PJ’s Pizza Express

Our waitress was very sweet and helpful but had to run to the kitchen to make our salad and then our pizza. The salad was fine but the Hawaiian pizza was made with cold canned pineapple. The veggie pizza include canned mushrooms. I won’t be going back to see if it might be better the second time.

Breakfast was huge, delicious, and tasty. We particularly liked the sausage patty. The waitress and cook were very friendly and helpful. A delightful stop on the way home from a beautiful area along the road less traveled from Astoria.

Meh. Greasy burgers and fries and an otherwise mediocre menu put this place on the bottom of my list for recommended places to eat in Cathlamet. If they spent as much time and effort improving the menu as they did adding the bar, they might have a chance, but as is, nothing sets this place apart. Walk next door to Sharon’s for a great pizza or sandwich, or drive th extra mile to Lulu’s drive inn for a decent burger.

Oh man, this place is awesome! AWESOME!
I stopped by today after driving by on the highway several times and decided to give it a shot. Wasn’t sure what to expect as it’s a pizza place but was greatly surprised to see they had quite a diverse American menu from burgers, to sandwiches to hot dogs and etc. I ordered a couple chilli dogs to go and I’m pleased to say these are the best hot dogs I’ve had in the area. I also felt like the price was quite reasonable.
The food is absolutely awesome, prepared well and of great quality. The ladies working there were very nice and respectful. They did a great job taking care of me.
I was just in and out today. Don’t have much else to report other than great food at good prices served by nice and respectful people. I’ll definitely be back.

We were traveling through town on our way across the state, this seemed to be the only place open for breakfast on a Sunday morning, so we stopped. The service seemed great at first, though we were the only diners in the place. I requested a couple modifications to my breakfast and the waitress repeated them back to me, but my meal did not arrive prepared the way I had requested. As soon as our meals were delivered, the waitress didn’t come back to our table until she delivered our check. She sat at a stool at the counter chatting, and gossiping with 2 other ladies, one being the cook. As previously mentioned, we were the only diners there until right before we left. At minimum refill coffee, and beverages. The place was pretty dingy, and very chilly, but the food was good and portions were generous.

Restaurant and décor tired and so
Is the menu! Restaurant is now closed.

Awesome, awesome, awesome giant burgers of an extremely high quality! Hand cut fries, great service, reasonable prices. Highly recommended. I got the mushroom burger, best I’ve ever had and I eat a lot of burgers.

We were on our way back from the beach and stopped here although I’d not heard of it before. I got a small pizza — absolutely delicious! The crust and sauce are homemade, I believe, and the price was very reasonable. My companion ordered a gelato, and the waitress brought one but said there was a problem with the gelato so there was no charge for it, that it wasn’t as creamy as it should be. I would absolutely be back for the pizza.

It looks as if they serve everything here. Not sure how the rest of it is but I would stay away from the veggie pizza. The first hint that something was a bit fishy was when I ordered the pizza I got a look like «This is a meat town and we don’t take kindly to you veggie types». The order was set and we were told that the pie would be ready in 30 min. 47 minutes later our pie was delivered to our hungry hands. We hopped back in our car and headed back to the cabin. Once back I popped open a beer (if you didn’t know beer goes great with pizza, little did I know it is a great chaser as well). The first thing we noticed when opening the box was the ½ thick hoagie style tomatoes layered on top. Thick tomatoes would have worked if they were cooked but PJ’s has their own style that puts the veggies on after the cheese pizza was cooked (Not sure if this trend is going to take root). I think I could have gotten past the «fresh tomatoes» but the next layer was heaping with canned mushrooms. You heard me «Canned Mushrooms», I thought those were only used during war times! I could just picture the cook grabbing into a huge 2 $ can of mushrooms and dropping them on our poor pie. What was one to do except remove all the veggies, eat the cooked cheese portion and chase it down with a Full Sail IPA. Will I be back? I don’t think so. The reviews say that they have a good burger so that alone might drive me to take another chance.

The place is a little worn looking, but the view of the river is lovely, and the service was outstanding. I ordered the deluxe burger and the server informed me that I would never be able to eat it all and suggested the wimp burger instead. I appreciated his advice, noting that this would affect the bill total and his tip. My dinner companion had the chicken wings and declared them outstanding — meaty, spicy and reasonably priced.

My girlfriend and myself went to Cathlamet last sunday and found that PJ’s Pizza was the only place open so we went in and the place is a little dingy and needs a face lift.
The wait was ½ hour for a small pizza and it would have been ok if the pizza was good.
It was burned on the bottom, dry and very little flavor as i ordered a Chicken Garlic and could not taste any garlic at all.
The small pizza was $ 18.00 so i think it was way over priced.
Sorry, but i wish there was another restaurant in this nice little town to go to instead.

I was looking forward to eating here as it appeared well-​rated. It just wasn’t our day. When we entered, every table was piled with dirty dishes, and we had to wait while they cleared one for us. The place was packed with skate boarders in town for the longboard competition. Our waitress was very friendly, despite running from table to table to keep up with the crowd. Apparently another wait person had not showed up. My Frerch dip sandwich was delicious, and we both liked the potato salad we chose over fries. But the fish in my friend’s fish and chips was cold and uncooked in the middle. She took it back to the kitchen as the waitress was very busy. I could here the conversation, and my friend was very polite. The cook was not. Later we coould hear the cook telling the waitress about the conversation and greatly exaggerating and misquoting my friend. Another order was served, but the fish was still undercooked. My friend asked to have it removed from our bill, which they did. The food coming out of the kitchen was incredibly slow, but I can understand somewhat due to the competition in town. The owner stood around talking with a sour look on her face and did little to help. We are planning a possible move to Cathlamet and are disapponted that this place is not one we’ll make a regular stop when we’re residents.

This place has free wifi, which is a must for me in my travels. The Wimp Burger basket is excellent, just the right size, and when I want to stray from the path of diet righteousness, this is an excellent way to do it. I love their «greasy fries.»
I’ve had a good Reuben there. Fancy ice creams and gellatos and the like are available. Pizza is too, but if I want pizza, I’ll go next door.
Not bad eating at all. I like it.

We ate here last night. We ordered the Prime rib, it had a great deal of fat on plate and was overlooked as were the potatoes. It was overpriced for what we received. We will not go back, even though there are too few places to eat.

On an adventure with my dad today we headed up to this part of Washington. Can you find it on a map? I bet it would take you a while to find this little blip on the map. Saying there, if you do happen to find yourself here, you will probably end up eating at PJ’s because there aren’t too many other places to eat at.
That last sentence makes it sound like I didn’t like PJ’s. To the contrary. Sometimes these are the best places. The truly random food places that you find alongside the road. The random finds that you come upon while visiting places you’ve never been to. This is one of my favorite things to do. You throw caution to the wind and see what’s inside. That is what we did today.
PJ’s has pizza, sandwiches, salads, gelato and pies. Probably a few other things as well. I’m still a pizza snob so I didn’t venture there. The sandwich menu had Chicken Parmesan on it and it had been years since I had one of those so I figured I’d try that. With a side of cole slaw (decided to try to curb my french fry intake) and an iced tea to boot.
The Chicken Parm was on a ciabatta roll which was nicely toasted. The cole slaw probably wasn’t house made. Too bad. It was fine though. Not too mayoish which is good because I still think mayo is evil. The chicken had a nice crust on the outside, but was nice a moist on the inside. Did I expect I was going to get the greatest Chicken Parm sandwich in Cathlamet, WA? No. Was it the greatest Chicken Parm sandwich I’ve ever had? No, but it was pretty darn good.
If you happen to find yourself on this stretch of Highway 4 on your way to points west, you might want to stop here. I’m not sure what is down the road, but PJ’s will treat you right and now you know it is here.

Ate there twice in 2 days — Awesome pizza, crunchy northwest style! And breakfast — chicken fried steak was amazing as well! Didn’t get a burger but saw someone eating one and it looked huge and juicy!

They have a beautiful view from the parking lot of the river that follows the highway just 500 feet down or so. Its peaceful flow with boats moored on the banks, and the tranquility of the Cathlamet town combine to create a scene that seems something out of a book. There are a variety of flowers planted in raised beds at the entrance also, filling the spring air with blossoms.
I have not had such great service or food in years! This place is on the direct right of the highway from the west coast of Washington to Longview. The older exterior appearance belies a wonderful eatery within, which shames anywhere in the metro Portland area and most of the Oregon coast eateries I have dined at. The sign says Pizza; however they also have burgers, pastas, salads, and breakfast. I have a hard time with eating out as my husband is a carnivore, my children are omnivores who care where their food comes from and I am a vegetarian due to dietary restrictions. This place fits the bill. I loved how friendly the waitress was. She even thought ahead once she heard my children could not have dairy, she took the imitative when I ordered a side salad and left off the cheese (which in not mentioned in the menu). I don’t see that kind of thoughtfulness elsewhere. She also was very patient when I entered the establishment before my family and looked at a menu to be sure I could eat there. I may be a vegetarian, but I don’t like to graze on lettuce for every meal. This restaurant had not only salads, but breakfast items I could have, a vegetarian sandwich, some seafood items I could work with, and delicious vegetarian pasta (which I ordered) with fresh grilled broccoli, mushrooms and a cream sauce. It came with garlic bread which was grilled in oil, so the bottom tasted like fried bread. I liked it for something different, but it is a bit heavy for a regular thing. I figured out if you rip off the bottom of the bread stick (as they are quite fluffy and big) that the fried and heavy part is removed with it.
The pasta was better than I ever expected and blew away any pasta I’ve ordered anywhere. I attribute this to the fact that they clearly make their own white sauce and the broccoli was really fresh. You can’t get it any fresher then they had it and it was cooked tender crisp to perfection. My husband had a sausage burger which he was speechless over. Being a carnivore, he usually has something to say: it needed more seasoning, or it was not cooked through or it wasn’t hot enough. He had no criticism whatsoever. The chicken strips my son ordered looked divine… and once again: fresh! The chicken burger my daughter ordered was gone so quick I hardly saw it on her plate. My daughter is part snail in everything she does… so to see her devour anything in what seems like seconds is saying something. The fries, which came with the kids and dh’s meals, where the best. They are clearly cut from real fries, not processed and glued back together. The skin is still on them and they are unmatched in taste and texture. The hot tea I ordered came out with a little bowl with four different types of tea for me to choose from: chamomile, green, Lipton original and Earl Grey. I had the green tea and it was good. My kids and dh had fresh made lemonade. I tried some of my husbands, and once again they scored with a perfect blend of tart lemon and sweet sugar.
I come from Vancouver, Wa and regularly try new places in Portland (bragging about how fresh their food is). They have nothing on PJ’s. They all need to take a trip there to see what real food, real service and a real restaurant is. We stopped here to take a chance on it on the way home from the beach and we all agree: as long as PJ’s is there, we are coming whenever we head for the beach.
The only thing I could think to suggest is the pepper at our table was low and needed to be filled. It was Memorial Day, so they may have had a lot of business and had them drop faster than normal.
Really, it’s nothing compared to the wonderful service and food. The waitress even made us feel like part of the family, talking to us about a niece who she was worried about going on a plane trip due to an inner ear problem, as we checked out. If you have never thought to stop by here on your way to or from somewhere as you drive by, stop in… heck, if you even live within an hour of PJ’s, it’s worth the drive!
P. S. The prices are reasonable (unlike many establishments today). They have a ¼lb. burger for approximately $ 6, and 10oz burgers for $ 8-​$ 10, my pasta which made two meals for me with a salad and two ruler length fluffy bread sticks was $ 11, the bulk of sandwiches are $ 8 – 9, and the chicken strips were $ 7 and change when we went. The tea was $ 1.50 and the fresh made lemonade (free refills) was $ 2. When you can’t eat at a sit down restaurant anymore without paying a minimum of $ 10 a person without a drink, this is a nice change. Oh, and the fries are included with the burgers and sandwiches.

OK, I’ve been ranting about generic burgers for a long time. But there is one generic burger that can’t be beat. If you can’t be original, at least be good. At PJ’s in Cathlamet, WA… It’s the quintessential 1950’s Café’ burger and fries. There’s probably been more than a dozen owners or managers of the restaurant building where PJ’s currently is doing business… probably 3 of those in the last year. PJ’s is there to stay I HOPE!!! If they do close it won’t be for lack of excellent food they serve. Lets face it. Their burger is the best I’ve had since, well, a real long time. First of all, they start with buttered buns grilled on the… g-​r-​i-​l-​l, that’s the grilled part. LOLOL They add sliced head lettuce, thin slices of tomato, real cheese on a healthy piece of meat (there’s the beef), and that great old fashion relish/​mayo sauce that made café’ burgers famous throughout the land during the ‘50s and ‘60s. Lets not forget the french fries. These spudders are pure potatoes, sliced and cooked to order (I like mine crispy). I’m going back to this place when ever I’m in Cathlamet. Looking around the place, I also see somebody having breakfast. OMG, there’s these eggs, hashbrowns (crispy (;-))), ham all piled on a huge dinner plate and the logger guy sitting behind it with a look on his face like… I’ve finally met my match. A quick glance across the room gives me a glimpse of an old fashioned pizza oven. They’ve got the bases covered at PJ’s and their plates are loaded with food. What’s this??? A gelato bar next to the pizza order window. There must have been six or eight flavors of gelato. Man, what I wouldn’t give for a time machine so I could go back to my youth when a pizza, burger, fries, milkshake and soda were just appetizers. I can die a happy man knowing that somebody has finally resurrected the café’ burger flavor I remember most from my youth. But, I’m not going to die anytime soon, if I can help it, because there are just too many items to try on PJ’s menu. And then, of course, will have to start over to see if the first things tried are still as good as I remembered. LOLOLOL!!!
Feast On, MY Friends!!! or, if you’re a vampire, simply Feast on my Friends and leave the good food for me. LOL Hey, stop by
for tasty Industrial Strength Country Swing.