After just one visit, I knew I was in love with The High Wheeler, a small, unique restaurant just over the Old Youngs Bay Bridge on the U.S. Highway 101 waterfront in Astoria.

Considerable and frequent positive word-of-mouth prompted me to visit the nascent eatery (just five months old) that eludes categorization, and after several subsequent returns yielding equally great impressions, I’m happy to bestow praise and recommend The High Wheeler to one and all.

Just walking through the door, it’s evident that the owners and staff love their jobs. Servers are at their best when they’re proud of their product, which is certainly the case here. A true passion for hospitality is rare, but everyone at this restaurant has it, and it’s of the sincere variety which cannot be faked. You feel good while you’re there; you find yourself smiling a lot. I can count on one hand the restaurants in our area I feel this way about.

The food is also ardently executed to match the service, with artistic flourishes and plate design that only enhances dishes that would taste great even if austerely presented. Absolutely everything is made in-house; an uncommon practice, but a beneficial one. When was the last time you had a burger where the patty was hand-formed and cooked to your temperature, the bun was house-made, the jo-jos made fresh to order, a meal where everything was wonderfully and undeniably real? I’d bet you that it doesn’t happen very often. Most likely something on your plate was pre-prepared, packaged, or even partially cooked by the time the kitchen starts working with it. Never at The High Wheeler.

They are open for breakfast, lunch and dinner, and I had them all. Breakfast offers French toast, pancakes, eggs and toast, omelets, frittatas, biscuits and gravy and chicken-fried steak. The biscuits and gravy (both made in-house, half order $4, full order $6) are just the way I like them, with the biscuits on the denser side, and the gravy sausage in chunks rather than little bits. The panko-coated chicken-fried steak ($10) is made with a pounded New York strip, and skillet-fried rather than deep-fried. It’s not what you’ll find in a Southern truck stop, but a wonderful rendition nonetheless. The only item I had during any of my visits that I felt needed improvement was my omelet, of which the egg was overcooked and dry.

The High Wheeler burger includes two patties, bacon, egg, swiss and Tillamook cheddar cheese on a house-made bun. Photo by Alex Pajunas.Lunch boasts one of the best all-around burgers I’ve had at a restaurant. It tastes just like homemade. Burgers are offered in many styles for many tastes, ranging from a plain burger for $5 to a double patty, bacon, egg and cheese burger for $10, with several different versions in between, including a vegetarian black bean burger. The sandwich menu also offers diversity. Four versions of the BLT ($7 to $8.50) are available, as are two steak sandwiches, one of which is the ever popular Philly-style ($9.75, also made with pounded N.Y. strip), and a fantastic corned beef sandwich ($9) made with house-brined, roasted and pickled brisket, caramelized onions, and Swiss cheese. Sides available include macaroni salad, potato salad, gorgonzola studded pea salad, jo-jos (four stout wedges done just right) and carrot-currant salad, a play on the sweet and savory carrot-raisin. All garner high marks.

Salads are unconventional, showy and very impressive. The spinach salad ($10) almost overflows its large bowl. Packed with feta, tomatoes and a side of delicious honey-mustard dressing, its boldest move is the two strips of bacon and over-easy fried egg on top. Anywhere else, this would be bacon bits and chopped, hard-boiled egg, but it’s this kind of ingenuity that sets The High Wheeler apart.

The entree Caesar salad ($13) features Josephson’s maple smoked salmon, parmesano reggiano and a delightfully offbeat dressing, made brown with anchovies and balsamic vinegar. As a purist, I disapprove of tomatoes on a Caesar, but as the diminutive mound was off to the side, resting in a whole romaine leaf, I’ll call it a garnish and let it slide.

Although at dinnertime there are usually fish and beef specials to be had, the main draw is the handmade pasta. Whether you’re having the ravioli, the stroganoff, the alfredo or the simple preparation of Aglio E Olio, (garlic and olive oil, $13), you’re sure to be impressed. Fresh pasta is light, delicate and works best with simple, unimposing sauces. The chef knows this and sauces it accordingly. I recently enjoyed a simple plate of pasta (rolled, cut and cooked to order!) over spinach leaves, and adorned with a perfect ragu ($12), rich and satisfying without being overly unctuous. For another $3 came a massive link of Portuguese linguica, a spicy sausage that paired well with the simple dish. Everything at The High Wheeler is plenteously proportioned, so plan on leftovers.

A waterfront view without the high prices, handmade food with local, organic ingredients, an energetic, happy staff with great customer service – our area needs more restaurants like The High Wheeler.

– The Mouth

mouth@coastweekend.com