1. Dueling Spoons 39074 Jasper Lowell Road. Fall Creek. 541-398-8929. DuelingSpoons.net.

2. Jade Dumpling and Noodle House 2560 Willamette. 541-968-9258. Instagram.com/jade_dumpling_eugene.

3. Osteria DOP 1122 Oak St. 541- 913-6460. PizzeriaDop.com.

Whenever you step inside Dueling Spoons, right away you become a part of the family. But that’s not what converts one to become a Dueling Spoons fanatic. It’s all about the food, whether you’re ringing the bell to announce to the rest of the restaurant that you’re about to chow down on a tomahawk steak or eating a sandwich on bread that’s been shipped in from Philadelphia. 

Dueling Spoons, though known for its dinner service, has recently opened its doors for lunch, offering Irish fare such as bangers and mash and shepherd’s pies. But what’s worth the drive out to Fall Creek are the sandwiches, an artform of layering by chef and owner Billy Reid — who voters also voted into the top three in Best Chef in a highly competitive category.

Reid is the first to acknowledge that if you’re in a hurry to eat dinner, maybe Dueling Spoons isn’t the right dinner spot. Rather than have a model of getting customers in and out, he says he’d rather have them enjoy their time at the restaurant. 

Readers have chosen Dueling Spoons as the Best New Restaurant, as well as second place for Best Out-of-Town Restaurant, but the Fall Creek-based restaurant seems like it’s become an overnight culinary institution. And that’s because Reid, his wife Kathleen Reid and everyone else at the restaurant are dedicated to making sure that every customer experience is memorable. 

“We’ll go to the lengths to make people happy,” Reid says. “I have a reputation we’ll go to lengths that are necessary to make people happy.”