After six months remodeling the former Le’Roy’s Blue Whale, Pelican Brewing will open its sixth Oregon coast restaurant and pub Friday in Yachats. (Quinton Smith/Lincoln Chronicle)
By GARRET JAROS/Lincoln Chronicle
YACHATS – Diners in Yachats have a new option beginning Friday with the “soft opening” of Pelican Brewing’s newest location on the Oregon coast.
The first week of operation is a time for new staff to learn the ropes and get some customers under their belts, said co-owner Mary Jones, before the grand opening and ribbon cutting at 10:30 a.m. Friday Sept. 25.
“That’s when we feel like we will be locked and loaded for whatever comes,” said Jones who with her husband, Jeff Schons, opened their first location in Pacific City, where they’ve lived for 35 years, in 1996.
An invitation only event Thursday gave Pelican Brewing’s new staff a chance to test the kitchen, service and systems. Pelican kept the iconic blue whale mural in the dining room. (Garret Jaros/Lincoln Chronicle)
The Yachats location is billed as a “neighborhood pub” because of its smaller footprint of 3,000 square feet for indoor dining. It also offers a wrap-around deck for outdoor seating.
Remodeling work to transform the former LeRoy’s Blue Whale location along U.S. Highway 101 into a Pelican pub began in April and built to a feverish pace this summer that included new cedar-shake siding, booths and bar and an expanded parking lot to accommodate outdoor seating.
Jones did not tip her hand to say how much the company invested in its sixth and latest location. “Let’s just say, we’re excited to have made a significant investment in the Yachats community.”
In addition to the Pacific City and Yachats locations, Jones and Schons opened locations in Tillamook in 2013, Cannon Beach in 2016, Siletz Bay in 2022 and Rockaway Beach in 2025.
The Yachats location is employing roughly 40 people including part-timers, Jones said. Managing the restaurant is South Beach resident Patty Walker. The restaurant will be open from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. seven days a week and will expand those hours during the summer season.
The lunch and dinner menu is pared down from that of its larger locations, “but not dramatically,” Jones said. “I would say it’s about 75 percent of our big location menu.” A weekend-only brunch menu will be introduced at some point, she added.
Some of Jones favorites include the onion ring and burrata and crispy prosciutto appetizers, and the tsunami chicken bowl and crispy shrimp bowl entrees. Her husband’s favorites are the Dungeness crab and Oregon shrimp roll and the salmon plate. Other than fish and chips, the best-selling item is the ahi poke bowl. Burgers and fries, flat bread pizza and desserts are par for the course. They have 16 taps that in addition to their signature beers include cider and non-alcoholic options.
Pelican owners and staff held a mock dining private event Thursday for friends, family and Yachats residents who signed up through a special invitation to help get prepared for the formal opening.
Pelican Brewing’s new pub in Yachats offers the company’s full line of beer and about 75 percent of the menu of its larger restaurants. (Garret Jaros/Lincoln Chronicle)Garret Jaros covers the communities of Yachats, Waldport, south Lincoln County and natural resources issues for Lincoln Chronicle and can be reached at [email protected]
Dining and Cooking