Simple Cafe

In a dining landscape often cluttered with performative fussiness, Cocorico on North Ist Street…read moreoffers a welcome recalibration. Chef Nat Borsi's modern Mediterranean haven is a testament to substance over style, a place where "farm-to-table" isn't a marketing slogan but a palpable ethos. The menu, which deftly avoids the trap of being overextended, delivers singular triumphs. The Mushroom Bolognese is a masterclass in vegetarian depth, a richly savory ragout that satisfies on a primal level. The house-made pastas shine; the Lamb Bucatini offers meaty, soulful complexity, while the Seafood Pasta is a testament to the pristine ingredients of the Pacific Northwest. For the carnivore, the Roasted Chicken is a beautifully simple, perfectly executed dish that speaks to the kitchen's bedrock technique. With service that is as warm as the intimate, welcoming ambiance, Cocorico is not just a meal-it's a cornerstone of the Ashland dining experience.

I'm really glad I listened to all the good reviews here on Yelp. Cocorico is a great restaurant. I…read morewas able to score a reservation for dinner about a week before we traveled to Ashland. Our table was in their patio space, which I actually like better than the indoor part of the restaurant. The patio space feels very open and has a lot of live plants in the planters that make space between tables. It was a little warm on the patio since it was 98 degrees outside, but they keep it relatively cool on this mostly enclosed patio. Our server was great. She was so friendly and fun to talk to. She helped us figure out what we wanted to order and checked in on us just the right amount. You can tell the food here is very fresh and homemade. We started with the Deviled Eggs, which are really special. I love how they serve them over a bed of crushed up potato chips as they give this dish some salty crunch. Next we had the Beet salad, which is marinated beets over a whipped cheese. The beets do have a strong vinegar flavor, but it's balanced out beautifully by the cheese. My wife ordered the Mushroom Bolognese, which was probably the best dish of the evening. This is an incredible, vegetarian dish that is so meaty without any meat. The finely diced mushroom sauce is so good along with the handmade noodles. Also, adding burrata to it gives it a perfect creaminess. I ordered the pork chop, which was also excellent and enormous. It did take me a lot longer to eat since it was a little hard to cut, the compote on top added a great sweetness, but I feel like it could've used more. Also, the polenta and grilled asparagus was awesome. Lastly, we got the Rice Pudding for dessert. It comes with a hazelnut crumble and a dolce de leche sauce. Normally, I feel like rice pudding has a kind of thin, milky consistency, but not this. It is think and has a wonderful texture. It is probably the best rice pudding I've ever had. The nuts give a satisfying crunch and the dolce de leche sauce is light and sweet. Disclaimer: we did order one dish we really didn't like. It was a special salad with endives and lentils. The server was happy to get us another dish.

The back patio at Cocorico is fully enclosed, heated, aesthetic and atmospheric

Deviled Eggs

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Market Fish special

Masons on Main

4.5(71 reviews)

The food is nice: we ordered the wontons, fried pork street tacos, and a spicy chicken salad…read more Everything tasted great. The ambience is mellow and quiet, with good music. The service is a little slow, due to this being a one-person operation when we visited during an unexpectedly busy lunch hour. Oh well.

Seating has expanded since our first visit with more options in the back, where live music is…read moresometimes featured. Chicken burrito was zesty with garlic aioli sauce. Clearly a new locals favorite with reasonable prices and down to earth service.

Sweet Potato Fries

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Small side fries to go

Brickroom

3.8(619 reviews)

Great dinner and service for our Friday evening. So surprised by the lovely beet salad. A tower of…read morebeets was so pretty. Never had anything like it. Enjoyed my mocktail and dinner of flat iron steak and mashed potatoes. See pics. Potatoes were nice and creamy. Steak a bit overcooked but tasty. Service was good too.

I hardly ever give a 1 star rating. But the attitude of the hostess the evening of 8/14/26 was…read morehorrible. We asked to be moved and her response was incredibly rude. All she had to say was "I'm sorry, I have no available tables to which I can move you." Both of us are locals, and we will be hard pressed to return. That said, our waiter recognized the tension and he was absolutely amazing. The food was "good", but this place could use a menu change! Cocktail was a very small serving.

Late-night ambience

Cubano Sandwich and fries

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Chardonnay

Alchemy Restaurant & Bar

4.0(345 reviews)

Nice place for a date night in Ashland, which we stopped by on our drive from Seattle to the Bay…read moreArea. I ordered the petit tender and my fiancé ordered the Alchemist's Creation. The latter changes seasonally--in our case it was a dashi broth with a variety of local mushrooms and vegetables. Both dishes were good, with my steak cooked perfectly and the mashed potatoes amazingly creamy without tasting too buttery; the dashi broth was delicious as well. We also split the steak tartare, the house bread, and the chips & dip (seasonal special) as appetizers. With the exception of the chips & dip, the appetizers were good but nothing outstanding. The chips & dip, however, were REALLY GOOD! I did not know you could elevate potato chips like that, but their house-made chips are delicious and I would highly recommend trying them. Both my fiancé and I were not a huge fan of the sauce (just a little too creamy, it's really smooth though so if you like creamy sauces you'll probably enjoy it!), but just eating the plain chips was amazing. They even brought us a second serving of chips for free since we hadn't used all of the dip! We also ordered a pear tart for dessert which I would also recommend getting! Delicious crust and good pear flavor.

Trivia: The nomadic Tatars (or Tartars) of this place are credit with the original steak tartare a…read moremeat they placed under their saddles to tenderize it and then eat it raw as they traveled. The star of the steak tartare was actually the bread. Most breads I have that look like this one are HARD and CRUNCHY and make a huge MESS. This one, while it looked the part, was soft and delightfully chewy. Perfect for the steak and the roasted garlic oil mix that accompanied the tartare. Service was okay. I felt like I was sort of an afterthought. One of the bartenders and other servers sort of took better care of me than my actual server. He did apologize when the second glass I ordered before my meal arrived as I was eating the last bites of my meal. The filet was a great cut and cooked perfectly. The au jus was barely needed, but good. The bar dining wasn't air conditioned and it was quite toasty. Not sure if the rest of the restaurant was air-conditioned. The patio was high level.

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Margarita with house made Tajín

MÄS

4.8(53 reviews)

0.2 mi

Such an intimate and amazing experience from the moment you sit down until you leave. Progressive…read moretasting menu featuring seasonal and unique food and wine pairings. Chef explains each dish and pairing in detail which makes it a unique dining experience in downtown Ashland. An absolute must try.

This is for the sushi restaurant- not the chef's table. My first visit to Ashland and the…read morerestaurants did not disappoint. What works great are the not so common choices. Trout and hiramsasa sushi rolls had great flavor! Pork belly sando was well balanced. The red snapper tostada was also a winner. Drinks were fun too. The only miss was the Nama dog - it's a basic hot dog, no more.

Uni hand roll

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Hamachi

Hearsay Restaurant Lounge & Garden

4.4(310 reviews)

Everything went well! The food was as terrific. The G&T was…read moreamazing. The ambience was so chill!! Art, music and menu couldn't have been more impressive. The service was top shelf. I wish I could give them 10 stars. When you visit Ashland it's worth your time and money!!

Our best food yet on the trip to Ashland!…read more Complex, well blended flavors, perfect cook and seasoning. Excellent upscale service. Good portion size. Even the butter was amazing. Enjoyed the speakeasy ambiance. Recommend.

Beautiful ambiance

Beet Salad

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Honey Moon

Larks Home Kitchen Cuisine

4.0(383 reviews)

Food 5/5 Service 5/5…read moreAtmosphere 5/5 Our reservation for two was at 6:30pm on a Friday night, we let our server know we had OSF tickets 8pm and we made it! Didn't feel rushed at all, enjoyed wonderful salads (caprese and the daily special arugula/strawberry) and entrees (meatloaf and the lingcod on beet puree special). We did not order wine or dessert, so I'm not sure what we missed, we'll have to go back sometime!

Had a nice dinner today at Larks…read more Good food - decadent - fried chicken was average but potatoes and gravy were great. The meatloaf and potatoes were very good. Prompt service. Elegant atmosphere - old school/classic/ fancy but no dress code. Yummy ice cream :) Recommend.

The inside from our seat

To celebrate our anniversary

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Warm Butter Cake with Cereal Milk Ice Cream

Peerless Restaurant & Bar

4.0(264 reviews)

0.2 mi

Came back here for a second time! Again the food was tasty for sure, the asparagus patelle was…read moreextremely tasty. I had 2 orders of the mushrooms and snap peas, and 1 order of the asparagus panelle. Both dishes tasty, ly only hiccup here is the portions are just very tiny. If the portions were larger here I would rank 5 stars but beings spending $55 with a tip and leaving after and ordering 2 entrees at an Indian restaurant. I would suggest only coming here if you are in the mood for more of a snack or just don't expect to be satisfied with the vegetable dishes. Small dishes are not specified online also.

Food, service and setting were terrific! Came for their Happy Hour (4-5pm) and had plenty so…read moredidn't need to order dinner. The outdoor dining space was lovely. The drinks were delicious, no skimping on their spirits... had a margarita, vodka martini and an old fashion. Then we had their crabby patty slider, 2 cheeseburgers, beets, gouda fries, wings and duck liver parfait with corn waffles. Wow, the favors were wonderful and portions generous. The 4 of us were stuffed.

Love an open kitchen

Duck confit

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Jar of fireflies. Mind blowing.

Sammich

4.2(613 reviews)

1.2 mi

Stop and get your Sammy here. I needed Gluten Free and they had some great bread. Even sold me a…read morefew loaves! I had some kind of Cuban sandwich and it was filling and delicious. We discovered Giardiniera there and fell in love with how it brightened the sandwich. The service was great - she looked up who supplied their Gluten Free bread and sold some to us. It was ask service with a real smile. The seating was outdoor, with fans and tables. Rustic but fine unless crazy hot or cold. No idea what they do then!

All seating is outdoor and that's okay when weather is good, but what about it is summer heat or…read morewinter cold? I won't know because I didn't see any reason to come back. Ordered a $20 sandwich (Tre) with potato salad , a Coke and cookie for $28 before tip of $5.50. But I had to bus my own table so why am I tipping so much. Could have added more meat (bread was good) and potato salad needed some seasoning - salt/pepper or more mustard.

Sammich, Bridge Street, Ashland. Today, we ordered through the kitchen window.

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Bird & Rye

3.9(152 reviews)

Good atmosphere, a little noisy, but I think that was expected. Some of the best fried chicken I've…read morehad in a long time, very well coated, nice and crunchy and juicy. Staff was very friendly and helpful.

There's so many options in the small town of Ashland for fun local restaurants, it can be hard to…read morechoose! However, if you have the chance to stop in Bird & Rye and love freshly fried chicken and some delicious local ciders, this is the place to be! The restaurant is pretty small and very bare bones, but that makes it feel more like a Midwest barbeque place and helps with the ambiance. Our server was quick and lovely and attentive, and we all had a variety of the chicken options, fries, and Mac and cheese. I will say the Mac and cheese was nothing to write home about, probably a 3 out of 10 for me. But the chicken sandwich was 10 out of 10 for sure. My partner had the Nashville hot and he said it was also a 10 out of 10. Definitely worth the stop and the chicken was to die for.

Games

Fried chicken Fried Chicken Thigh Sandwich

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Brick!

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Blue T.

9 years ago

I like it here. The food is fresh and clean. The owner is a sweetheart and so easy to support. I've got a soft spot in my heart for good, hard-working owners who are humble, friendly and take pride in their offerings. read more

Simple Cafe - newamerican - Updated September 2026

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