This old-school cafe at the north end of Ashland is open for breakfast and lunch only. While it can be a little daunting to pull up on a weekend morning and see dozens of people already waiting for tables, don’t fret — the wait is usually less than 15 minutes, and once you’re seated the rest happens fairly quickly. The specials board out front may win you over before you’re ever seated, but know that the popular Benedicts are a sure bet, as are the cafe’s house-baked scones and muffins. Sit out on the patio in good weather if you can.

A downtown institution for decades, Brothers is a favorite among locals for breakfast and lunch, and on weekends it can be tough to find a table. Brothers is famous for its “Brothers Mothers” chicken soup and other delicatessen staples like corned beef hash, cheese blintzes, and a killer lox and bagel platter. When it comes to beverage, the cappuccinos here are lovely.

Need a moment of Zen? Dobra is Plaza adjacent, serving luxe teas in a sunny Moroccan setting. Quiet your mind and indulge in a beautifully scented tea, a nourishing raw vegetable bowl, and a meze plate or a delicate pastry. So very Ashland.

An institution on Ashland’s plaza for more than two decades, and with three times the menu choices of nearly any other restaurant in town, there’s something for every appetite at Greenleaf. Grilled polenta alongside the vegetable-dense Ashlandistan omelet will bolster you through a hike in Lithia Park, just down the block, while lunch and dinner offer choices from piccata to bacon-wrapped meatloaf to wild Pacific cod. Plus — as the owner’s daughters have celiac disease — it has a huge, entirely gluten free menu. Eat creekside if you can, but the booths inside are cozy too.

On the best people-watching corner of the Plaza, Mix serves Stumptown coffees, gelatos, and French-ish pastries. Come here for the finest fresh croissants Ashland has to offer, and a fabulous lemon tart.

This casual Main Street restaurant is one of the few Indonesian restaurants in the state, specializing in classics like a rich, fall-apart-tender beef rendang and peanut-sauce-laden gado gado. The restaurant’s opor, a Javanese candlenut curry, is an earthy, gently spiced curry well complemented by the restaurant’s house-made sambal.

MÄS is the passion project for chef Josh Dorcak, who — when he isn’t flaunting his chops at the new brick-and-mortar incarnation of his adored pop-up — is busy winning the Ashland Culinary Festival’s Chef’s Showdown or landing on the New York Times’s 50 best restaurants list. His multi-course tasting menus tease, challenge, and entertain with dishes like aged duck breast with acorn miso and maple blossoms and corn dashi chawanmushi with King crab and goat milk.

From the team behind MÄS, Nama is one part izakaya, one part omakase, with a gorgeous wine and sake list. At the izakaya, chef Sarah Cook serves dishes like miso-glazed trout and black cod with corn succotash, alongside a lengthy raw bar menu featuring dishes like Washington oysters on the half-shell, shooters with ponzu and matcha, and kampachi with grapefruit and fennel pollen. The omakase is a collaboration with MÄS, which means you know it’s going to be spectacular. Produce comes from Orange Marmalade Farm, and oysters are generally Pacific Northwestern.

Ashland is laid back, but Hearsay is one of those places that makes you want to pull out your Friday-night finest. A sleek venue with a jazzy speakeasy vibe, Hearsay multitasks like a pro. Diners can unwind in the cool, deeply upholstered lounge during happy hour, linger over Sunday brunch in the garden, and dine swankily on Columbia River steelhead and duck leg confit in a grand piano-dominated dining room.

Originally based at the Green Springs Inn & Cabins near the Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument, Cocorico has moved into town, steps away from the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. Here, horn-shaped campanelle arrive alongside Aleppo corn puree and confit cherry tomatoes, roast chicken comes with both plum chutney and peri peri, and the house burger is made with Ashland-raised Box R Beef. The restaurant’s particularly nice braised lamb gets a floral touch from rose harissa, sitting on a bed of Israeli couscous.

Beyond its well-deserved reputation as the defacto choice for any special-occasion meal, Alchemy hits all the modern restaurant buttons: whiskey bar, inventive bistro offerings (foie gras “Butterfingers” with honeycomb toffee and huckleberry coulis, steak tartare with bagna cauda), elaborate wine dinners, and a jaw-dropping wine cellar curated by owner-certified sommelier Drew Gibbs. It’s impossible to have a mediocre meal here, but get the crispy duck confit with morels to be sure.

The breakfast at Morning Glory deserves a place on every Ashland bucket list, thanks to dishes like ricotta-stuffed French toast and au gratin potato crepes. Comfy booths, bright surroundings, and an enchanted back garden are tailor-made for lingering over a newspaper or book. The especially friendly, gentle, and unobtrusive service makes that all the more possible.

Ashland’s location of the beloved Portland sandwich shop, Sammich smokes and cures the meats for its sandwiches in-house, including its perpetually popular pastrami. Fans of the Bear can also find a knockout version of a Chicago Italian beef here, a baguette loaded with thinly-shaved roast beef and house giardiniera. Its location on the campus of Southern Oregon University make it a smart option for students looking for a next-level lunch.

People who won’t stand in line for anything queue up for the bagels at this tiny hole-in-the-wall shop in a strip mall uptown. The house-made schmears are equally excellent, and go early if you have your sights on an onion bagel — they tend to sell out.

A south Ashland beacon for craft beer lovers, the acclaimed Caldera offers a menu of upscale burgers, pizzas, sandwiches, and salads, alongside beer recommendations by the helpful staff. If hops aren’t your thing, Caldera also brews its own craft soda.