The Foraging Angler: Mount Shasta, McCloud, and Dunsmuir

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Mike & Tony's: Italian dining in Mount Shasta.

For every “Foraging Angler” column, I gather the list of restaurants I might feature and, like Santa Claus, check it many times. The ones that make the cut are, first, places where I love to eat. Second, they are sole-proprietor operations — no chain restaurants. They of course must have great service and above all great food. Many of these restaurants have received decades of my patronage. This issue’s column focuses on eateries in the upper Sacramento River and McCloud River drainages. They are also places that you can visit while traveling on Interstate 5 to Oregon and back to California.

Mike & Tony’s Restaurant, Mount Shasta

Mike & Tony’s is a place I have known for decades. I probably have entered by the kitchen’s back door more often than by the front door. Back in the 1970s and 1980s, my dad ran a route in this area for Made-Rite. Made-Rite was a meat company that sold many products, from hot dogs to bulk hams. You name it, they had it. Often, while my dad was carrying in the order at Mike & Tony’s, I would sit in the kitchen, and the ladies would make me breakfast. Many times, I already had eaten breakfast, but I never said so. It would break the hearts of the ladies in the kitchen.

This place holds lots of memories for me. It’s family owned and family operated, an Italian restaurant that always makes me think I should have worn my looser-fitting Wranglers. Everything is great on the menu and made with the family’s own recipes. Gino Fiorucci and the staff do a wonderful job.

A visit to Mike & Tony’s would not be complete without ordering their homemade minestrone soup. I don’t know what the secret ingredient is, and nobody will tell me the recipe, but it is good. I think it’s a hint of cinnamon, but

I’m not quite sure. Maybe it is the soup and being in Mount Shasta together that makes it so good. It could also be all the fond memories that come rushing back. The soup is prepared with fresh ingredients and is on the stove long before most folks are out of bed in the morning.

My favorite entrée is the chicken Parmesan. This dish has it all — a crisp, butterflied chicken-fried breast that had been double-dipped in homemade batter and fried to perfection. Mozzarella and Parmesan cheese are melted over the top with a splash of the homemade marinara sauce. The dish is usually served with a medley of grilled carrots and green beans. It hits the spot, especially with a bowl of minestrone soup.

Kirsten loves the pasta carbonara. The Mike & Tony’s version is made with penne pasta, sweet peas, carrots, and Mooney Farms sun-dried tomatoes. The dish is rich, and she usually eats only half. She thinks this dish is the best Italian entrée she has ever had. She orders it with the house dinner salad.

Mike & Tony’s Restaurant, 501 South Mount Shasta Boulevard, Mount Shasta. Phone: (530) 926-4792; website, https://www.mikeandtonysms.com. Open Sunday and Monday, 7:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m., Thursday to Saturday, 5:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.

The White Mountain Café, McCloud

This café is both a high-mountain country eatery and a new and used bookstore — they even have fly-fishing titles in stock. The café is open for both breakfast and lunch, and Kirsten and I have had both menus at this small café. The owners, Jenna and Nate Bowman, pride themselves in serving great food using great ingredients at a reasonable price. I have two favorite breakfast dishes. The f irst is the country-fried pork chop and eggs. Yes, sir — a pork chop. The pork chop is top-notch, and my mouth is watering just thinking about it: it’s golden, crispy, and when you cut into it, juicy, with a bonanza of flavor. To make it even better, it is topped with a hash browns are just what I call filler. The chop is the main event. Kirsten is also on board with the chicken-fried pork chop. She gets her eggs over hard, and she orders the fruit bowl.

The White Mountain Café
The White Mountain Café in McCloud offers breakfast, lunch, and books.

My other favorite dish — and I know you folks will not be surprised by this — is the tasso pork belly hash and eggs. Do I have to say anything else? This mixture of delicious pork belly and country potatoes is a rock star. Of course, your cardiologist will give you a dirty look if he or she hears about it. Both of these dishes will give provide enough calories to let you fish all day. You will need to, in order to burn it all off.

For lunch, my favorite is the Rubenburg sandwich — a beef patty topped with thinly sliced pastrami, melted Swiss cheese, and homemade sauerkraut. All of this is pinned in a brioche bun with house-made Russian dressing. This is Kirsten’s choice, too, if she doesn’t get the wedge salad —a huge wedge of crisp, ice-cold iceberg lettuce topped with applewood bacon, creamy, rich country gravy. The eggs and slivers of red onion, and blue cheese crumbles. Kirsten gets the blue cheese dressing on the side. I have to admit that on a hot summer day, the wedge salad is a great choice.

The White Mountain Café, 241 Main Street, McCloud. Phone: (530) 945-0499; on Facebook at https://m.facebook.com/whitemountaincafemccloud. Open Wednesday to Sunday, 8:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.

Floyd’s Frosty, McCloud

This is another hamburger joint, but not just another hamburger joint. This place is on my top five list for great hamburgers. They also have sandwiches and veggie burgers for all you folks who are gluten free. The staff will be happy to help you get the food you want.

Before we talk burger, let’s talk onion rings. Floyd’s has superb onion rings, the real thing: a sliced onion battered and deep-fried to perfection. The rings come out hot, crispy, and when dipped in ranch dressing — well, the angels start to sing and the trout come to the dry fly! They have great French fries and tater tots, too, but you need to start your cardiac day with a basket of rings. I share them, but you could make a meal with them alone.

Floyd's Frosty
Floyd’s Frosty in McCloud has great onion rings and hamburgers.

My favorite hamburger at Floyd’s Frosty is the sourdough burger. The standard sourdough burger comes with two beef patties, two slices of cheese, and four strips of bacon. I have had that version just once, and I swear that a little voice inside my head told me to drive to the emergency room right away. Now I just order the regular bacon cheeseburger and ask for it on sourdough bread. The bread is toasted and crisp. The burger patty and is nicely melted. On the other side of the burger are the ice-cold veggies — a perfect marriage. I usually don’t order fries or tots with my burger, just a basket of onion rings.

Kirsten goes all out — she gets a shake first, usually, the half banana and strawberry medium shake. Then she orders the turkey melt and shares the onion rings with me. The turkey melt is wonderful: hand-carved turkey on toasted sourdough bread with your choice of cheese and ice-cold veggies, if you want them.

I always stop by Floyd’s if I am in the area fishing or heading back to Lake Almanor from Oregon. It’s a perfect pit stop.

Floyd’s Frosty, 125 Broadway Avenue, McCloud. Phone: (530) 964-2394. Open seven days a week, 11:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.

The “Yaks,” Mount Shasta and Dunsmuir

Although Yaks on the 5 and the Yaks Shack are owned by different people, they work together to the benefit of both eateries. I am not a coffee guy, and the Yaks started as a coffee shop, but over the years, the eateries have become about more than just coffee. They’re mountain pubs and hamburger and sandwich joints and a great place to have a beer. I am not a beer guy, either, but if I do drink beer, it is an IPA. The Yaks carry my favorite Hexagenia IPA from the Fall River Brewing Company. I had to put them in the column just for that. They also serve great food. These places are a win for the fly fisher looking to get a cold beer and a burger.

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Yaks on the 5, in Dunsmuir: Not just coffee, but burgers, cold beer, and more.

Yaks on the 5 in Dunsmuir is owned by Nancy and Mike Kerns. They have had this joint for many years and serve some great food. I have ordered many of their burgers, but the burger I like the most is the “Vo Vo Voom Burger” — they have names like that for all their burgers. The Vo Vo Voom is basically a mushroom-topped burger, but it is more than that. Spicy pepperjack cheese makes this burger sing. I order tater tots with this burger. Kirsten again goes all out. She likes the “Manbourbon Bacon Burger.” This is topped with Yaks on the 5’s famous brown-sugar-glazed thick-cut bacon, hot melted aged cheddar cheese, and a squirt of aioli. She uses many napkins with this burger. I wash mine down with a Hexagenia IPA.

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Yaks Shack in Mount Shasta: losts of options for breakfast and lunch.

The Yaks Shack in Mount Shasta is owned by Alyssa Williams. This Yaks offers breakfast sandwiches and a wide variety of options for lunch. This is just not a burger shop. Kirsten’s favorite is the chipotle bowl: rice, smoked chicken, bacon, black beans, and fresh veggies, drizzled with a homemade chipotle sauce. Kirsten doesn’t like spicy food, but she loves this bowl. I have ordered a couple of different items off their menu. My all-time favorite is way down on the menu under the heading “Sharables.” It is the Hot Mess. It is a feast: a generous portion of freshly fried French fries topped with smoked chicken, bacon, and cheddar cheese and drizzled with house-made asiago ranch dressing (I order an additional cup for dipping), all of this sprinkled with freshly cut green onions. It hits the spot!

Yaks on the 5, 4917 Dunsmuir Avenue, Dunsmuir. Phone: (530) 678-3517. Open seven days a week, 12:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.

Yaks Shack, 401 North Mount Shasta Boulevard, Mount Shasta. Phone: (530) 5688121; website, https://www.yaks.com. Open seven days a week, 7:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m.

Railroad Park Resort, Dunsmuir

Who doesn’t like eating in a railroad car? That is what you will experience when having a meal at the Railroad Park Resort. Mark Lilley, the owner of the park, and his staff have done a wonderful job with everything inside the park, including the food.

The only meal I have had there, though, is breakfast. We found this place by chance. Kirsten and I were traveling to Oregon a couple of years ago and got hungry. We had planned to eat in Mount Shasta, but I Googled breakfast places outside of Lakehead, on Interstate 5, and ended up with the Railroad Park as the first choice. They do breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and after talking to friends, I have heard good things about their other menu offerings.

Dunsmuir's Railroad Park Resort
Dunsmuir’s Railroad Park Resort: an unusual setting for a restaurant.

My favorite breakfast there is the corned beef hash and eggs. Their homemade, down-home corned beef hash is perfect: tender pieces of corned beef, sautéed with onions, green and red sweet peppers, and of course cooked with crispy hash browns. I have had bad hash and great hash, and this hash is at the top of my list. Add a couple of eggs cooked to medium and a toasted English muffin, and you’ve got a rock star breakfast before you head out to fish the upper Sacramento or get back in the car to head toward another fishing venue.

Kirsten’s favorite there is the make-your-own three-egg omelet. She makes hers to match what we call a “Mary’s omelet,” which became famous at Carol’s Café at Lake Almanor. Kirsten’s omelet includes bacon, mozzarella cheese, avocado, cream cheese, and mushrooms. She loves it. She also orders the fruit bowl and sourdough toast. I have ordered this omelet, too, and it was great, but I usually stick with my corned beef hash.

Railroad Park Resort, 100 Railroad Park Road, Dunsmuir. Phone: (530) 2354611; website, https://www.rrpark.com/dining-car-restaurant. Open seven days a week, 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. for breakfast and lunch. Happy hour, 3:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. daily. Dinner, Thursday and Sunday, 5:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.; Friday and Saturday, 5:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.

Café Maddalena, Dunsmuir

Many of our friends have told Kirsten and me that we need to eat at Café Maddalena, and when we finally made it to the café, we fell in love with its charming décor and Mediterranean bistro flair. The owners, Bret and Nancy Lamott, have done a fantastic job, and their great food lives up to what we were told about it.

Despite all my talk about burgers and onion rings, I actually like the Mediterranean diet. I love the fresh fish, veggies, and the cheeses that are characteristic of Mediterranean cuisine. The café’s menu changes when the seasons change. The winter menu is what Kirsten and I ordered from on our most recent visit.

Cafe Maddalena
Fine Dining in Dunsmuir: Cafe Maddalena.

The appetizer that we ordered was the prawns sautéed with white wine, garlic, and herbs, served with polenta. It was amazing. The prawns were cooked spot on, and the polenta, which is one of my favorite comfort foods, was creamy and rich, a great combination. For my entrée, I ordered the cassoulet: duck confit baked with white beans, aromatic vegetables, and braised pork shoulder. It was off the charts: rich, thick, with chunks of tender duck, and the braised pork was excellent. I have tried to mimic this dish at home, but I am still working on it. My wife’s cousin, who is a chef in New Mexico, sent me his recipe. Kirsten frowned when I ordered this dish. She wasn’t impressed with it on the menu. After she tasted it, she was jealous.

That night, Kirsten ordered the beef tenderloin in a red wine sauce with dauphinoise potatoes and broccolini. She loves broccolini. Here in Willows, the local grocery stores don’t stock it, but we buy it at the farmer’s market from a family that grows it in the little community of Artois, just north of Willows on Interstate 5. She let me taste her dish, and it was wonderful, as well.

Café Maddalena, 5801 Sacramento Avenue, Dunsmuir. Phone: (530) 235-2725; website, https://www.cafemaddalena.com. Open Thursday to Sunday, 5:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.

1 comments
  1. You have to try the Indian place in Mt Shasta-it’s the best Indian food I’ve had in a looooong time. Hari Om Shri Ram. Great family-owned place with a great view of the mountain!

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