Bend restaurants, customers embrace a snow day
Wednesday brought more than a foot of new snow to much of Central Oregon. So who still ventured out – not for a must like work, but to take a trip and grab a bite?
“Cold and fun,” was how a younger member of the Sutterfield family described the no-school snow day.
Even with rough roads and warnings from officials, many locals took the snow day to heart, and went out on the town.
The father of the family said, “We drove around downtown a little bit, and there was some stuff closed, some stuff open.”.
Despite the brisk temperatures and heavy snow fall, most of the businesses at the Old Mill District in Bend are open. In fact, the parking lots weren’t empty at all. There were dozens of people walking to their cars with doggy bags in hand.
A takeaway: Bend folks will do whatever it takes to feed their cravings.
“Storms like this are really fun. We’ll see the snowshoes and the cross-country skis lined up outside,” said Justin Hyde, pub operations manager for 10 Barrel Brewing.
Business was down, sure. But restaurants staff we spoke with were happy to be serving up food.
“You know, today has been a normal day,” Hyde said. “We’re open for business, feeding people and getting beers in their belly, keeping them warm,”
Even if they might be a little jealous of their customers to be stationed indoors.
“I don’t think that there’s enough snow to keep us closed. Maybe there’s enough snow to want us to close so we can go to the mountain,” Hyde said with a laugh.
Some serve up a twist on some classic adult solutions to the cool night air, to keep people coming through.
“Good business,” said Francisco Lopez of Hola! “Today’s a little slow, but I want to service food all night, I have Mexican hot chocolate, hot red cocktails, margaritas.”
The winter snow season has only just begun, After all, it’s still only fall, officially.
So next time you’re snowed in, but want a bite to eat in Bend, the the odds are in your favor.
