Ethan’s Eatery: Out of the corporate world and into one of the best places to satisfy your cravings

justine jacobsen ethan's eatery

An Oroville native, Justine got her start in food service at Applebee’s, where she quickly rose through the ranks, securing the position of district manager for the chain’s three Northern California locations. By the time she was 30, she had learned everything there was to know about operating a busy large-scale restaurant, and having worked in nearly every position, had an understanding of how to be successful in each. In 2016, she took off on maternity leave and began contemplating a restaurant of her own. When she and her husband, Jeff, saw Jake’s Burgers & More was for sale, they jumped at the opportunity and purchased the business the following year.

“Jake’s already had a well-established clientele of its own, and we didn’t want to scare anyone off, considering the business had been there since 1996.” Justine said, “We operated the business as it was for the first year and took baby steps in every change we made. After the first year, we remodeled the dining room, added menu items, and started to spruce things up from there.” Oroville responded with excitement to the changes, and the business grew month-after-month, fulfilling Justine’s dream of owning their own restaurant. wanted to take the next step and build a restaurant from the ground up. While at lunch with Jeff and her best friend, Ashley— who had worked in the food industry since she was 16 as well—Jeff came across a vacant building that perfectly fit the bill. The three began collaborating, offering up ideas on what Oroville needed most, and came up with Ethan’s Eatery, an elevated brunch experience geared towards the people who could use a day off the most—moms.

“We wanted to give women a place to escape their normal day-to-day and enjoy something different that was built specifically for them.” Justine laughed, “Of course, men are welcome, too! The idea was to be a place where everyone could come and enjoy themselves. There’s no judgment, the music is loud and upbeat, and kids are allowed to be themselves. Equally important, the menu had to appeal to everybody. Our diner and café crowd love our classics like our waffles, French toast, and biscuits and gravy, but we take them to the next level by making all of our sauces and gravies from scratch while bringing in fresh fruit 2-to-3 times per week and slicing it fresh each day. For our moms with more discerning palettes, we offer killer Benedicts and a whole menu of avocado toasts, including traditional, sweet, and savory! Our Bloody Mary stacks are a huge hit, and our bottomless mimosas are naturally one of our best sellers, as we offer Wycliff champagne and more flavors than I’ve seen anywhere else.”

Celebrating their six month anniversary at Ethan’s Eatery, Justine, Jeff, and Ashley have succeeded in doing exactly what she set out to do, and given Oroville a delicious dining experience residents and visitors can be excited about. Though they’ve worked tirelessly to build the business, Justine is the first to state it couldn’t have been done without her husband’s constant encouragement and support and their incredible team. “I don’t hire staff or crew members; I aim to build a family.” Justine said, “I want my team to be people I want to hang out with and have fun with. It feels nice to work with family, and this family goes above and beyond for each other every single day. It takes a village to run a restaurant, and without this village, we’d be nothing.”

With Ethan’s well on its way, Justine is looking to the future with plans on expanding the restaurant while opening something new and fresh every few years. Check out their delicious menu for yourself and see just how wonderful brunch can be at 2275 Myers Street in Oroville.

Taproom Hours

THURSDAY: 4-8 PM FRIDAY: 4-8 PM SATURDAY: 11 AM-8 PM SUNDAY: 11 AM-5 PM

88O COUNTY ROAD WW PRINCETON, CA 95970

for reservations call: 530-982-2016

Olive oil—Oroville's liquid gold

The olive industry has been a part of Oroville’s economy since the early 1900’s, when Freda Ehmann, “Mother of the California ripe olive industry,” began growing them after the death of her husband. Shortly after, in 1913, a group of professors from Cal Berkeley planted the Berkeley Olive Grove, which eventually won world olive oil awards. This became a trend, and olive oil from the Oroville area is still considered some of the best money can buy.

These days, there are a number of olive growers in the area. To name a few, they include: Butte View Olive Company, Berkeley Olive Grove, California Olive Ranch, Ehmann Olive Company, and Lodestar Farms. If you want to learn more about Oroville olives, be sure to attend the Butte County Olive Festival on June 19 from 9:00am to 2:00pm on Lincoln Street.

Everyone has eaten olives in some form, be it the fruit after the brining process or in olive oil of some kind—extra-virgin, virgin, refined, pure, or pomace (not edible, it is used in furniture polish). Most people love olives! Who hasn’t jammed pitted olives on their fingers at the dinner table and waved their arms around? (I preferred to see how far I could shoot a pit out of one nostril. Great fun!) Black olives on pizza are a tradition, and EVOO—extra virgin olive oil— is now in the dictionary. 7,000 years ago. The average life of a tree is 300-to-600 years, and they can grow to nearly fifty feet in height. After planting, trees flower in four years and bear fruit in 15 years (so don’t wait around with your ladder and bucket). 90% of the olives picked become oil.

The most commercial type of olives are the Spanish or Sevillan type and the Sicillian or Greek type. There’s also Picoline or directly brined, water cured, salt cured, and California or “artificially ripening” type. Olives can be green, purple, dark brown, black, and even pink! The largest type of olive is called a “donkey olive.” The smallest is a “bullet olive.” Olive oil is rich in polyphenols, natural antioxidants, and monounsaturated fats and oleic acid, such as Omega-3 and Omega-6.

Last but definitely not first, who can forget OLIVE OYL, Popeye’s on again off again girlfriend? Not me! Let’s not forget her family either: her parents were Cole Oyl and Nana Oyl (from banana oil, a phrase meaning “horsefeathers!”); her brother Castor and sister Crude. Along the line were Cylinda Oyl, nieces Diesel and Violet, Uncles Otto and Lubry Kent, and finally Standard Oyl.

I don’t know about you, but I’m ready for a black olive and anchovy pizza. Yum!