Sugarpine Drive-In

Ryan Domingo and Emily Cafazzo of Sugarpine Drive-in

Sugarpine is Oregon’s premier destination drive-in restaurant, located on the banks of the Sandy River in Troutdale. Opened in 2018, Sugarpine serves up nostalgic American comfort food with a seasonal twist. Operating within a renovated 1920’s gas station, Sugarpine’s unique natural backdrop takes you back in time; located at the gateway to “Oregon’s playground”, the Columbia River Gorge and the start of the Historic Columbia River Highway. You can picture the old model T’s and classic cars parked at the drive-in, fueling up for a scenic drive past countless waterfalls and epic viewpoints.

I’m excited about Filipino Food Month because we don’t often get the chance to cook with Filipino flavors at the drive-in, and this provides an opportunity to share my Ilocano heritage to a wide audience. I’m really proud of my Filipino and Hawaiian heritage, but it wasn’t always so… I’m a 3rd generation immigrant son, and my grandfather cut sugarcane on a plantation in Kauai. Assimilation was a strong force in our mixed race home growing up in the Bay Area, California.

So there was a lot of classic American food at the dinner table.  Barbecue, microwaveable tv dinners, pizza and fast food. Filipino and Hawaiian culture was reduced to the symbolic pot of pungent stew bubbling on the back burner at grandma and grandpa's house. Grandpa said “not for you” when we asked about it, pinching our noses at the smells of fish sauce and vinegar.

Our introduction to Filipino food was the family’s classic cold remedy… “Chicken Paria”. A medicinal and gingery chicken soup made with loads of bittermelon from my grandma's garden. So bitter, it felt like a punishment to eat it. (Ironic that it’s a comfort nowadays, and something I crave). When my brothers and I got old enough, we ate “Abobo” with rice, the sour soy braise of tender chicken or pork with garlic, peppercorn and bay leaf. We liked it (didn’t love chewing into whole peppercorns, at first), but it felt good to connect with our heritage through distinctive food that we could enjoy. Adobo did that for us. 

At family luau’s we joined the aunties at the prep table rolling lumpia (Filipino egg rolls), and we got to try pancit (stir fried noodles), “dinardaraan” (pork blood and offal stew) and “pinakbet” (mixed vegetable stew). I wish I’d spent more time learning about Filipino food back then. It took a long time to track down and cook the family recipes. Even longer to realize that my love for food and my concepts around hard work and generous hospitality were shaped by these cultures. I’m so grateful for my Filipino-Hawaiian heritage and its lessons about cooking food as an act of love. I think you can feel that when you come to Sugarpine.

-Ryan

About Sugarpine

Sugarpine is Oregon’s premier destination drive-in restaurant, located on the banks of the Sandy River in Troutdale. Opened in 2018, Sugarpine serves up nostalgic American comfort food with a seasonal twist. Operating within a renovated 1920’s gas station, Sugarpine’s unique natural backdrop takes you back in time; located at the gateway to “Oregon’s playground”, the Columbia River Gorge and the start of the Historic Columbia River Highway. You can picture the old model T’s and classic cars parked at the drive-in, fueling up for a scenic drive past countless waterfalls and epic viewpoints.

These days, Sugarpine is known for executing a scratch menu of smoked meat and vegetable sandwiches, unique seasonal salads and creative soft serve sundaes for thousands of people a day. Adjacent to one of Portland’s closest swimming holes, the drive-in’s vicinity to the Sandy River float makes it one of Oregon’s quintessential dining experiences, particularly in the Spring and Summer.

Sugarpine is owned and operated by Ryan Domingo and Emily Cafazzo, alums of some of Portland and Brooklyn’s most beloved restaurants; including Gotham Tavern, Toro Bravo, Ned Ludd, Beast, Pok Pok and Roberta’s. 

Emily is originally from Corvallis, Oregon. Raised by her mother (a master gardener, botanist and ceramicist) she grew up with a deep connection to seasonal produce, a reverence for Pacific Northwest foodways, and a sweet tooth.

Ryan grew up in California’s Bay Area, and draws inspiration from his father’s Hawaiian, Ilocano (Filipino) and Chinese heritage, his mother’s Tex-Mex and classic American home cooking, and the nostalgia of 80’s fast-food and ice cream novelties.