The Office 842 — Restaurant in Longview

This is a local institution owned by the same owner as the Triangle Tavern, IIRC. It's named after the location, because it's right next to these mortgage offices at 842 WA way. If they really wanted to name the place after the most prominent adjacent business model then it would be called "fast food" because of the Wendy's right next to it.

Atmosphere 7/10: The place is conspicuously bougie, and has a big old propane fire pit to warm you outside if inside is full like it was when I went, but eating and drinking outside in the wind while cars and trucks thunder across Washington way isn't super warm if you dressed for the sunny day you'd been out for. Maybe a me problem, maybe just like kind of a bad location, but one that provides the entire conceit of their bar as well, so not one they want to change soon.

Food 7/10: The $18 fondue is legitimately rather boozy, and if you like the taste of white wine with gruyere then you should go for it. I powered though an entire fondue because bae decided she didn't like the wine and cheese combo.

They make so many plates of fondue that the cheese-absorbing bread and apple and celery seems to be rather cheap which is a shame, because the cheese they use is so good. Their desserts aren't worth what they charge for them, and you might be able to make many of them at home. But they are still tasty. Haven't tried any of the rest of the menu, but I hear it is good, but I also heard the fondue here was good, so YMMV.

Drinks 8/10: I have a policy of not ordering anything that I could easily make myself with a trip to a liquor store and grocery store or just a grocery store even, here in WA, but The Office 842 does indeed have several drinks on the menu that are delicious as heck and involve too much stuff for you to want to have the ability to recreate them, and one drink that they won't even tell you the recipe for, so don't ask. That is actually my fave, the pear passiontini. Overall it's a nice, bougie bar! Well drinks are $4.50. happy hour beers are $4. You are paying for the ambiance and inside the place is pretty nice. They even have a business in the morning serving espresso drinks before they transition over to mostly alcohol with some coffee/booze cocktails in the evening. In theory one could eat every meal of the day and drink every drink of the day there, if one could afford it.

Service 10/10: the staff know what's up and how to manage a busy house and were very professional. They even tried to re-light our fondue torch when it went out. Respect. They handled everything like champs. Go here for strong drinks, priced accordingly, and...

Casie was the perfect server for our group. She handled us nicely.

Update 06/08 I came in just before brunch ended and snagged a corner seat across from the bar. (Where I usually sit twice a week for 3+ hours to do homework). I find it easier to do my work with my back to the restaurant, and my air pods in. I sat down, and a lovely lady named Brenna? Greeted me, gave me my menus and we engaged in a small conversation. I began to order when this lady came up and said “can I have your id” I was just a bit disheveled from the immediate switch to another person and abrupt conversation switch. (I’m shy and have a hard time with transitions I guess) I thought about it a moment, and said yes, and asked if the whole place was a bar (because I don’t know, I don’t work here and didn’t pay attention to the signs I guess) all while pulling my ID out for her because my hands were doing a task while my brain was asking a question. She stands back, puts her arms out and says “from here forward is a bar” and I said “oh okay, he’s my ID” and asked I’m handing it to her she said “sorry you’re so offended that I need your ID” and this just threw me for a loop. Nothing up to this point was offensive, or rude, and I’m not sure where this came from. We’re clearly different kinds of people, as what she felt was offended was a shy/quiet person actually trying to make conversation to learn more about the establishment. Cue me crying when she walked away because I HATE confrontation. Talk about embarrassing. I want to mention that this is my favorite place to be for work. The staff, the environment, the food, all great.

If you’re reading this, I encourage you to approach and converse people who are clearly reserved or shy with a bit more kindness. People asking you a question about this place shouldn't warrant unkind statements or behavior. I hope that you’re able to adjust for all the patrons that come here, being able to handle a wide range of personalities is key to customer service. I, too, work in customer service, and a rule for me is never...

An update follows this original review:

We really wanted to like this place more than we did. We were the only customers there at the time. It was about 10:30 a.m. I recently found out that this place had breakfast. So we were anxious to try it out. I ordered the breakfast flatbread. I found it it was a little crunchy on the bottom. Overall it looked good and the flavor was okay. But my hunch is they're using a mix for the Hollandaise band country gravy. I also had orange juice and it came served over ice. The flavor reminded me of canned orange juice. She ordered the Berry liege waffles. She commented they were a little on the dense side. A side of bacon , 4 slices, were flavorful, very thin and just a bit chewy. She ordered an americano coffee drink. She thought it tasted a little weak. She requested a regular coffee with a shot of espresso in it instead. They took the espresso drink away. They didn't charge us for it though which was good and appreciated. Our server was attentive but didn't hang around too much. I did notice the bar area was rather noisy with employees over there talking. A place has to be good enough the first time we try it to consider coming back again. We may try dinner and drinks some evening though. We will probably not be back for breakfast. I uploaded pics but the one of the breakfast flatbread didn't turn out. I'll double check my photos next time before I dig in.

10/24/2024- I was out with friends this time for appetizers, drinks and desserts. I'll update with drink and food names as soon as I'm able to. We were happy with the drinks and appetizers. So dinner and drinks were definitely better than our breakfast experience. The atmosphere was nice and comfortable in the evening. I uploaded pics of all our drinks, appetizers...