Many folks travel the Interstate 5 corridor on the way to fly-fishing adventures. There are many well-known eateries along Interstate 5, but some are better than others. There are all of the normal fast-food chains, of course. A taco from “The Bell,” or an everyday cheeseburger from “The Arches” will fill you up, but it’s not really good food. I like great food. Only great food at reasonable prices will work for this hardworking guide. Everyone who visits restaurants in their own area knows who has the good food and who doesn’t. The eateries where I eat — and where I send friends, family, and fishing guests — must be great.
Recently, I had a fishing guest of mine text me out of the blue. He said, “Looking for a great burger and I just got onto Interstate 5 from Highway 505. Time limits.” My response was simple, “Jeff ’s Freezette, in Colusa.” Later that afternoon, I got a text that said, “Fantastic burger, you’re the man.” I replied, “LOL.” My wife, Kirsten, and I are actually pretty good cooks. Many of our fishing guests love the homemade chili, chicken noodle soup, or fancy grilled chicken Caesar salad that we serve on the boat while we guide. We also like to cook great food at home, at the cabin, or while we are traveling to our fishing destinations in our RV. We know food, but many of the restaurants we patronize offer more than just great food. They offer the fly fisher and camper (RV or not) food that is ready to go and easy to warm up. Granzella’s in Williams, Two Buds Barbeque in Red Bluff, and the 4th Street Café in Orland do just that. Granzella’s offers different spreads, from artichoke and garlic to pesto. The 4th Street Café offers homemade soups to go and take-and-bake entrees. Two Buds Barbeque offers all their food to go, such as their homemade soup and mac and cheese, which are great in a saucepan on an old Coleman stove — good chow at better prices and healthier for you than that old can of soup.
Jeff’s Freezette
Jeff ’s Freezette is located in the sleepy little town of Colusa. This family-owned business has been a mainstay in Colusa for decades. I remember having burgers there as a teenager after high school games. It has great food that is served with a smile and a great selection of milkshakes.
I rediscovered Jeff ’s in the seven or eight years when my kids were playing high school sports for Willows High School. Colusa is always on the schedule, and I always schedule Jeff ’s as our dinner spot. Jeff ’s never fails to put a smile on my face. They do get busy, and because it’s a small-town hangout, sometimes the food service is just a tad slow. What is an extra five-minute wait for such a great burger?
My mainstay order from Jeff ’s used to be the double cheeseburger with everything on it. The bun is a simple sesame seed bun with the secret sauce generously spread on. The beef patties and cheese are hot, and the tomato, onion, lettuce, and pickles are ice cold. Now that I heed the advice for aging folks to use more moderation in their food choices, I have changed my mainstay to the cheeseburger with just a single beef patty. Everything else stays the same. I couple this burger with a small order of fries and an iced tea with lots of ice. Man, what a burger.
Jeff ’s menu includes hot sandwiches, hot dogs, onion rings, deep-fried mushrooms . . . and the list goes on. The milkshake selection is huge, with all the different ice creams and toppings. Kirsten always gets the milkshake with her burger. She says she has never had the same milkshake twice, so that tells you how many possible milkshakes you can get.
Jeff ’s Freezette, 854 10th Street, Colusa; (530) 458-2831. Open seven days a week, 11:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m.
The Slough House
One of my new favorites, the Slough House is located right on the river in Colusa. It once was called Steelhead Lodge. It has new owners, great food, and great cocktails, served to you by the nicest staff you will ever meet.
The Slough House isn’t like Jeff ’s Freezette — this joint is a place to sit down, relax, kick off your boots, and watch the boats on the river: a place to unwind. Their menu consists of burgers and original sandwiches, or as the Slough House calls them, “Sammiches.” They also have excellent great salads and side dishes.
My favorite two “Sammiches” are the Big Chicken Mac and the Knuckle Sammich. You can’t go wrong with either of these as complete meals, and after one, you’re done for the day. The Knuckle Sammich is brisket and carnitas hash topped with beer cheese and sliced white cheddar on Texas toast. The Big Chicken Mac has two crispy chicken breasts, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, and onions on a Sriracha bun. Both come with kettle chips or fries. As I said, they are a meal. The Slough House has a great bar, and they make a wicked Bloody Mary.
My wife I have always talked about just ordering the Big Chicken Mac with a side of the Slough’s original beer cheese and splitting it. That never happens. We always leave with boxes for later.
The Slough House also has a huge RV Park and boat ramp that are available to fly fishers, travelers, and boaters. To launch and park your truck and trailer is $15 a day. You can also tie off to the boat dock and walk up to the bistro to have lunch or dinner.
The Slough House, 3249 Butte Slough Road, Colusa; (530) 456-3010, www.sloughhousesocial.com. Open Sunday, Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday, 11:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m.; Friday and Saturday, 11:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. Closed Tuesday.
The 4th Street Café and Bakery
One of my favorite places to eat breakfast and lunch is the 4th Street Café and Bakery in Orland, California. These folks have great food at great prices. I was introduced to this little restaurant by my niece Caitlyn (aka Caity). She is a senior in high school and got herself a weekend job at the café to have some play money.
The café is a local hangout and is hidden in the middle of downtown Orland. It is just five minutes off Interstate 5 and a stone’s throw from Highway 32/ Walker Street.
This small café offers tons of great food. It also offers it in gluten-free versions. Everyone has multiple choices on the menu. They also offer take-and-bake entrees and my favorite homemade soup, which you can take home or take camping. Just warm it up, and you have soup that beats the old Beanie Weenies. They also have a pastry case of freshly baked pastries, everything from cinnamon buns to brownies and lemon tarts.
For breakfast, I order the Hearty Breakfast all the time. It has three eggs, two pieces of bacon, and two sausage links (they will let you have all bacon or sausage— just ask) with hash browns and an English muffin. You can change the hash browns to their country potatoes, and you can change the toast to your liking. With a cup of hot coffee, this is a winner.
For lunch, I love the turkey club sandwich. This isn’t just any turkey club. It has hand-carved roast turkey breast (with pieces still having the skin left on), crisp bacon, Monterey jack cheese, green leaf lettuce, tomato slices, and slivered red onions with mayonnaise on toasted sourdough bread (thick slices). I get mine with their hot and crispy steak fries. You can custom order this sandwich, and they also have choices of sides. They also have all kinds of salads, burgers, and wraps to choose from.
The 4th Street Café, 824 4th Street. Orland; (530) 988-9030, www.4thstcafe.com. Open every day except Tuesday, 8:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.
Granzella’s
Granzella’s Restaurant and Deli has become a landmark on Interstate 5, and many fly fishers are aware of it, but most folks haven’t taken the time to check out everything Granzella’s offers. The Granzella family still owns and operates the restaurant, bar, deli, and gift store. The restaurant and bar are at the northeast side of the building. On the northwest side is the deli area, and along the south side is the shopping area. The shopping area has thousands of bottles of local and other fine wines, as well as Granzella’s own line of jarred foods, including olives, pesto, artichoke and garlic spreads, and many other items. There is also an ice cream parlor.
Every time I am in Granzella’s, I pick up some 24-ounce jars of my favorite garlic-stuffed olives. On my last visit, I instead grabbed a jar with both garlic-stuffed olives and jalapeño-stuffed olives. The jalapeño-stuffed olives are my new favorites. I love having them in my Bloody Marys.
Granzella’s offers breakfast, lunch, and dinner, along with deli sandwiches. They have a wide selection of burgers, salads, custom entrees, pizzas, sandwiches, and soups. Kirsten and I love their pizzas, especially the chicken pesto pizza. This is topped with Granzella’s own pesto sauce, grilled chicken, mozzarella cheese, Granzella’s marinated artichokes, roasted peppers, mushrooms, and onions. The pizza dough is handmade and light and crisp. You can also get a gluten-free pizza crust, too. The large is huge, and we usually take half of it home. You can build your own or order one of their original pizzas off the menu.
Granzella’s also has a 60-room motel right next to the restaurant. The motel offers clean rooms at good prices and has many charging stations for folks with electric vehicles to use at reasonable prices.
Granzella’s Restaurant & Deli, 451 6th Street, Williams; (530) 473-5583, www.granzellas.com. Restaurant open Sunday to Thursday, 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m.; Friday and Saturday, 8:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. Deli and bakery open Sunday to Thursday, 7:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m.; Friday and Saturday, 7:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m.
Two Buds Barbeque
Two Buds Barbeque is my wife’s favorite barbeque place in California. (She has favorites in multiple states, especially Texas.) Two Buds is not a looker or even a place that you would stop just to try — it’s in a revamped Shell station at the edge of the Red Bluff city limits, southeast on Highway 99 toward Chico. It is an easy place to get to, though, located on Antelope Boulevard–Highway 99, east of the Interstate 5 and Highway 99 intersection. Highway 36 branches off Highway 99 just east of there. Kirsten and I stop there all the time when we are headed up to Lake Almanor.
This place has great food, reasonable prices, and a great staff. I have had everything on the menu at one point. My favorite is simple: half a chicken with a small cup of their homemade potato salad. This is very hard to beat. In the winter, I switch from potato salad to either the homemade chicken noodle soup or the mac and cheese. The chicken noodle soup is original and different. It is always amazing. I have tried to copy it multiple times, but still need more original samples to try to figure out their secret. The soup has big, thick egg noodles, barbequed chicken, (no skin), corn, green beans, chunks of potatoes, and lima beans (Kirsten’s favorites), all in a cream of chicken and mushroom soup.
Two Buds Barbeque, 592 Antelope Boulevard, Red Bluff; (530) 528-0799. Open Monday to Saturday, 11:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. Closed Sunday.
