Solstice Wood Fire Cafe & Bar

Freaking LOVE this place! Vibes, service, tastes, all of it! They remember my name and always say it with a smile when I walk in! Their vegan boy, oh my goodness! Wine select is cool, could be better, but pairs nicely! I used to come here every time I was in town and now that I live here I’m just here all the time!

Love the pizza here, though make your own is more expensive than the pizza combos on the menu, even if using several fewer toppings. Wine pour seems small, but only because the glasses are huge! Love the ambience. Visited on 2 occasions, first split the pear salad (yum!) and the Country Girl Cherry, Chorizo, and Goat cheese pizza, which is probably the best pizza I’ve ever had. The second visit we split a make-​you-​own pizza, and again the pear salad (its just that awesome). This pizza didn’t blow me away like the other one, but was still really good, with a great crust and sweet tomato sauce. Would definitely recommend, though it seems wait times can be long during peak hours. They will text you when your table is ready, so you could always hop next door for a beer or coffee, or short walk by the waterfront.

Good pizza but very expensive. We got a custom made pizza and while I liked it I thought the sauce was too sweet. Their pear salad was wonderful tho, a must have. I would probably give it 4 stars but I expect more when I’m paying $ 26 for a pie. They were also out of mushrooms at 6pm on a Sunday night (Valentine’s Day). That is way too early on a popular night to be out of one of the biggest ingredients for a pizza.

Afraid to say this is the best pizza in the world! (Afraid, because now everyone will know, and it’s already difficult to get in at 2:30 in the afternoon! There wasn’t too much suffering however because we went next door to the distillery to have an awesome Moscow Mule in a hand forged, copper mug while we were waiting.) Back at Solstice, we ordered our own pizza combo: Caramelized onions, Coppa ham, red bell peppers, and feta. The crunchy crust, sauce, cheese and all the parts were fresh and amazing. Oh, and the Caesar salad, key lime coconut pie, ands s’mores were tops! Can’t wait to come back!

This place was busy the Saturday night we stopped in. It was a 40 minute wait for our group of four. We didn’t mind as we had finished snow shoeing 8 miles and were oh so hungry and exhausted.
The food was amazing. I had the beef stew and WOWZA the sweet and spicy flavor really hit the spot. It reminded me almost of a mole because of the thick and saucy base. The meat was flavorful and tender and oh my gosh just thinking about that soup makes me want to go back.
Someone in our group asked about how they prepared their coffee and the server just stared like they were speaking gibberish and then snapped really snotty like «What?! What do you mean how is the coffee made?» It seemed like a totally reasonable question but she was unnecessarily rude and make things awkward.
We put in our food orders at the same time as our drinks and 20 minutes later she came back and realized she already took the food order but didn’t drop it off.
Also the smores they make in the wood fire oven IS THE BEST.
I’m coming back for the stew, not the sassy waitstaff.

What a disappointment… Could be cleaner, could not run out of food and fix the rickety table…

I traveled far to dine here. I had heard about it from a national magazine article. I will say it was among the most memorable dining experiences I’ve had in a while. The best pizza I’ve ever had. I will be back for sure.

Exceptional vegan pizza. Across the street from Tofurky HQ — awesome vegan pepperoni and sausage. Daiya cheese. Incredible crust. Great wine and cider selection, delectable veggies — honestly, just come here. Wonderful food!

Amazing!!! I seriously think this is the best food I’ve eaten in years!!! Got the fries and the Solstice pizza! To die for! The cherry stout beer was amazing as well! Very friendly staff on a Monday night.

This was our favorite local «go to» place until about a year ago. We had a family birthday party that was terrible, poor service, which is usually the case, wrong drinks and orders. I gave them the benefit of the doubt because we had a big table.
Fast forward to the next few experiences, I guess we are slow learners but really wanted to continue to go here, the pizza is good.
We had a table of 8, 2 small children and it was early lunch, restaurant was empty. Long story short… it took some of us over an hour to be served, not every one was served together, and nothing for the kids as their patience waned. The worst part, was that the wait staff never apologized or compensated us and in fact kept making excuses for the horrible service.
I have never banned a restaurant but this is it, go at your own risk!

Solid pizza, tasty salads, good beer options and they have plenty of seating. The play area is great if you have kids.

Where to begin? I started going to Solstice when they were in Bingen. Today they’re much larger, but the friendly vibe and fresh food is still evident.
Seasonal pizza are worth asking about — though the cherry/​chorizo is a winner at an time. The summer special featured fresh figs and that special mix of sweet and savory atop a crackling crust was delicious. Siragusa pear salad with local pears and bleu cheese also rocks the sweet/​savory blend.
Lots of good local beers and wines, and you can finish with a luscious house-​made chocolate pudding (some day I’ll just order 2 and be totally happy).

Perfect stop on the way home from the Mtn. I truly don’t think there is a bad plate on the menu. Great service, great food

The pizza is delicious. The service is hit or miss.
I am vegan and I love that they have a vegan pizza, however they make it extremely expensive to edit the pizza. For example, I do not like olives, and if I want to remove them I also lose sundries tomatoes and spinach as they are mixed in a tapenade. So adding spinach and sundries after removing the tapenade costs me $ 4 extra on an already overpriced $ 14 10″ round small. Building your own vegan pizza? Start at $ 20 for a small. They can be very sparse with toppings, depending on who is cooking. (once I got the vegan boy as is and it had TWO, only two, small chunks of vegan sausage. Are you kidding me? I sent it back, what a pain.
They used to have a delicious sandwich option for vegans but they removed it from the menu. I get that tofu goes bad but why not create a Sammie with the vegan meats you carry?
My friends like the non vegan options, but I am getting more and more frustrated going here as I can never grab lunch for less the $ 20. It’s a bit much, there are better, more reasonable prices options in town.

Cute restaurant and I appreciated all their gluten free options even though I would have been sooooo very happy if they had a pizza crust without egg — but ya know, you can’t have it all. Our waitress was helpful and prompt. The fiancée said his pizza was just pretty good, but not outstanding. My salad was good but the grilled chicken could have used a marinade or something to make it pop a bit more. That said, I’d definitely consider returning next time we’re in Hood River.

Just had a wonderful dinner at solstice. Gnocchi that was to die for. Really interesting flavors. We both loved it. Also loved the beet and fennel seasonal salad and grilled cauliflower that comes with the most delicious chimichurri sauce. Service was great and attentive.
I can’t give solstice 5 stars due to the fact that they consistently serve burnt pizza. I love wood fired pizza and know it often comes a little «more baked» than in a regular pizza oven. But come on! It’s always burnt! A large part of it. I just don’t order it anymore.

What’s not to love about pizza and beer on a Saturday evening in Hood River? Turns out, that’s exactly what was on the menu, considering my friend and I had Thai food for lunch in Portland an hour after arriving. After a day of sightseeing in Portland and driving out to The Dalles for more, we settled on dining here at the Solstice Wood Fire Café & Bar. Having a glass of local Oregon beer was nice too.
My friend and I were running the 2015 edition of the Columbia Gorge marathon the next morning and we needed to up our carb intake and have fun doing so. Both of us needed that carby goodness to function the next morning, never mind the 26.2 mile foot race ahead of us. With that said, my friend and I were here at around 6pm and the place was packed. Understandably for a Saturday dinner among the locals, but I’d suspect that many of them are here for the race as well. We just didn’t know that until I saw several of them the next morning at the start line. Surprise, surprise indeed. We were waiting for another friend, whom arrived ½ hour late, so we just started to order drinks before ordering the main entrees. My friend and I sat outside, in the patio where there was a ceiling, and under a red hot lamp. I tried to take photos of the food we’ve ordered, but it turned out really red. It was not really worth posting it, since the red spot light really screwed up the photo.
Solstice Wood Fire Café and Bar is conveniently located on the banks of the Columbia River in the city /​town of Hood River, OR at 501 Portway Avenue. They accept the major credit cards, so that’s always a plus. The prices here can be pricey, but for the most value, one friend of mine and myself shared the build your own pizza, whereas my other friend just had pasta — mac and cheese to be specific. Thought that was cute and simple, especially when you’re running a long distance the next morning. The overall experience here took at most 2 hours. The best part of this place is that it has restroom facilities! Best thing to do if you’re waiting for your table or need to go before leaving for the night. The service was pretty good, although slow, because of the packed house that evening, but it went fairly well. The server was very knowledgeable and introduced me to locally brewed Oregon beer, which was nice. I wanted something dark, like a Guinness, so she brought me something similar to what they had here in Oregon. My friend wanted something crisp and light, so she was recommended something similar too.
For me, the Solstice Wood Fire Café and Bar was a perfect way to get together with friends, to hang out, and have good food while vacationing for the weekend in Hood River (while running the marathon the next morning). The pizza my friend order came out to be around $ 36, which was a large one. We ended up having to take a few slices back with us at the end of the meal, since we didn’t finish it all. It ended up being dinner the next night for me after a challenging day of hills, rain, and meandering along US Highway 30 and through Columbia Gorge state park. The toppings we had on it were garlic, basil, Italian sausage, and something I forgot. It was really good, since I haven’t had garlic on pizza in so long. It was delicious fare and hope that my friend enjoyed it too. I think she did, since it really did hit the spot, after a day of traveling and driving. For what it was worth, the beer selection is a wonderful reason to hang out here on any given day. The food selections were good too. Makes me want to return here again and try more things the next time I come through here.
If you are in this neck of Oregon and are hungry for comfort food and pizza, come here, you’d be glad you did. I recommend this place, especially the build your own pizza. Prices can be high, but can be worth it. It’s like Subway, but for pizza.
Support local!
B+

Great service
We had Ms Tyler. She was a spunky gal and gave us great recommendations for food and afterward for trails to hike around
Tyler recommended the beet salad and cauliflower which were excellent
Followed by their cherry pizza
Gotta heck it out and ask for tyler.

Not sure what makes Solstice different from the rest on this block other than the wood-​oven style foods. Come here for that (food) or else head to Pfriem next door (similar ambiance, and seems like comparable food and better beers if you like Belgium styles.)
FOOD
Theres’s something for everybody here. Pizza is thin-​crust and wood-​ovened spectacular. Mac n’ cheese is heavy & nice, and grilled calamari appetizer was totally delicous as a very light meal. ALLERGENS: There’s nondairy daiya cheese, local tofurkey, and gluten-​free crust options.
DRINKS
Sufficient beer options but nothing crazy or too interesting.
AMBIANCE
Warm woods vibe. Nice for friends or a date. There is a small kiddo play station so probably okay for kids too. No outdoor seating, but there’s a sun room-​type patio thing.
SERVICE
Spotty. When it isn’t busy – service is friendly and ideal. But when it is busy – service really slacks. This time, it was busy, and our hostess had no idea what was going on (she tentatively gave us a window of anywhere from «right now» to «40 minutes» as a wait estimate) When our table was «ready» it lacked waters and cups. Our server took a long time to get there, and he was too busy to check in at appropriate times. It was fine for us because we were leisurely but don’t come here if you want quick or efficient service.

Wow! Everything was just perfect about this place. Delicious and fresh local food. We had the calamari and pizza of course. Seriously though you can pick something random off the menu and you can’t go wrong.
Don’t leave without trying the cocktails. We got the Vicious cocktail that had a great kick to it. We of course ended up getting multiple rounds.
Service was excellent.

Oh wow! This place was great! Very unique pizzas and great atmosphere.
The outside dining is lovely on a nice summer day.
They have a great beer selection to choose from.
We tried their special, which was Italian sausage, peach and arugula. I was skeptical at first, thinking the peaches would char of become shriveled up. Not at all! It was amazing!
My son built his own pizza and it was great as well.
Be sure to save room for wood fired smores!
When in Hood River be sure to stop by!

I have had this place bookmarked on my Unilocal for over a yea! (Ever since my friend moved to Hood River and told me about the Smore)
The Smore is BOMB! Seriously BOMB! I am obsessed with anything marshmallow and I looooooove smores.
The Smore at Solstice is like none other! Homemade honey marshmallow, dark chocolate & graham cracker and pecan crust. OMG. Just writing this review is making me want to eat one right now!
The whole purpose of having lunch at Solstice was to get the smore for dessert… but we did have some food too.
I got the Siragusa pear salad. This place uses fresh, locally source ingredients and you can definitely tell. It was really great! (Organic greens, pears, blue cheese, dried cherries & candied walnuts with a balsamic dressing.)
My friend ordered the Country Girl Cherry pizza which I had a slice of and it was amazing! (Cherries, chorizo sausage, goat cheese, shredded mozzarella & marinara) I know it sounds like a weird combination, but its soooooo good!!!
This is another place that I wish I lived close to. I would go there all the time!

Great experience! We got the pizza special with chicken and peaches on an amazing gf crust. The real deal crust looked amazing and worth the hurt
…next time! We also had the blueberry marscapone lemon custard dessert… I’m still smacking my lips thinking about it! Nice wines and nice glasses! On the water, open air atmosphere. Highly recommend!

Amazing place to come for a quick bite. On Thursday they have 20% off a bottle of wine. We got the small pizzas which were $ 13 each to share. They were great. We got the solstice and hot mama. I recommend them both! They have some outdoor seating, but if it’s hot out I recommend sitting inside, it’s still warm in there too. The waitstaff is nice and gave us a few winter to try out !

We glanced around at all the well-​dressed, happy rich people. They all looked perfect, lean, beautiful. Their faces had no wrinkles, no careworn creases. Their eyes sparkled brightly.
We decided to pretend we were like them, just for fun. we made up a story about how we were visiting from upstate New York and found the hills and vineyards here to be charming, so charming. We were a little vexed, having narrowed our architect down to three, award-​winning candidates to create our hillside manse with a modernist bent. My Banana Republic polo shirt was tucked into my khaki, Lands End shorts. My mind wandered on this sunny, summer afternoon to a a similar afternoon when we were young, when we conceived our first child in the back of my new Jaguar.
Ah, those bygone days of adventure! My tightrope walk over the pit of financial insecurity, wondering what I would do to augment my trust fund income, and if Aunt Agatha would subsidize my education if I was only accepted to a second-​tier, private medical school. Ah, wayward youth!
Solstice is a wonderful place to pretend that you’re a tourist, and that the most substantial threats to your well-​being are boredom and sunburn.
The pizza and salad here were excellent, if wildly overpriced.
The Margarita was one of the best I’ve had in Oregon. I think it may be one of the first pizzas I’ve had here that was not over-​cheesed and under-​sauced. The marinara also didn’t taste like it came out of a can, which is very unusual. They even knew how to operate their wood-​fired oven. – also not a given.
The ceasar chef salad was my favorite item, with crisp romaine lettuce the the parmasean dressing as garlicky as advertised.
The Country Girl Cherry Chorizo goat cheese pizza was okay, a bit over-​the-​top. If you had blindfolded me and gave me a bite of the chorizo topping and a bite of regular Italian sausage, I would not have been able to tell the difference. The cherries worked well with the sweetness of the goat cheese. All things considered though, the simple, well-​done Margarita was the best.
We also sampled the truffle-​oiled potato wedges. One bite of those tasted like truffle. Definitely did not live up to the name or the cost.
The ales we sampled were perfectly adequate, as was the al fresco dining with a view of the hills. Hit the spot. Not a bad choice for your monthly (on our budget) place to dine out.