The agricultural hub of YAKIMA is rather tough terrain: the railroad yard is pretty much its aesthetic high point. It is an excellent base to visit the tasting rooms of the award-wining wineries scattered throughout the Yakima Valley (for information call the Yakima Valley Wine Growers Association, tel 1-800/258-7270, www.yakimavalleywine.com ). The appealing part of downtown is among the brightly painted railroad cars at Yakima Avenue at N First Street, where Track 29 houses a small collection of shops and food stalls.
Wine-tour maps, as well as lodging and dining information, can be found at the visitor center , 10 N Eighth St (MonFri 8.30am5pm, also summer weekends 9am4pm; tel 509/575-3010 or 1-800/221-0751, www.visityakima.com ). Greyhound stops nearby at 602 E Yakima Ave. Motels and diner-type restaurants abound along N First Street. Located in the old train depot is America's first brewpub, Grant's Brewery Pub , 32 N Front St (tel 509/575-2922), which serves quality hand-crafted ales and tasty pub food, just as Gasparetti's , 10 N First St (tel 509/248-0628), provides solid, affordable Italian fare. Santiago's , 111 E Yakima Ave (tel 509/453-1644), is a decent Mexican restaurant, but for the real thing, super cheap, check out Salsita Antojitos Mexicanos , N Second St at Yakima Ave (tel 509/425-9515).
Twenty miles south of Yakima, TOPPENISH , the main town on the Yakima Indian Reservation, has a Wild West feel enlivened by buildings with historic Western murals. The visitors center , 11 S Toppenish Ave (tel 509/865-3262, www.toppenish.org ), supplies brochures on the murals. There are a few good Mexican restaurants, notably Los Murales , 202 W First Ave (tel 509/865-7555). In nearby Sunnyside, Snipes Mountain Brewery & Restaurant , 905 Yakima Valley Hwy (tel 509/837-BREW), serves great regional food and wine.
Copyright Rough Guides Ltd as trustee for its authors. Published by Rough Guides. All rights reserved. The Rough Guides name is a trademark of Rough Guides Ltd.
Copyright © 2006 United States.biz
