Location: 2210 NE Highway 20, Bend

Hours: 5:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily

Price Range: $5.29 to $12.50

Alcoholic Beverages: None

Reservations: Not accepted

Credit Cards: Visa, MasterCard

Contact: 382-0118

At places like Jake’s Diner, things never really change.

The truck stop that had been the impetus of its business for nearly 30 years could close up shop, and Jake’s would endure.

The whole place could pull up stakes and cross town in a convoy of buddies’ pickup trucks, and Jake’s would emerge on the other side, serving coffee and chicken-fried steak at the same diner counter as if nothing ever happened. Waitresses named Fran would still scribble orders on green pads and call your children ”honey” when she sets down their pigs in blankets.

At places like Jake’s Diner, small things like a cross-town move and change in ownership don’t really change a thing.

Jake Wolfe opened Jake’s Restaurant in 1977, later expanding it from 55 to 135 seats and changing its name to Jake’s Diner. By that time, Lyle Hicks was already managing the restaurant and locals and truckers alike were downing big burgers and plate-sized pancakes 24 hours a day. Hicks said he was dismayed – depressed even – when he learned in November that Jake’s was selling and the restaurant he’d managed since 1983 would likely close.

But Providence intervened, allowing Hicks and his wife, Judy, to buy Jake’s and move it to a new neighborhood on Bend’s east side. ”We had to take a gamble, but everything fell into place,” said Hicks.

Hicks bought the Jake’s name and the equipment and leased the old Jake’s property on south Third Street for six months. Then, he sought a new location, and found one in a former Italian/barbecue/Thai restaurant off Highway 20. The Jake’s family – the crew of some 40 employees, dozens of the Hickses’ church friends and customers – scrubbed, painted, plastered and remodeled, and then moved the old Jake’s to the new Jake’s, a process Lyle Hicks compared to a balloon deflating. Pickup after pickup pulled up to the old restaurant to load up tables, chairs, supplies and equipment, then hauled them off to their new home.

In a week, Jake’s had reappeared in its new spot. Customers enjoyed the same tables, coffee cups and photos on the wall of celebrities who have eaten there. The diner even has the same counter (”You can’t have a diner without a counter,” said Hicks).

”People told us they would follow us, but you don’t really expect it,” said Hicks. ”It’s so overwhelming to us to have that support.”

Plenty of regulars still come every day, one with such regularity that an item on the menu is nearly named for him – Bob Shotwell’s favorite, Central Oregon Scrambled.

And even though it’s not a truck stop anymore, Jake’s menu still includes items like the Long Hauler breakfast and the Flatbed sandwich and lists the traveling distance from Bend to Reno, Chicago, Kansas City or Sweet Home, something to ponder after you order.

Jake’s also offers a lunch buffet during the week for people who want to stop in and grab something quick and satisfying. The buffet includes an entree, salad and soup.

The overflow dining area is also being used as a banquet and meeting room and can accommodate up to 40 people.

The business philosophy according to Hicks is to ”give back to the community.” While closed for normal business on holidays, Jake’s reaches out to seniors and others in the community to serve a Thanksgiving dinner with a volunteer staff.