Roaring Rapids Pizza Company — Restaurant in Oregon

I was planning a quick road trip through Oregon and wanted to pre plot out stops to conserve time. In looking for a place to stop for lunch, I found Roaring Rapids Pizza Company. My mom had never been to Oregon before and I thought she'd really enjoy having lunch along the Willamette. But, as it happens, she also loves to ride carousels, which made this the perfect place to stop for a bite.

We ordered a pizza and a couple drinks. My mom was so surprised and excited to see the beautiful carousel on our way to the back patio. The atmosphere created by the Willamette was so wonderful. It was just a beautiful afternoon and we had a delicious, fresh pizza to enjoy atop the riverbank, while listening to the mini rapids and watching the locals along the opposite shore.

Unfortunately, when we came inside to take a ride on the carousel, a sign said only children under 12 could ride. We were super bummed, but we enjoyed the rest of the visit before hopping back on the road.

This place is definitely birthday party central. I think there were 3 children's parties going on just while we were there. The patio was wonderfully quiet and...

When we visit, it’s mainly for the carousel ride located inside, near the back of the building. It runs for free every 15-20 minutes for the kiddos. Adults aren’t allowed to ride the animals, but can stand with their kids on the platform. There is a small arcade also with claw prize games, a pinball machine and air hockey table.

The kids pizza with a drink was around $8. I’d say it’s pretty reasonable, but as an adult, I paid $17.99 for a small spinach pizza and another $8 for a “side salad”. I made sure to load my salad plate from the bar for that price. HOWEVER, the craft beer was $4.95 and a great deal in my opinion.

The spinach pizza disappointed me a bit. They slapped some fresh/not baked tomatoes on top of a hot pizza and it looked pretty unappealing. I took off the cold sliced tomatoes and just ate them with some ranch from the salad bar. Not a total loss. The pizza was also overdone and had chewy crust.

My kids pizza looked great. Nice and cheesy and cooked right.

We love the fun environment here! There’s plenty of parking and we always have...

I got the lunch pizza buffet. The counter person gave me a plate, fork, beverage cup; she put the beverage cup upside/drinking side down on the counter, where surely many hands, money, etc. had been that day...... The salad bar is pretty decent and all that stuff seemed to be fresh. The pizza: it's savory/tasty enough, but fairly chintzy and modest when it comes to toppings and cheese; plus they cut it into 1/2 to 1/3 size slivers, and two times out of the four I went back there was only one pizza pan with a few slices of 2 varieties. It's very family, kids large group oriented, which is fine, but 95 percent of the tables are pushed into big "8 tops". They do have a more intimate side room with smaller tables and a TV but that was closed. The outdoor dining is nice with a great view of the river and they have a nice ongoing variety of mostly jazz bands the perform many evenings during the summer. All in all it's a nice destination for families especially during the day but the main attraction, the Pizza, could be a little...