurant graciously asked us if we were visiting and then proceeded to give us ideas of where to visit in the city. It was a very warm and hospitable feeling. We know PNWers don't like to talk to people but the restaurant folks were so friendly that we felt welcome. Thanks for a great experience!!

Excellent! Food, staff and atmosphere were all great! Just passing through but I would for sure be…read morea regular if we lived closer.

We stopped in after the morning rush for breakfast before heading west to hike to several…read morewaterfalls in the Columbia River Gorge. Needless to say, coffee was first priority, but we also were looking for a decent breakfast to keep us going. At 9 am on a Wednesday, we were the only customers in the place. The barista/waitress was very helpful answering questions about the menu, and even gave us a view tips on which waterfalls to visit. Our lattes were very good, but my Breakfast Sandwich with Barbacoa ranks as the absolute best breakfast sandwich I've ever sampled. Wow, such an incredible palate pleaser, and very large for a breakfast sandwich. I just wish I lived a lot closer! We hung out for 90 minutes waiting for the skies to clear before starting our day. Good wi-fi and comfortable surroundings. Definitely worth the stop!

Cuuute little corner cafe in Hood River. Stopped by after exploring some falls and their food was…read moredelicious! Simple, fresh & tasty. We all got different sandwiches and every single one of us loved what we got. Wasn't too busy on a Friday morning, plenty of open seating. They did have pastries as well but did not partake. Ordered the bagel and lox which was amazing- came with all the fixings such as tomatoes, capers & red onions. The salmon was fresh and the bagel was nice and toasty, just the way I prefer. Got to taste the sandwich with the jam and loved it. Kind of wish I got that sandwich instead just cause of the jam. The bread was really good too- I think they were homemade english muffins. Everything on the sandwich was just chef's kiss! All of the employees were really nice. The place was clean as you have to "buss" your own table. Glad that people can follow directions. The drinks my group ordered came out piping hot and was served with a smile. Cool spot!

We've been here twice, both times to grab sandwiches after a morning of hiking in the Gorge…read more They have a pretty big menu and offer options with soups, salads, and sandwiches, which I love! You order at the counter and they bring it out to you. The dining space is bright with tons of seating. I love that they make their own bread!! It's super soft and such a nice touch. I usually go with the turkey which has turkey, white cheddar, tomato, pickles, onion, lettuce, and hot mustard. It was a bit spicier than I would have liked, not that it was too hot, but that flavor was really dominant for me so I'd probably modify it a bit in the future or just build my own . My daughter loved her ham sandwich which comes with sprouts, avocado, and cucumber. My husband also really liked his Italian and their clam chowder. This place is definitely worth a stop if you are hungry in the Gorge!

The food was good. It is much more of a delicatessen than a restaurant. As a traveler having to go…read moreoutside and around the block to use a restroom would make me choose somewhere else next time I am in HoodRiver. The service was pleasant.

Really enjoyed our lunch while in town and the staff was friendly and helpful…read more I had a ham and brie sandwich with a side of macaroni salad. Everything had a nice balance of flavors and wasn't too saucy or salty. We also took home a chunk of Pecorino cheese to enjoy later. The interior was cute and they offer lots of local things like chocolate and kitchenware. Wish there was more seating. The bathroom is located around the building and on the first floor. You will need to ask for the key. It is a hike to get there, but it is clean and secure.