JORY

The only option at Allison Inn & Spa. The food is definitely fresh. They grow a lot of their own vegetables in their own greenhouse. Most of the rest coming from local growers.
I really liked the beet salad and the green salad. The main dishes were good but not as spectacular as their salads. The menu changes quite often depending on availability of ingredients. The menu choices are a bit limited, 4 – 5 starters. 4 – 5 entrees. 1 veggie, 1 fish, 1 pork, and 1 beef. Possibly a special. I really liked the butterscotch budino for dessert.
I must say the cookies at afternoon tea time were probably my favorite. The peanut butter was one of the best I’ve ever had. The sugar cookie was also good and the Christmas biscotti was awesome.
The ambiance is definitely quiet, luxurious but not pretentious. The service is top-​notch. The prices are definitely a little high but you pay for the experience and the service.
FYI, you can order from the bar menu if you don’t find anything you like on the dinner menu.
Breakfast was the same. Good (but not awesome) fresh food, great ambiance, and awesome service.

Oh my heavens. What a disaster!
I suggested this place to my Sister and Husband based on reviews here. Our experience? Awful, terrible, horrible, nope.
First off — we decided to sit in the bar where we found a cozy spot. Service was s l o w coming to us. Perhaps we parked ourselves too far away? I don’t know. There were not a lot of people IN the bar so we thought it was ok but it took quite a while for anyone to really acknowledge us, i.e., come over and take an order although several people made eye contact and then promptly ignored us.
Drinks were ordered. Old Fashions. 3 of them, all the same. We «chose» a liquor that it turns out was $ 14 per shot. Well, that is ok, no problem. BUT — we were all utterly shocked when the bill came and the drinks were $ 18 each! Reason? $ 14 for the shot of bourbon, and $ 4 for a sugar cube, a couple of shakes of bitters, and water. What? Are you kidding me?
We ordered the blue cheese burgers and fries. 3 of them for $ 17 each. We waited and waited and waited. While we were waiting, a table where a couple sat and they had come in after us but ordered before us (same thing as us) — got their food. Their burgers were not cooked right for them so they were very nice and pleasant about it and sent them back to be fully cooked.
While we waited and waited and waited some more — so did that poor couple.
Finally, after sitting there for ½ hour I need a refill on my water. Servers looked at me. Managers (I guess they were because they were dressed like managers) looked at me. Yet no one came over to refill my glass. Finally, my husband took my glass up to the bar and got water. Really?
We are waiting some more and my husband, when the server DOES come over to ask if we want another drink (my husband ordered another one — although he did not know the price at the time) — he asked about how much longer for our food. Oh, it takes anywhere from 20 – 30 minutes to get the hamburgers out. Interesting. Why did no one TELL us that when we ordered?
The poor couple across from us at the 35 minutes mark after waiting the 2^nd time for their burgers and finishing all of their french fries from the original order — finally get their new, correctly cooked order. It had been completely redone! Probably was at least 2 of our burgers but we couldn’t begrudge them. They were stunned.
We waited some more and then, finally, at about the 35 – 40 minute mark — our burgers arrive. In the meantime, getting no 2^nd drink, my husband went to the bar and cancelled same. Burgers were ok. Fries were just so so. All in all — not $ 17 worth.
Interestingly, a BIG party came into the bar and plunked themselves down around the fire. Probably 15 – 20 people. Guess what? I would say that everyone else in that bar, including us, was essentially ignored why people raced around to take care of that group. Does that make sense to you? It doesn’t to me.
I don’t know what rating this hotel/​spa/​restaurant has with anyone — but, frankly, I don’t know why anyone would GO there and put up with this kind of treatment. It was like none of these people had a CLUE as to what was going on. No one cared about customer service, At All.
Will never go there again and would not recommend you do either.

I had an incredible dinner last night. From the service, to the food, it was top notch. The menu was creative and masterfully blended a variety of flavors that were complimentary without overly complicating. The service (our waiter’s name was Moto) was just great. He took the time to explain and reexplain and re-​re-​reexplain the different ingredients involved in each dish. He never flinched or looked like he was pressed for time, just gave us his seeming undivided attention to ensure that everything was to our liking. I’d classify last night’s dinner as the best dining experience I’ve had in the Portland metro area.

Food good, but expensive. This was expected for our first night at the hotel, suite at $ 750 per night after taxes! By the way no coffee in the room, need to order room service! The restaurant was good even tough pricey! Our second night we had burgers and fries in the bar, the $ 17 burger and fries were good, $ 3 extra for truffle fries, really! The real kicker was, $ 18 for a $ 7 bottle of beer ridiculous! Manager’s comment, we have other choices! Really!

I liked my breakfast. The staff is incredible and I love the wood burning fire. The bacon was fresh and the eggs were perfectly poached. The only thing I felt the potatoes were too salty. I ordered an English muffin that was pretty good and their jelly/jam…yum yum yum!

We have stayed at the Allison for the last four years and always have dinner at Jory one night during our visit. It seems to get better each year. It is a beautiful space. The service is extremely friendly and knowledgeable. The flavor of the food are enhanced by fresh vegetables and herbs from their garden. The wine selection is huge, but the sommelier is great about picking out a wine to suit your meal. What was great, was that he brought us an extra glass of a wine (complimentary) that he knew would complement our first course, which it did perfectly.

We have always enjoyed staying at the Allison Inn and eating at the restaurant, Jory for breakfast and lunch. The one time we were here for dinner was on Valentine’s day a few years ago and it was meh! All the wineries we visited today told us we had to eat at Jory, so we gave it another try.
We sat at the Chef’s table, which is a counter height bar at the kitchen and you can watch them do their magic. The food was absolutely incredible. We started off with heirloom tomato soup with bacon and goat cheese crostini, Chinook salmon with an herb salad and roasted shishito peppers and finished off with the desert of truffle fries — yes, I said truffle fries. They looked so good coming from the kitchen that we skipped dessert and had the fries. They also served amuse bouche and palate cleansers like sorbet. Everything tasted fabulous and watching them cook was a real treat. Great job!!!

VERY DISAPPOINTING!
First of all the service was great and very professional! BUT… We could not get past the extremely slow dinner service, very small portions for extremely high prices and the food was on the cold side… but the presentation was excellent.
Even though I am giving it a poor review… The place was jammed packed! Is it the only game in town?
I personally do not plan on giving this establishment any more of my hard earned after tax dollars!
You may feel differently!
On an upbeat note… The three piece band they had in the bar… Was great!

We reserved the private dining room for dinner to celebrate our grandparents 60^th anniversary. The superb service from the staff was noticeable right from the beginning to the very end. They were very accommodating and opened up the dining room early (20 min early for our reservation) since we had some older people that couldn’t stand for very long.
I had the pea soup and the duck entrée and it was the most amazing and flavorful food I’ve ever had. The duck was cooked medium and was very tender and juicy. The pea soup was chilled and quite refreshing. They also would bring out little palette cleansers between each meal service and one of them was a melon sorbet that I wish I could have ordered a pint of!
Every time a meal was served, whether it be appetizer or entrée or dessert, all the servers would come out in a single file line and wrap around our table to make sure everyone was served at the exact same time as their neighbor. Their prices were up there but it was worth every penny. Amazing service! Thank you JORY!!!

Food is very good, but the restaurant desperately needs to hire more staff. At dinner, we were left waiting for long periods of time to be seated, to get wine, to get dessert menus, etc. It wasn’t our waiter’s fault – she clearly had been assigned waaaay too many tables. As we were staying in the hotel, we also had breakfast at Jory and encountered similar problems. At 9am during a time when the hotel was sold out, the restaurant had one hostess who was also expected to take all the room service orders, plus one waitress for the whole restaurant! Ridiculous given the prices, and such a shame since the food is quite good.

This restaurant is located in a stunning spa resort hotel. The interior is modern and beautifully designed, and the quality of the food matches the décor.
I had the Salmon and Truffle fries for lunch. The salmon, wild caught, was perfect, as was the small salad accompanying it. The truffle fries were good, but I’ve had better. Half of them were limp — not the way I prefer them.
My wife said that her Seafood Stew was outstanding.
This is a great place.

Upon arrival, Sunday, Memorial day, the restaurant was full of wood smoke from the kitchen. We sat outside waited 12– 15 minutes for the waiter,
ordered 2 margaritas ($ 19 each!) another 10 – 15 minutes, only to send them back. Frites good…
Disappointment in the world class resort…

Best experience in years. At the end of the meal, I was glad to pay what we did.
One star is all I can give for service. Our server Mark knew every ingredient of every dish and his team kept our table clean and replenished without being intrusive.
One star for cleanliness. Spotless!
One star for proximity. They are so close to the wine country of Oregon.
One star for value. It was not the cheapest meal, but we got so much more in a dining experience than what we paid!!!
One star for food. I want to give more, but they won’t let me.
Ask for Mark, you will not be disappointed.

Always saddens me to be at such a nice resort and have such poor food! The wineries warned me — food is mediocre at best — environment is top notch —
Fix your food Allison!

We had dinner at Jory when we stayed at the Allison. The hotel was fantastic, the restaurant… not so much.
The food had some highs and lows, but overall the meal was a let down for a place of this caliber. Cocktails were executed poorly. Service was below average for a fine dining establishment. And if that wasn’t bad enough, A got food poisoning from the dry-​aged steak. Eek.
FOOD:
Amuse Bouche — Something on a crostini. Forgettable. Also there was a very obvious dollop of spilled sauce on the plate when it was served. Someone on the staff should have noticed at any point while handling the dish.
Mushroom Soup — This rocked. Great contrast of crispy and soft mushroom textures with the indulgent creamy soup. Freaking delicious flavor.
Rabbit Pappardelle — A good dish. The rabbit sausage was delicious, while the small amount of pappardelle was the perfect accompaniment.
Broccolini Side — Bland.
Steak Special — 35 day dry-​aged NY strip steak, truffle compound butter, smoked maitake mushrooms, artichoke, fava bean, semolina gnocchi. Sounded pretty awesome right? A usually does not order steaks, since they disappoint often. But this dish sounded promising so he gave it a shot. When you dry age a steak, mold is expected to develop. A has dry-​aged steak himself and understands that. You just cut off the bad parts. Unfortunately they missed an area, and A got some mealy bites. After dinner he got sick and threw it up. Mold is no bueno. The steak also wasn’t seasoned enough and was not worthy of a $ 45 plate.
Strawberry Rhubarb Crumble — This was enjoyable but not amazing.
DRINKS:
We tried a few different cocktails, and the descriptions sounded better than the result. The Spring Sunset had passion fruit in the description. There was no passion fruit detected. The Ginger Paloma didn’t have any discernible ginger or grapefruit either. Fresh passion fruit, ginger, and grapefruit are very distinct tastes.
SERVICE:
There were many rookie errors that were shocking to see in a fine dining restaurant. The sauce drip was one. Not clearing obvious food bits from the table before dessert was another. Timing was terrible — entrées came out 45 min after the starter, dessert was 45 min after the entrées. We also went for long periods of time without any service check-​in or water refills.
AMBIANCE:
The view is gorgeous, I will give them that. I would personally stick with drinks and small bites in their outdoor seating area over dining at the restaurant.

Always fresh, Always Seasonal, Always Delicious.
Spectacular Views, Wonderful Service, Sometimes Scary Prices, but when you can indulge, do.

We stayed at the Allison and while we had a lovely and enjoyable dinner, given the hype, I was expecting a bit more.
We sat overlooking the kitchen, which was a lot of fun seeing the food being prepared and chatting with the chef. Service was top notch. Wine list excellent, but pretty pricey. Food, while quite good, again, I think was expecting more. I started with the mushroom tart and while very tasty, it seemed a bit soggy rather than firm like a tart should be. Would have liked to have ordered the shrimp special, but was gone by the time we were seated, so we got the salmon. While it was also very tasty, it was a bit undercooked (I like it cooked medium rare and this was very rare). And I don’t know, seemed like it could have been fresher. It didn’t taste funny, but didn’t seem to have that fresh caught taste, if you know what I mean. Dessert was excellent.
I’d most definitely stay at this resort again, but probably not have dinner here. I’d love to award half stars ( Unilocal, get on that) but given all the hype, I’m rounding down rather than up.

With a 104 reviews and 176 pictures, can I add anything to this Restaurant, I asked myself? Yes, I probably can as we had never been there before this visit to The Allison Inn and Spa and a fresh view is always useful.
First, I found the name, Jory, familiar in my memory banks, but not from an eating memory. Having been trained as, among other things, a soil scientist in a past life, I realized that the Jory Soil Series is the Oregon official state soil, named for the pioneering Jory family of south Salem. Also, it is the dominant forest and wine growing soil in the Willamette Valley and elsewhere in Oregon.
So I felt intrigued to dine here. We had a wide range of Jory’s efforts: a bar food dinner, a breakfast and a full dinner. The convenience of staying at The Allison makes Jory a prime consideration for any meal.
Bar Food: Our first night, after an afternoon of wine tasting and a later lunch, made a small plates with drinks dinner really attractive. No reservations are needed to dine in the bar or the Living Room. You can order off the bar food menu or even from the full menu. We ordered cocktails that were well and correctly made. My wife loved the Fluer that has St. Germain, lemon ginger syrup, and prosecco. Service was quick, questions answered and orders correctly filled. For food, we ordered their Parmesan fries. Fresh cut potatoes, fried an even golden brown, crunchy on the outside and firm, but soft inside, served with aioli. The truffle flavor was elegant and these were arguably some of the best French Fries we have had. Along with the fries, we had the grilled prawns, crispy polenta, romesco, and allium sala. Another hit and recommended. We both had an Adelsheim Pinot Noir to accompany our food. It even served a great accompaniment for the warm dark chocolate pinot cake. As fellow Unilocaler Michele R. advises, «Order dessert», if nothing else. (5 Stars)
Breakfast: A late breakfast the next morning helped us start another day of winery hopping. I had two poached eggs with house potatoes, applewood smoked bacon, toast, whipped butter & jam. The bacon was ordered crisp, but should have been done a bit more to be crisp. My wife had the granola fruit parfait and toast. Her only complaint is that the parfait is served in deeply angled glass that makes it very hard to eat the bottom most yogurt and granola with the spoon provided. Perhaps a more goblet shaped dish would be helpful. Service was excellent. (4 Stars)
Full Dinner: Having done a full day of winery tours, a late dinner seemed to fit our energy level. We sat at the kitchen counter where no reservations are needed. From this position we could watch not only food preparation and cooking, but the «ballet» of the various kitchen positions, with Chef Jin playing the conductor or quarterback position. For those past reviews who faulted kitchen timing on dishes, I can only conjecture that those may have been on nights where the Executive Chef Jin may have been off. Because what we saw was excellent coordination and direction of the staff by Chef Jin. The wait staff equalled the Kitchen Staff in their attention and pacing.
In any event, we started with the house-​cured charcuterie accompanied by another fine Pinot Noir from the more than extensive wine list available. Perhaps the most interesting meat on the charcuterie plate was a duck breast pastrami. There were two other cured meats and pickles, mustards, fennel pollen lavosh, and grilled crostini. Very interesting combination and tasty.
We split the lamb tasting of grilled loin, merguez sausage, duchess potato, cipollini confit, chanterelles, baby carrots, castelvetrano relish, natural jus. The kitchen must have put out 30 – 40 plates of this entrée in the time we were there. This is an obviously popular dish. My wife preferred the lamb loin to be more towards medium rather than rare that is more the rage for lamb at high end kitchens. I suspect she could have asked the Grill Chef to put her one rib back on for a minute, as we were sitting and talking with him all night, and he would have agreed. Maybe not, but she did not ask so we won’t know. But an excellent choice and a way to try Merguez lamb sausage if you never have had it. I am not a normally rare meat guy, but I have to admit the lamb loin was sweet and tender, even as rare as it was.
We finished up with a nut torte of hazelnuts and walnuts baked in a pecan pie style with wonderful flaky crust. Repeat, Order Dessert. (4.5 stars, if there was such a rating)
All in all, we like Jory and would dine here when we return to the Allison again. Of all the dining alternatives we tried here, we liked the Bar Dining best of all, but a balmy summer evening would probably coax us into a terrace dinner al fresco.

We love the Allison Inn and will definitely go back. But I am not so sure we will make a reservation at Jory next time. The food with seasonal fare was delicious but there were two problems:
First, the arrival of my husband’s wine never came at the same time as the paired food. You would think this would be something that the servers had down.
Second, our bill was incorrect two nights in a row. I am not sure if they are doing the «oldest trick in the book» for over-​billing customers or it was a fluke to have a sour ending two nights in a row but in any case, check your bill when you go.

Stayed at the Allison for a week and went to the Jory for dinner mid-​way thru our trip. We had received a tip from a winery owner earlier that day to get there early and sit at the counter near the kitchen. This single tip made the experience. We were able to talk to the chefs all throughout our dinner and they gave us great tips and suggestions about the menu and even threw us a few things to try. Fantastic experience.
Now the food. It was top-​notch. We got the wagyu steak and the salmon. The wagyu steak was very good, not the best steak ever, but up there. The salmon, though, was out of this world. It’s caught fresh daily from the Columbia and rubbed in brown sugar and coriander. By far the best fish dish either of us had ever had.
Would highly recommend the Jory for anyone in the area and would especially recommend sitting at the counter.