Foodie’s Diary: Palouse Caboose Bar & Grill, Palouse

PALOUSE -- The Palouse is idyllic at sunset in the summer and fall when the temperature is not too hot and not too cool and the perpetual hills roll toward the darkening sky in a landscape that seems closer to a dream than reality.

The patio at the Palouse Caboose Bar & Grill  is one place to enjoy a fair evening happy hour.

Garage doors open the downtown restaurant and bar to the

outdoors. For food you’ll find standard American fare, sandwiches, salads, burgers and recurring steak nights.

Among the more substantial are the half-pound Night Train Burger ($10.20) or the house-smoked Pulled Pork Sandwich ($9.28). Pulled pork can also be found smothering the Dirty Fries ($8.35). Sandwiches include the hearty Meatloaf Sandwich or Chicken Bacon Ranch Melt layered with chicken strips ($8.35). In a nod to the legumes growing in nearby fields is the Palouse Veggie Burger, a homemade garbanzo bean patty ($8.35). Palouse

garbanzos, lentils and beans are also featured in the Roundhouse Chili ($3.70 cup/$6.45 bowl).

The cocktails and mocktails are more adventuresome than the food with a wide selection of novel choices, including Apricot Sour, Thin Mint Mojito, Cherry Coconut Cooler and the perilous sounding Zombie Apocalypse.

While there is no train in sight at the Palouse Caboose, after a few of those you might just see one rolling over the horizon.

Palouse Caboose Bar & Grill, 110 N. Beach St., Palouse, Wash., (509) 878-1704