Frau Kemmling's Schoolhaus Brewhaus

Frau Kemmling's is the old Jacksonville Elementary School (built in 1908) that's recently been converted into a restaurant.  The building renovations are well done & the restaurant atmosphere is comfortable and welcoming.  The staff was friendly and accommodating.  They messed up our reservation but worked us into our own private room which worked out nicely.  Our server had a great sense of humor and was very knowledgeable.  We even put her to the test on pronouncing some of the menu items in German.  Of course none of us speaks German so we wouldn't know the difference if she was BS'ing us or not but she was very convincing!  The servers wore traditional German garb...we especially appreciated the male staff in their cute little lederhosen.  The bathroom was one of my all time favorites.  The color scheme is bright and cheery.  It is very clean, in fact one of our dinner companions mentioned that it had obviously been tidied up and had paper products replaced while we were there.  Frau's "badezimmer" had a very cool feature...the built-in cushioned seat.  Very nice touch.  There was a speaker in the ceiling piping in German music, also.   

Flavor Flav kickin' it on the couch.

The baby changing table and extra paper supplies are nicely hidden inside cupboards in one of the bathroom stalls.  They made sure to install hooks in each stall for coats, purses, etc.  Loved the nice little added touches like the wrought iron legs on the basin, cool hardware on the bathroom stalls, etc.  This bathroom must have been designed by a woman!  Frau's seems to get it--a bathroom can make or break your experience at a restaurant and should not be treated as an after thought but as an important aspect of good customer service! 

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Flavor Flav hanging out on the hook.



This bathroom is one of the few that is going to get a perfect score.  Three full tp rolls for excellent cleanliness, decor, and comfort!  Danke und auf wiedersehen!!

Madrone Kitchen & Wine Tavern, Shady Cove, Oregon

Madrone Kitchen is located in quaint little Shady Cove, right on the Rogue River.  From our dining table we had a magnificent view of the Rogue right outside the wall of picture windows.  Madrone Kitchen has a minimal dining selection but the meals were good...maybe a little overpriced.  The wine was really good.  The beer must not have been bad either since Van had 3...but who's counting?  The Madrone Kitchen is a very old house converted into a restaurant.  It looks like an addition has been made to the building to house the bar area.  The dining area is in the original section facing the river.  The restroom closest to the dining area was the one I located first.  

Either someone forgot to turn the light on or the bulb needed changed because the hallway leading to the bathroom was dark & a little eerie.  Especially in a 100 year old house..in October.  The bathroom doesn't look like it has had any type of updating since the 1970's.  It is fairly clean but come on, a public restroom can only get so clean looking after 40 years of public use.  It was pretty dingey. 

Here you can see the dimly lit basin area next to the dusty fake fern on brass plant stand...very retro.  Next is the cleaning supplies closet.  Not much to see here.  Now we come to the wall decor.  There is serious evidence that these wall hangings have been here, unmolested, since 1977.   I mean, who needs faux finishes when your decorations predate history anyway?  As you can see one wall hanging looks like it is trying to take flight.  The others were dusty & faded and had some water stains here and there on the matting.  The stall was okay as far as size but there was no place really to put your purse or jacket except the toilet tank(ew) or the floor(NOT gonna happen)

As you can see the handle area on the stall door is just...I mean...well, I have no words.  Except...blechhh.  The floors are grubby in corners and the lighting above the basin mirror is cobwebby.  This restroom is crying out for help!  To be fair, however, I also visited the restroom in the newer section of the building.  It is cleaner and more aesthetically pleasing.  I'm not sure about the comfort level because I forgot to really check that part out.

This is the first place I've visited that I will be giving a review on more than one bathroom.  The first older restroom I give 1/8 for cleanliness, 1/8 for style and 1/8 for comfort.  That is 3/4 out of 3 full rolls.  For the newer bathroom I give 3/4 for cleanliness, 1/2 for style and 1 full roll for comfort(by default).  That is 2 1/4 rolls.  I would highly recommend  Madrone Kitchen for outdoor dining during the warm weather months.  They have seating on decks right on the river.  Maybe by next summer the bathrooms will be better quality to match the restaurants other fine qualities!  

El Arriero, Medford Oregon

The best thing about El Arriero (aka The Areola) was that we all got to celebrate Dannielle's birthday!  We had a minor glitch in the beginning in that our reservation had somehow disappear from the planet but the hostess quickly pulled some tables together & had our party of 13 seated in no time.  The service for the rest of the evening was great and the food and drinks were average for a family style Mexican restaurant in the Rogue Valley area.  For some reason Southern Oregon is NOT known for its delicious, authentic Mexican restaurants.  We have many lovely features that we are very proud of here in Southern Oregon but we definitely got left out of the Mexican cuisine department.  Es no bueno.  However, El Arriero has a very relaxed, welcoming atmosphere & we managed to have a great time.  Of course, our group kind of brings the party wherever we go.  We should be paid, really.  We are to restaurants what canned laughter is to studio audiences.  Anyway, about the bathroom....as you can see, a lot of thought was given to the initial painting & decorating of  

this restroom.  It is colorfully tiled and painted.  It is rather unexceptional other than that.  Not particularly clean but acceptable.  The papertowel dispenser was empty as you can see in this next photo.  There were toilet seat covers laying on the tank in the small stall.  There are 2 stalls- one HUGE ass stall that you really could fit a cot, fridge & cook stove in and basically live in and  another tiny narrow stall that the door hits the toilet so you have to squeeze in one side to get the door opened or closed.  That must be for the human contortionist customers.   The best thing about this bathroom was that I ran into an old friend.  Recon Roy was hanging out on the counter between the 2 lovely, hand painted basins!  What a coinky-dink! 

So, other than running into a dirty little soldier in this banio, there wasn't anything special to report.  I give it 1/2 a roll for cleanliness, 1/4 roll for comfort & 1/2 roll for style.  1 and 1/4 rolls out of 3.  Arriba Areola!

Sesame Asian Kitchen- Ashland, OR

For the month of August our dinner club met at Sesame Asian Kitchen in Ashland.  SAK is located on the corner of the Ashland downtown plaza, creekside, across the street from Lithia Park.  I have walked by this restaurant several times but never took much notice.  It looks more like a small fast-food restaurant on the outside.  But appearances are deceiving.  The restaurant is very expansive & much closer to fine dining than fast food.  I would call the decor Modern-Asian.  It is lovely and comfortable.  I got to use metal chop sticks for the first time which was fun!  The food was delicious & the atmosphere was very comfortable.  Once again we got lucky and had a "fabulous" server.  Unfortunately I never caught his name but he was funny, knowledgable & excellent at his job.  Some of my dinner mates had the opportunity to check out the restroom before I got there & they were not impressed.  When I checked it out for myself I realized what the problem was.  It is not that it is so terrible.  But just like the exterior of the restaurant, it does not reflect what a nice dining establishment Sesame Asian Kitchen truly is.  As I've seen at other restaurants, the restroom feels like an after thought.  Get with it people!  Put a little thought into your bathrooms, especially the ladies'!  Its not that hard & I promise it will pay off! 

As you can see the bathroom is somewhat Asian-ish with the china red countertop and the jade green walls.  It is pretty basic, though.  It was pretty clean but no thrills, no frills.  My dinner mates did not care for the green wall paint but I've seen worse(see Dragonfly post).  

 

There were no extra conveniences like seating, hand lotion, hairspray, etc.  No MOIST towelettes.  A trash can near the exit would be nice for those who use a paper towel to open the door for hygenic reasons ( won't name anybody specdannielleifically).  Note how full the trash can is here, please. 

This restroom has 2 stalls which seemed to be sufficient.  My lovely assistant Trish can be seen in this photo displaying the proper use of a plunger. Isn't she cute?!  Vanna aint got nothin' on her!  Thank goodness Sesame Asian Kitchen has a plunger in the restroom because I know that is the first thing we ladies' always look for...just don't know what a gal would do without one!

In conclusion, Sesame Asian Kitchen has earned a total of 1 3/4 rolls of tissue paper.  3/4 for cleanliness, 1/2 for comfort & 1/2 for aesthetics.

Dragonfly Cafe and Gardens Ashland, Oregon

Last night we ventured into Ashland again for dinner club to dine at the Dragonfly.  They have a very pretty outdoor dining area with terraced gardens, shade trees and twinkly lights strewn along fences and up tree trunks.  Our server was knowledgable and spunky.  The drinks were okay.  They don't seem to have alot of basics on hand (no spiced rum...really?) for a full bar.  However, the food was to die for.  Excellent preparation and wonderful selection.  The atmosphere at Dragonfly is comfortable and laid back.  The restroom was...interesting.  It is a one seater, as I like to call them, so there are no stalls.  I waited in the hallway until it became available.

The bathroom has some nice features.  There are colorful, framed photographs on the walls that catch the eye.  There is a table near the basin which is nice for setting your purse, etc on (here you will notice my cute, BIG purse which I purchased at a great little boutique on NW 23rd in Portland, OR.)  Fun place to shop!   A nice big mirror hangs above the pedestal basin. and you know how important a decent mirror is!  But other than the table and large mirror there were no other comfort features. 

The bathroom was not super clean but it was tolerable.  The toilet paper and paper towels were well stocked.  So this bathroom does have some decent features but now we must discuss the "interesting" features.  First lets touch on the obvious: that green wall paint.  Now I realize that some people (somewhere) may really like this color of paint.  I, however, have an aversion to it.  My personal opinion is that it looks like the color of flu season or baby doody.  Two things that you really don't want to think about when you are out to eat.  Not that it was truly that appalling or anything, but when Dragonfly chose their bathroom paint I think they went  for whatever was on the bargain table that day.  The next interesting feature we will discuss is the closet located in the bathroom.  It has no doors...just a sliding black woven screen across the door frame...and  I am pretty sure the Boogey Man lives there.   

The Boogey Man and I have a relationship.  It is a rocky one & we go waaay back.  Although I have never actually seen him, I know that he likes to lurk behind my shower curtain, under my bed, and in my closet.  Well, Dragonfly's bathroom closet must be his primary residence.  Its dark and creepy and has 2 more doors inside: one leading to his torture chambers and the other to the gates of hell.  Just kidding, this closet functions as a cleaning supplies closet but I highly recommend that Dragonfly invest in the installation of some real doors with locks on it.  Between the pukey green paint and the Boogey Man hide-out, a girl can get a little distracted in that room of un-rest!  

All these doors and cleaning paraphernalia you see here are inside the closet.  So to conclude this review I give the womens' bathroom at the Dragonfly 1/4 roll for style & aesthetics, 1/4 roll for cleanliness & 1/4 roll for comfort.  That is a total of 3/4 of a roll on the 3 roll system.  I hope the Dragonfly uses this as constructive criticism.  It would just take a few simple changes to make the restroom live up to the greatness of the rest of the restaurant.