Dine in style by the Columbia River + Niche Asian store in Kennewick + Taco Crawl 2023

Drumheller’s Food & Drink at the Lodge at Columbia Point is fully open after months of construction.

The approximately $2 million project gave the upscale hotel in Richland an all-day food program by converting two guest rooms into a commercial kitchen, next to the main floor dining room.

The main floor dining area was remodeled into a traditional restaurant space and expanded to seat 54. The deck overlooking the Columbia River seats another 24.

Michel Gabbud, general manager, said the project was a disruptive but important addition to The Lodge, 530 Columbia Point Drive.

Since its debut in 2017, The Lodge offered limited food service from a small kitchen on the second floor. There were “gaps” in the afternoon that led guests to seek meals elsewhere.

Now, Gabbud said, it can feed hungry guests and visitors from 6:30 a.m. to nearly midnight every day.

Brunch is offered from 6:30 a.m.-2 p.m. weekdays and 7 a.m.,-2 p.m., weekends.

The brunch menu combines typical breakfast and lunch offerings in a single menu. There are eggs, and waffles, a brunch burger with egg and bacon, a vegan burger made with a Beyond Burger patty and carrot bacon, and a mix of standard lunch fare such as sandwiches and salads.

If a guest has a hankering for a chicken sandwich at 6:30 a.m., it’s available, he said.

Bar service, including food, is available from 2-11 p.m., daily.

Dinner is served from 5-10 p.m., daily. The menu retains fan favorites such as potato and braised leek soup, steak and seafood dishes and various salads, including a chargrilled Caesar salad. Gabbud said the menu will be refreshed quarterly to keep the offerings current.

The hotel kept the second-floor kitchen as a banquet and catering kitchen. It also expanded the second floor River Room by about 20% to accommodate private events and serve as an overflow area for heavy demand days such as Thanksgiving or Mother’s Day.

Drumheller’s is named for the late Tom Drumheller, the CEO of Escape Lodging, the hotel’s Cannon Beach, Ore.-based operator. He died shortly after it opened in 2017.

For menu or reservation information, go to lodgeatcolumbiapoint.com/drumhellers-food-drink/

Golden Triangle Asian Foods

Aung Soe and Thet Mar Win opened Golden Triangle Asian Foods in Kennewick on March 25 after spying an opportunity to provide niche foods to Burmese refugees, as well as to Asian cooks in the community.

The husband-and-wife entrepreneurs moved from the Portland area to open the small store at 2810 W. Kennewick Ave., next to the Coin Cradle in a strip mall near Rite Aid, Carl’s Jr. and Coyote Bob’s Roadhouse Casino.

Soe said the store sources foods and ingredients from Burma, Thailand, Laos and Myanmar — Southeast’s “Golden Triangle.”

Sao said he will seek out items customers ask. There is strong interest in Japanese and Korean ingredients, he said. That includes seasonings for Thai cooks and sushi dishes, as well as cases of bubble teas.

He and his wife were inspired after a recent visit to the Tri-Cities, where fellow Burmese refugees said there were Asian stores, but none catering to them.

They chose their store for its proximity to Highway 395, he said.

Indian chickpea flour noodles, spikes, Bihan Kababs and Buldak Ramen are some of the more popular offerings. The latter, he said, is a spicy but tasty take on the ramen noodles carried in mainstream grocery stores.

“A lot of Americans ask for it too,” he said.

Golden Triangle is open 10 a.m.-7:30 p.m. on weekdays except for Wednesdays and from 10 a.m.-8 p.m., weekends. He reserves Wednesdays to pick up his order from Portland.

Pasco Taco Crawl 2023

The annual Pasco Taco Crawl to benefit the Boys and Girls Clubs, runs April 21 to May 6.

To participate, purchase a Taco Crawl voucher booklet for $32. The booklet provides vouchers for tacos at 20 Pasco vendors. Online ticket sales have closed, but some booklets are available. Visit pascotacocrawl.com for details on when and how to buy them.

Crawlers vote for their favorite at Karla’s Snacks, 524 W. Lewis St., by May 5 and the winner is announced during Cinco de Mayo festivities.

The 2023 taco vendors are: Powell’s Inferno, Juanito’s Foods, Jocho’s Tacos Restaurant, El Antojito Mexican Restaurant, Aqueria Buenavista, Trejo’s Mexican Restaurant, Tacos El Paisano, Don Rubio’s, El Pollo Sabroso, Tacos Mi Casita, Guadelajara Style, Donita’s Tacos, Tortilleria Morfin’s, Tacos el Cafetal, Super quesadilla Gigante, SM La Cocina (in SuperMex), Taqueria El Sazon (Court Street), Taqueria Las Marias, Helados La Michoacana and Tacos La Quinta.

Mezzo Thai BBQ debuts

Mezzo Thai, a former restaurant turned food truck, debuted its “mini BBQ” truck at Summer’s Hub, the food truck court at 6481 W. Skagit Ave, Kennewick.

Owner Jacqui Wright converted the former ambulance into a mini food truck offering pad thai, green papaya pok pok salad and larb.

Mezzo Thai restaurant closed on Gage Boulevard in 2021 and began selling its dishes at SOI 705 The Parkway in Richland.

Follow its progress on Facebook.

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