McMinnville

McMinnville-One of the 6 foodiest towns.
​Bon Appetit magazine named McMinnville one of the nation's 6 foodiest towns. And with places such as Thistle, La Rambla and the food cart El Paraíso, where they serve beef tripe, brains and juicy chunks of tongue, pork stomach and skin, and mild goat  -- we agree. Was parked recently in the AutoZone parking lot, 101 N.W. 15th St.In acknowledging the town's food scene, Bon Appétit highlighted two things: Thistle, with it's hard-line emphasis on local; and the International Pinot Noir Celebration, the July festival that draws 3,000 people to drink -- "the grandest wines imaginable."  At Thistle, they say "We get the whole animals. We get a half a pig at a time. You get a whole lamb, a whole venison, a whole rabbit, ducks. We use every single piece of it to make a menu for a night. Legs get used, livers, hearts, kidneys, bones, everything, down to the oink."This town is also the home of the Evergreen Aviation Museum, home of the Spruce Goose airplane. In naming its foodiest towns, Bon Appétit wrote that it looked for places with concerned farmers, first-rate restaurants, dedicated food media and a community of food lovers, all in towns with fewer than 250,000 people, "or with a small-town feel." In addition to McMinnville, the magazine named Big Sur, Calif.; Traverse City, Mich.; Louisville, Ky.; Ithaca, N.Y.; and this year's winner, Boulder, Colo. Check out those restaurants above or any other fine McMinnville Restaurant.

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If you go to McMinnville 
Thistle: 228 N.E. Evans St., 503-472-9623, thistlerestaurant.com 
La Rambla Restaurant & Bar: 238 N.E. Third St., 503-435-2126, laramblaonthird.com 
Red Fox Bakery & Cafe: 328 N.E. Evans St., 503-434-5098, redfoxbakery.com 
Golden Valley Brewery & Restaurant: 980 N.E. Fourth St., 503-472-2739, goldenvalleybrewery.com 
Tacos El Paraíso: Was parked recently in the AutoZone parking lot, 101 N.W. 15th St. 
International Pinot Noir Celebration: Late July