Eugene dining & activities

[ Jump to: Lunch options near the conference | Dining options farther afield | Eugene activities ]

About Eugene

Eugene is a small city of 155,000 people. It is an hour by car from the Oregon Coast to our west, and from the Cascade Mountains to our east. There are many outdoor recreation opportunities in the area. The city and the surrounding area are home to many microbreweries and wineries. There is also good food, and much good coffee.

For those NWAV participants staying in Eugene on Sunday, we will be offering a trip to a local winery, where you can see the beauty of the Southern Willamette Valley and taste some of the areas local wines.

Lunch options on/near campus

In the EMU (the conference venue):

  • See full list of EMU eateries with links here
  • Falling Sky Pizzeria & Public House, a local pizzeria and brewery (also the site of the Student Mixer on Friday night)
  • Fresh Corner Market, a grab-and-go market that also prepares to order bowls, salads, soup, etc.
  • Subway
  • Chipotle
  • Panda Express
  • Joe’s Burger
  • Jamba Juice
  • Starbucks
  • Townshend’s Tea, a local tea house (no food, but tea, chai, lattes, bubble tea, and kombucha)

Elsewhere on campus is the Marche Museum Cafe (<5 minute walk from EMU),  for sandwiches, salads, soups, and good coffee drinks.

There’s also the Cart de Frisco (<6 minute walk from EMU), a food cart parked at the entrance to campus on 13th and Kincaid, for Thai street food.

Just south of campus (links go to restaurant entry in Google Maps; all are ~12 minute walk from the EMU):

If you’re in the mood for something sweet, Sweet Life is an amazing bakery (catering to many dietary restrictions!), and there’s also Prince Pucklers for ice cream, and Oolong Bar for delicious teas.

Just west of campus (links go to restaurant entry in Google Maps; all are <10 minute walk from EMU):

Dining options farther afield

The Whiteaker neighborhood, about 1 mile west of downtown (and 2 miles west of campus) is a funky little neighborhood that is a great destination for eating and drinking (for example: Izakaya Meiji, Tacovore, Grit, and Wheel Apizza Pub for restaurants; and Ninkasi Brewery, Oakshire Brewery, Sam Bond’s Garage, Wildcraft Ciderworks for breweries and cider houses).

The Downtown area is also home to some great dining options (for example:  for restaurants and bars/tasting rooms, Party Downtown, Party Bar, The Barn Light, Falling Sky Brewing House, Claim 52 Brewery & Kitchen, Bar Purlieu, Lion and Owl, Civic Winery and Wines, Sizzle Pie, Black Wolf Supper Club, and The Bier Stein; and for coffee shops, Farmer’s Union Coffee Roasters, Noisette Pastry Kitchen, The Barn Light, Townshend’s Teahouse, and Meraki).

The Fifth Street Market area also has a variety of restaurants, bars, and coffee shops (for example: Akira, Marche, Marche Provisions, Cold Fire Brewing, Sweet Cheeks on 5th, Oregon Wine LAB, and Tailored Coffee).

As you can see, we have many local breweries right in town, with wineries and distilleries a short drive away. Eugene Cascades Coast offers a Tasting Trail site & app to guide your tour of local breweries, wineries, and or distilleries.

Although we hope you have a chance to explore the area, we also hope you spend most of your time with us at the conference; we’ve got a great reception on Thursday and party on Friday planned for you!

Eugene activities

More information on local tourism can be found at the following sites: Eugene Cascades Coast and Eugene Weekly.

The Saturday Market and Lane County Farmers Market (9am-3pm) are well worth a visit for local food, crafts and music.

There are two museums on campus, the Museum of Natural and Cultural History and the Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art.

If you’re looking to have an adventure out of town, the Oregon coast and the Cascade mountains are around an hour’s drive away:

  • To the west: From the sandy southern coast with 500 ft sand dunes, to the historic riverfront in Old Town Florence, to the picturesque Heceta Head Lighthouse, to the breathtaking rocky cliffs of the northern coast, the Oregon coast is well worth a trip!
  • To the east: See amazing waterfalls, marvel at the Dee Wright Observatory’s lava landscape, and gaze upon serene mountain lakes. Mountain bike epic trails, charge the river rapids on a guided trip, dip in hot springs, or cast out a line along the banks of a pristine spring-fed river.