While walking down Blair Street — one of the main blocks of the Whiteaker neighborhood in Eugene — an old white house with flower beds and a well-manicured lawn sticks out from the surrounding buildings. This old house hasn’t changed much on the outside for over a decade, but the food on the inside is entirely different.
The old, white house is now home to Bari Trattoria. The new restaurant replaced the previous tenant, Eugene favorite — Papa’s Soul Food, and opened its doors in April 2018. Bari Trattoria serves traditional Southern Italian food in a hip atmosphere with a well-stocked liquor cabinet.
Papa’s Soul Food was a barbecue restaurant started by Ted Lee, nicknamed “Papa.” During its 15-year stint in Eugene, the southern kitchen even made an appearance on the popular Food Network channel show “Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives.” In 2009, Lee passed away and the restaurant was passed on to his wife, who continued operations in his name. The restaurant closed in November 2017 after Papa’s wife talked about moving on from the restaurant business in a Facebook post in October 2017.
After the beloved Papa’s Soul Food closed, Cody and Sean Verkler purchased the house nearly two weeks later and rushed to open up their Italian-style restaurant in the eclectic Whiteaker area.
“As you can imagine, there were a large amount of local restaurateurs interested in the building, so we feel extremely fortunate to have had the baton passed on to us,” Cody Verkler said.
The Verklers installed a wood-fired oven, bar area and some swanky interior decorations to make the place their own. At the same time, they wanted to keep the same character of the building that many Eugene residents had come to love. The historical building will be turning 90 in 2019, according to Cody Verkler.
Some dishes stand out more than others at Bari, particularly the current specials — a halibut dish rounded out with creamy, acidic flavors, and delicious clam cavatappi pasta coated in a thin, garlic-heavy sauce. On the main menu, the fettuccine Alfredo differentiates itself from other menu items as a fresh-tasting, creamy concoction that is accentuated by the well-crafted, house-made pasta.
While the flavors aren’t yet unique or overly original, the fresh plates of pasta are what really push Bari over the edge and deem it worthy of being in the Whiteaker area.
The wood-fired pizza isn’t exceptional, but nonetheless, Bari creates tasty, unique pie combos like the Arrabiata. Six more options come from the oven: the classic Margherita; the Crudo that includes prosciutto, goat cheese, roasted garlic, onions and arugula; and the Amanti Della Carne that is topped with pepperoni, sausage, sopressata salami and bacon. Patrons have plenty of options depending on their preferences.
While Bari Trattoria may not yet be the best Italian spot in Eugene, the restaurant is not even a year old, which gives it plenty of time to make a name for itself in the area.
