Squeeze Inn

The Squeeze Inn has been feeding Zillah since 1932, when Thyri Bainter, an Icelandic immigrant, opened an eight foot wide cafe inside her husband Olin's barber shop. The squeeze in the name was literal. Her son Ted and his wife Marge ran it next, and today it belongs to Beth Husted, the founder's great granddaughter, with her daughter Jaycie on her way to becoming the fifth generation.

It calls itself a supper club, and the anchor of the menu is prime rib made to Grandpa Ted's recipe, served since 1972, with nightly specials rotating around it. The menu also covers starters, salads, pasta, burgers and baskets, a kids' menu and desserts, and on Saturday mornings there is breakfast. The lounge, the Vagabond Room, is worth a look even if you only stop for a drink: a mural and decades of photographs and memorabilia cover the walls.

The restaurant went quiet in the 2000s, when it closed to the public and hosted private events. Beth came home from Portland in 2015, took full ownership, and it is open to everyone again. Dinner is Wednesday through Saturday from 4, with the last seating at 8, and Saturday breakfast runs from 8 to 11. Reservations are not required. It sits on First Avenue in the middle of town, a few minutes off I-82 and close to the Rattlesnake Hills tasting rooms.