Omar’s Restaurant & Bar has been serving the community for almost eight decades. NewsWatch 12’s Liv Collom gives us a look inside and asks regulars what the restaurant means to them.
ASHLAND, Ore. — Stepping inside Omar’s Restaurant & Bar is like entering a time machine to Ashland’s past, with a cursive sign, cherry-red booths and a carnation on every table. It makes sense upon learning the restaurant has been open for 78 years — making it Ashland’s oldest.
“For the most part, we try to keep everything the same,” co-owner Jennifer Sink said.
Omar’s opened in 1946, when restauranteurs Omer and Hazel Hill built it on the former site of the Berkeley Hot Springs. The restaurant was meant to be called “Omer’s,” but the sign came misspelled. The Hills opted to keep it, and the name stuck.
This carefree attitude has passed down throughout owners — and is what …