Evergreen Indian Cuisine
1525 Franklin Boulevard
Eugene, OR 97403
(541) 343-7944

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I am really steamed! I just finished eating a lunch buffet at Evergreen Indian Cuisine, and now my body is completely drenched from the steamy interior of this restaurant.

Now, I know some of you are reading this and thinking that good ol’ Mr. Eugenified is using a little literary license to describe a slightly warm interior. So allow me to clarify: This place is literally steamy, i.e. the relative humidity of this place is 90% or higher. Water is dripping down the inside of all the windows. This place is as steamy as a tiger-infested Indian jungle in the middle of monsoon season. Any steamier, and you would need to use a snorkel to breath while eating your lunch. (I suppose you and your dining companions could take turns funneling liquid dal into each others’ snorkels). OK, it’s maybe not that bad, but it really is…steamy.

Anyways, if the steam doesn’t put you off your appetite, please step this way to your table. Don’t expect much, as this restaurant is yet another of those Denny’s-gone-bankrupt-in-the-1970′s layouts. Why are there so many of these places in Eugene? Did Denny’s once have 50 restaurants in the city and then decide to shut them down all at once? Or is there some local contractor running around building new restaurant units with the same set of plans from the 70′s? If so, how does he find some much retro puke-color Formica, so many “faux brass” hanging lamps, and all those plastic plants con polvo? It’s a mystery.

Anyways, again, I guess the owners of Evergreen scooped this place up at some point and decided it was a great deal since they would not have to spend one single penny to decorate. Good thinking. [Note to self: If I ever decide to open an Indian restaurant, I hereby swear to decorate it with a theme of ancient India, or maybe modern India, or maybe futuristic India...but I will not decorate it like a 1970's Denny's].

OK, then…with all this money saving on the decor, you’d probably expect some pretty fantastic food to make up for all of it. Well, before we get to the food, let’s talk a stroll over to the buffet area. Yes, that’s it right there. No, you are not actually entering the kitchen area. That’s the buffet area. Please pay no attention to the stacked restaurant supplies and general industrial feel of the area. On the other hand, please note that the self-serve soda dispenser has a sign clearly posted telling you to not use it. No fills, refills, defills, or unfills allowed.

Ready to eat now? Strangely enough, it’s not bad food. If you can see through the fog covering your glasses, you will note that it looks pretty fresh and colorful overall. Items available are the standard Indian buffet stuff (dal this, curry that, aloo these, pakora the other). Drag it all back to your table through the mist, and you shall find some nice flavors are to be had. Overall, a couple of “not bads” and a couple of “pretty goods”. If you are looking for spice, you will not find much here. Mainly it’s butter and light curry and a little tandoori. If you’re a UO college kid who grew up in Medford, you will consider it to be the most exotic food you have ever laid tongue on. If you have ever eaten real Indian food, you will consider it to be a passable version only. But, hey, it’s Eugene, so you can’t be too picky.

Before I forget, let me mention the service during my visit. In a word, it was “catatonic”. The waiter spoke only one single word to us the entire time we were in the restaurant: “Buffet?” We said, “Yes”, and that was it. Without asking us if we wanted beer, wine, or maybe a soda, he poured four glasses of water for our table and left. Later, he silently cleared plates from the table after Round 1. That’s it for the waiter review. What else can I, or he, say? The cashier, on the other hand, was a veritable chatterbox, putting together four, count ‘em four, words in a row: “thirty five ninety six”. I think she may have slightly bowed her head afterwards in a silent gesture to communicate deep meaning…but she may have just been nodding off in the sauna steaminess of the place.

The ultimate question: Would I go back? The answer…probably not. 3 star food in a 2 star atmosphere with 1 star service equals “one time only” for Mr. Eugenified.

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