Get a Nitro card, you save .10 cents per gallon on gas. They have yummy biscuits and gravy, cookies…read moreand donuts. The employees are super nice, especially the ones who work in the late afternoon and evening.

A great stop to get fuel and snacks. It's clean and friendly. They have a table or two outside for…read morethose sunny days! Stop in for picnic, a snack, or a break!

"Miles from nowhere, I guess I'll take my time, oh yeah, to reach there."* The lyric from Cat…read moreStevens' song played in my head as we drove through open farm land for a 22 mile round trip detour from the turnoff on Highway 20 and back again to that same spot. The reason for the 11 miles in to Willow Creek Cafe and 11 miles back again on the last day of vacation was a piece of pie. Seriously. Do we regret it? Only that we bought just one piece to go. As we shared the slice of delectable berry pie at home that night we kicked ourselves for not buying a whole one. Or at least one slice each of the several kinds they had for sale. So this fan review is for the pie and the nice people who sell it at the cafe. Also I can share that it smelled wonderful in there and the owner told me they had just cooked up a batch of clam chowder, the soup of the day on that Friday in late afternoon preparing for the dinner folks. How it is that people make a go of a small business like this literally miles from nowhere, it is after all 11miles from the center of the remote little town of Vale, Oregon, is a mystery. In particular since all around is evidence of declining population and shuttering businesses in Vale itself. But the nice couple who own this cafe now purchased it as recently as 2015, I think, so they must see opportunity there for people to find and eat their good food. The convenience store associated with the cafe has shelves with minimal stocking. So while I couldn't say one should drive out of their way to pick something up there, the pie sure is great. Rumor is they have good home cooking too for breakfast, lunch and dinner. If past performance is a predictor of the future, I sure believe that based on having had the pie. Cat's song continues: 'Lord my body has been a good friend, but I won't need it, when I reach the end." I should have thought about THAT lyric in the song when I was so concerned about calories to limit myself to a measly shared piece of this great pie. I should have bought a whole one. Now you know better. THIS N THAT: 1) VIBE: See photos. Cozy country cafe meets local watering establishment. Quilts on walls and booths in the main room along with counter seating at a bar. I noted ads for happy hour and it appears they have been and wine. There is a room in the back with more seating at tables and chairs and booths along with a big TV and a pool table. I took a photo of that room but didn't post it because on the day of our visit the owner's brother was stretched out in one of the booths taking a nap after a day of hard work. While I thought that was endearing to see, and describe, I was pretty sure the guy might not find it so funny to see a photo of it on shared. 2) PARKING: Gravel lot. 3) ACCESSIBILITY: Convenience store is level in. One step up between convenience store and cafe. Main door of cafe is step up from parking lot. Side door of the cafe - to right of main - has ramp. However, that door is kept locked. If you need to use it you'll need to call ahead so they can unlock it or send someone in to ask for it to be unlocked. Once in, cafe is all on one level. Standard height seating options. Didn't check the loo. 4) WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU DON'T KNOW THE SONG?*: Here it is as sung by the talented and sexy Cat in a 1976 concert. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JTmebIjKFwU

After my breakfast at Shangri La in Boise, I ordered a falafel sandwich to go and made a quick stop…read moreat the Boise Co-Op to stock up. Then - I got on the road and headed to Oregon. At a red light just before the freeway, another motorcyclist waves at me and came across traffic to to introduce himself as a fellow ADV Rider who had seen my request for recommendations for motorcycles with tires in stock and wish me safe travels! As I head out of Boise, I am sad to note that one of the freeway over-crossings has a big sign for "Black Cat Road" - but there aren't any nearby offramps and I don't want to do a 15 mile detour to get a picture of the sign. The terrain becomes more agricultural and I can smell spinach and onions at the same time, like a big Greek salad! My plan for the next several days is to stop before I think I need to - and hydrate more. My stomach is still a bit off - so I stop at a store that promises alcohol, tobacco, firearms, pawn and cold drinks for a rest stop. But still - no signs of any parks or any place to really sit down and relax. From there, I go from nice rolling farm land onto Hwy 26 where the farmland is flat and hot. Lots of big big ag completely lacking places to stop to eat my sandwich. Finally, I stop at Willow Creek Cafe (http://www.facebook.com/WillowcreekStoreCafe/) in Vale, OR which is half convenient store and charming cafe where the walls are covered with these amazing Log Cabin quilts that have rounded edges and curves (with Log Cabin? how can log cabin be curvy, I thought) made by Bev, the owner. Bev gave me the okay to eat my sandwich at one of their tables (no outside tables), I ordered iced tea and settled in to find myself regaled with macabre tales of true crime and dumbassery by a farmer and his adult daughter at the adjacent booth who were talking with Bev when I arrived. Once the tales of true crime (some dentist killed his wife by strangling her with a piano wire or something) are exhausted, talk turns to travel and "what are you doing on that motorcycle?" The farmer and his daughter (who appears to be about my age) talk about her brief time in Portland - which he thought was quite dangerous, and then he proceeds to tell me about his trip to Oakland with a load of onions, also quite dangers. We discuss my route and the three of them agree that there is absolutely nothing redeeming to see on my route - it's just not nice - and I'd be better off taking the shorter route. After warning me how dangerous it is in eastern Oregon and that there are bad people who might cause me harm, the other two guests leave. Now that I have her to myself, I get Bev to lead me on a grand tour of her quilts, she graciously answers my questions and gives me her two instruction books so I can learn to make such awesome quilts myself! All in all - a great slice of life and I'm so glad that the Willow Creek Cafe was here for my lunch break - it was a lot of fun and I can't wait to play around with Bev's quilt patterns.

Always cleaned & stocked which is nice. Gets pretty busy due to the location, they could send help…read morefor the other staff up front during that time.

Staff are friendly and helpful. The place seems clean. My only complaint is that their fountain…read moredrinks seem a little watered down. I just buy a bottled one instead.

Putting my money where my mouth is. Stopped in a couple weeks ago for the first time and and wrote…read morein my last visit that this joint would be a great place to get Idaho merch as a souvenir. My husband and I are heading to Georgia next week and wanted to get a small gift for our host. So, JD's was the first place we thought about hitting up. There are so many options of gift ideas while we were breezing through the store. I was fascinated by the cute metal mugs that they have in the front. But the tea towels on the other side of the store, next to the pinball machine were beautiful too. After much debate, I decided on the cute metal mug with the fun Idaho facts all over it. I would want one of my own so I might have to come back and snag one. I also got a bar of Idaho huckleberry chocolate to put inside the little mug. It's going to be the perfect little gift for our host. My husband was too busy looking at all the refrigerated drinks. He found the Sprite + tea combo. We have yet to see that in any gas stations by us so that was a neat find! We also found another Calypso lemonade that we have yet to see as well. It was cool finding those drink choices here. The sweet gal that helped us last time helped us again today. She rang us up and a we chatted a bit. She said she remembered us from our last visit. I don't know if it's true but I'm flattered if she did remember us! Either way, she was great and made our little visit there fun. This bodega is dope and I'm happy we came here today to grab our drinks and presents. I'll always recommend this joint to locals or out of towners if they are looking for Idaho merch or a drink. They have some near stuff here and the sales gal is super kind. Plus you gotta support beautiful small businesses in our city.

Very cool vibe with a pretty good selection of snacks and candy and things you wouldn't think you…read morewould need in a pinch like shirts and souvenirs workers very nice and TVs with team USA soccer on!

Stopped on the way through on a road trip and let me tell you this is one of the cleanest gas…read morestation stops I've seen in a long time. Everything was stocked, wiped down, and do I dare say smelled pleasant! Staff was super friendly and they had a wide variety of snacks and food.

I love doing a review when I receive great customer service..it was Kecia at this location..I have…read morebeen to different locations and its not always the same thing..I asked Kecia if you can make me a special order since I am sticking to a diet..and she smiled and said yes..so i told her she made it and it was very good..I truly appreciate that she take time out of her busy work to make it for me..thank you so much and management please recognize Kecia for her outstanding customer service.

Recently remodeled with new gas pumps, including diesel. Jay's has a great selection of snacks,…read moredrinks and anything else you may need for a road trip. They have a nice hot food rack for a quick breakfast or lunch. Definitely a good choice for the last stop on your way to Hell's Canyon or McCall!

First to Review…read more This store is a very small, semi-clean, and often has expired merchandise. It's located in the heart of the Farmway Village, a Caldwell Housing Authority Unit that my former Mother-In-Law lives in and I frequent on the weekends. This place has all sort of things for the over 800 people that live in this area. Some of the things they sell are can foods, milk, junk food, meat, and other groceries. Many of the items are Costo bought and resold, again many things at or near the expiration date yet it's very convenient for the people that live here. Many of the people that live here are lower income and unable to get to town to get to the store and this place is a good alternative. Oftentimes, they will have a sell outside of homemade tamales or enchiladas. The owners of this place are friendly. In summary, it doesn't compare to any convenient store of modern times, but for the location and their customer base-- it's A-OK.

Very polite and friendly staff! Always get good service. Pretty nice array of breakfast food and…read morecoffee selection. If you want beer go to "When You Gotta Habit!" across the car park because the selection here is limited, but otherwise I enjoy going here.

I go to this place almost everyday. It's like a recharging station for me and my wife. I always…read morefill up my mug with lots of ice and good unsweetened tea, as well as any treats I might need if I get a sweet tooth. The staff are wonderful and friendly. Ron and Jamie are there most times and are always really friendly and fun. If you live near Southside and Greenhurst, you should stop in when you need a recharge, gas, propane, sweets, you name it! Great establishment.

We had coffee and food and then our check very quickly. (We didn't want to be in there for very…read morelong and we weren't.) Food portions were more than enough. Booth was comfortable. Atmosphere was pleasant and I could tell that the air conditioner was on, which is a good thing. We both got the classic American breakfast. We both had very tasty coffee and the food also Was very good. Including 20 percent tip, it was about $40. Here is a photo.

All pumps had at least one broken option infrastructure was dated and the prices they charge for…read moregas and options in the store are outrageously bold for the conditions of the business. I'm OK paying a premium if you're gonna give me clean bathrooms working gas pumps and a friendly staff. However, this place had none of that so it felt like a money gouging scheme because they know they know you have nowhere else to go off that exit.