Depending on where you are riding from, or to, Lynnwood may be a stop along the way or a stop as you ride home. Either way, you can’t go wrong at the Rock.

The official name is The Rock Wood Fired Pizza, and you can just tell what their specialty might be. But wait: the Rock is also a micro brew house, with a great selection of cool frosties! This place is very biker friendly, and family friendly as well. In fact, the sign and the truck that the restaurant uses, were both painted by Mike LaVallee, the guy in Snohomish who does all the cool airbrushed flames!
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The décor is dedicated to classic rock and roll. Even the menus are part of it; each one is a reproduction of a rock album cover, but inside is the food, and what great food it is.

The menu has sandwiches, a kid’s section and appetizers, but wood-fired pizza is what the Rock is all about. There are about 20 menu specials to choose from and most are inventive, tasty and quite the departure from the usual pepperoni and cheese fare.

My partner and I decided to custom-build ours, and that’s the real attraction at the Rock. We went with a three cheese (mozzarella, Swiss and ricotta) blend with white sauce, sweet sausage, olives and hot peppers. Man, was it great! They just have two sizes and the large is a 15 incher that worked out fine. The small size is 11 inches.

Prices run in the $10 - $20 dollar range, and you can get a lot of food for that money. Good parking out front, with visibility of your ride, is a plus. The Rock is right at the corner of 40th and 196th SW. There is good access to I-5 just two blocks away.

I went down and checked out Uncle Jack’s last night and it is a lot more than I would expect from a pool hall. There are at least twenty-five tables, in a smoke-free atmosphere, with a full bar (tables there, too) and a restaurant kitchen. The place is clean, well lighted and there is plenty of room around the tables.

Now to the food. The menu is more varied that I expected and the quality of the food is WAY beyond the usual fare for a spot like this. I had the Chicken Supreme sandwich, and all I expected was a basic sort of meal. Wrong! I got a marinated chicken breast, basted with an olive tapenade and fresh spinach greens on a pannini bread that was huge! They included a choice of beer battered fries, baked or mashed potatoes or a salad. It was just $8.95. Unbelievable….I took half of it home. My partner had a grilled salmon aioli, which came on a bed of arugula with roasted potatoes and blanched vegetables. It included a salad and the whole meal was $10.95.

This is not what we were prepared for at a pool hall. The menu has things like wings, burgers, ribs, various sandwiches and salads and a nice selection of appetizers, plus specialty drinks and finger foods.

Overall, it’s a great place, and it’s got good bike parking out front, too. I give it an 8 out of ten. (No dancing girls…what can I say?) BTW, the tables are brand new and the cues are straight! After 11PM, it’s over 21 only.

You can’t miss the Bluebird Cafe, if you ride down the main street in Arlington. It’s on the west side of the street in the middle of town. The sign is what I’d call ‘quaint’ and the food is all about good old fashioned American home cookin’!

Inside, it’s quiet and cool and the booths are cozy and welcoming, yet you can see the street and watch your bike. They seem to like everyone who comes in and the place has many regulars. I try to order the “Chicken Fried Steak” or the “Meatloaf”, cause they are literally just like Mom used to make. But, I don’t think you can go wrong, no matter what you order.

Most meals come with a dessert, and they have fresh pie and good strong coffee to go with it. A breakfast there, is worth the ride and the pancakes are light and mouth watering! It’s such a nice place, you could take your dear old grandmother there. For a guy who has family in rural Montana, and well remembers the little small town cafe’s there, this place is a taste of home.

Just three words: Have the pie!