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--> Sarah Westby serves up a cone to Ashland customer Mardy Carson at the new Lithia Grill, formerly Rosie's Sweet Shoppe, the first local soda shop. Ashland Daily Tidings/AMY ALONZO Grill keeps the best of old fountain By Sean Wolfe Ashland Daily Tidings Call her a mom with a mission. Former Palo Alto tavern-owner Lori Forrest has reinvented herself in Ashland, and in the process, also restored one of Ashland's historic buildings. Now dubbed The Lithia Grill, the new restaurant inhabits the site of Ashland's first soda shop, which first opened its doors in 1909. And the soda fountain hasn't gone away - in fact, it's the centerpiece. While the original fountain couldn't be salvaged, the renovation sought to capture some of that same old-time spirit. "I didn't want to be in the restaurant business," Forrest said. "But I couldn't find a place to take my child out to dinner. That's when I realized that Ashland really needs a place like this. And I found this building, and realized that it really needed someone to come in and give it some TLC." That TLC took five months, and cost Forrest roughly $300,000. It included getting a new 2,000-pound soda fountain shipped from the Midwest. Also stamped tin ceilings have been replaced with embossed paper to reproduce the same effect. The floor was entirely replaced with new oak, then antiqued with teak oil. The expense doesn't faze Forrest, who plans to use her investment as a tax write-off. On the kid-friendly front, Forrest has made a number of moves. The menu offers affordable kids meals priced between $3 and $5. There's also a toychest for younger children. Kids are provided with free helium balloons and pinball machine tokens. Then there's the sweet-tooth factor, with malts, shakes, floats, and phosphates available at the soda fountain. Still in the works is a kid's party program, in which Forrest will provide cake, ice cream and party favors for families interested in celebrating a birthday, or toasting the success of a good report card. The building was originally built as a drugstore by Dr. Francis G. Swedenburg, and it's first occupant was East Side Pharmacy, owned by the doctor's brother. That's when Ashland got its first soda fountain. In the late 1930s, the pharmacy changed hands, becoming Ingle Drug. "I realized it would end up being an art gallery if I didn't do something, and since it was right around the corner from my house, it seemed to be the right thing to do. "It really fell into my lap. I was looking for a place like Palo Alto was 30 years ago, and I hated what Palo Alto had become. But you have a university here, and it's a culture center, and that persuaded me," Forrest said. Forrest's last establishment was an English-style pub called The Rose and Crown, situated near Stanford University. While the departure from running a bar to running a soda shop marks a transition for Forrest, she noted that Ashland already had one British-style pub - The Black Sheep. And besides, the site of Rosie's Sweet Shoppe was available to transform. Busloads of high school kids during the restaurant's opening week in April brought in over $1,000 a day, but the traffic volume raised other concerns. "The day we opened, we were completely slammed with school-buses full of high school students from California. I was really scared, because I wanted to make sure that locals knew this was a place for them to come. I was glad by the end of the week when the buses left, and we had a chance to breathe and put together a business plan," Forrest said. "The problem with huge groups is that we get no notice." Forrest said she concluded that the venue could work on both levels - both as a tourist site, as well as a place for local families. And to combat large groups, Forrest said she would spend some time papering motels with a notice of a 20 percent surcharge for large groups, which would be waived with a call in advance. In terms of breaking even, Forrest said she only has to bring in $750 a day to stay in business, and keep her 14 employees on the payroll. The restaurant seats 49, and on a sunny Friday lunch hour, was packed with the lunchtime rush, including three families with kids in tow. "I tend to shy away from large establishments," Forrest said. "The last place was of a similar size, and it feels like a crowd even when it isn't. It's an intimate environment. I mean, we only have 9 tables, so it doesn't take much to fill this place up." Email your... Technical questions & comments to: WebMaster Daily Tidings editorial comments & questions to: Editor Visit our other Oregon Newspapers... | Albany Democrat-Herald | Ashland Daily Tidings | Corvallis Gazette-Times | | Lebanon Express | Newport News-Times | Springfield News | Cottage Grove Sentinel | Ashland Daily Tidings 1661 Siskiyou Blvd. Ashland, OR 97520 Telephone 541-482-3456 © Copyright 2001 Lee Northwest Publishing