Recently (well, several times!) the Foodies crew had the pleasure of chowing down, er, eating, at the Depot Restaurant and Cafe up on Old Skyway in Magalia. If you’re not familiar with the Ridge – that chain of towns running up Skyway from Chico, Magalia is the second settlement you’ll run into. Home to around 17,000 in and around town and supporting another few thousand out in the hills, Magalia’s big claim to fame is the 49 pound (not ounce) gold nugget found there. That and the guy who used to play Radar in M.A.S.H used to live there.
The Depot is a nicely and recently converted – yep, you guessed – railroad depot. The tracks used to support the lumberyards further up in Stirling City and the mining operations all over the area. While the depot itself has hosted at least one other eatery, The Depot did a nice job overhauling the building, inside and out, before opening for business. This past summer they also added a large deck for comfortable meals looking over the forest. The decor is casual and naturally features rail details from artifacts to pictures of the area when the depot was really a depot.
Decent food is a rare commodity on the Ridge and so when The Depot opened and the food was more than decent, the crowds came. From homemade biscuits and bakery goods to BBQ made on-site in their outside smoker, The Depot has a great selection of American and American-ized comfort food. Breakfast includes quiches (and yes, real men DO eat quiche!) as well as normal cafe breakfast items, plus the bakery items. Lunches offer burgers and salads, plus a few different BBQ items. Dinner is new and weekends feature prime rib from that smoker. Worth the drive, my friends!
On this particular Sunday morning, we chose a time between services (hey, it IS a small town in the foothills. The only thing that rivals in number the liquor stores are the churches.) and got a seat right away. Given the popularity here, that’s not always so easy! The dining area is clean and neat and there’s plenty of room between tables to get in and out. I never really see many folks mention that, but it’s important if you have friends who have trouble moving easy or you want to fit a infant seat in a chair. The staff was friendly and very present.
We got our requisite cups of (pretty darn good) coffee and perused the offerings. I chose the Brisket Hash with a couple over easy eggs on top and she selected some whole wheat pancakes. Some folks had mentioned long wait times, but we didn’t experience that. A very reasonable time between arrival and ordering and ordering and eating, I thought.
Brisket hash includes brisket cooked on that smoker for fifteen hours. Oh, and it tasted it, too. While a tiny bit bland (understandable as there are an abundance of retired and retirement age folks up here and their, er, our stomachs don’t always take too well to heavily spiced items), just a pinch of pepper took care of that. Unlike a lot of places that mix in their own meat, this was not lacking in the protein department – plenty of brisket filled my plate. Excellent!
Her pancakes disappeared in short order so it’s fair to say they were enjoyed as much as my brisket hash was.
I’m the kind that, unless we’re talking dinner on a weekend, looks for that check soon after folding the napkin for the last time. I was not disappointed. In fact, that could be the mantra for the entire visit – I was not disappointed.
I’m looking forward to my next visit – dinner on a weekend where I can sit back, enjoy some ribs and maybe some of that brisket without eggs and a Sierra Nevada Pale Ale or two.
Take the time to visit the Ridge someday. Nice drive up the Skyway through Paradise and onto Magalia past the small lake that feeds Paradise water then through the nearly non-existent Lovelock and Toad’s Town and up past Stirling City (visit the incredible park there!) and finally Inskip at the top. If you find yourself along the path, stop by The Depot in the old depot and try out their BBQ. Might make the name of Paradise a little easier to believe when it’s 110 out. And tell em Foodies of Northern California sent ya.
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