Sofia Andinger of Sargents Cafe in Bend serves a hot turkey sandwich to Richard E. Pool, 74. Since moving to Bend a month ago, Pool has become a regular at Sargents.

Sargents Cafe is one of those sorts of places that, if you blink, youll miss. But the little breakfast-and-lunch diner is definitely worth knowing, especially if youre a fan of homespun service and enough menu choices to keep you busy for months.

Located on South Third Street (Business Highway 97), opposite Rite-Aid and next door to the El Rodeo Mexican restaurant, Sargents has been around for a long time. Owner John Aylward, who has owned Sargents for four and a half years, said it certainly has been there since the 1960s and perhaps much longer.

The mood is something from the past as well. Wood-paneled and vinyl-upholstered, the well-maintained cafe has lamps and greenery hanging over a row of tables that looks out through tall windows upon Third Street. Theres a row of bar stools at the counter and a second seating section in back. Easy-listening rock music plays in the background. A sales-display case offers everything from fashion earrings to painted rocks, made as hobbies by the diners employees.

The food, truly, is average in quality. But value is something Sargents provides in spades. Few dishes are priced higher than $9. If youre not a big eater, you can pay less for half portions; if you have a heftier appetite, you can pay a little more for extra pieces of meat.

Plenty of choices

My first visit came at midday. My jaw dropped as I waded through the menu. Here were 74 sandwiches, including burgers and melts! Fourteen salads! Thirteen desserts!

After considerable deliberation, my dining companion and I made our choices: a barbecued chicken breast entree for me, an open-faced pork sandwich for my friend.

My meal began with a small house salad. It was disappointing. The greens were all pale iceberg lettuce, with a smidgen of sliced red cabbage and carrots tossed in, along with two cucumber slices and packaged croutons. I ate it with honey mustard dressing.

My chicken was not exactly barbecued; the modest-sized breast had been brushed with barbecue sauce after broiling, and served with an additional cup of sauce in case that wasnt enough (it wasnt).

Steamed vegetables carrots, cauliflower and squash were a little overcooked for my taste. The corn bread was so dry that it crumbled in my fingers. But I did like the skin-on french fries.

My companions sandwich consisted of several slices of thinly sliced pork loin, served on everyday white bread. A ladle of gravy, made with the pork drippings, covered the meat and accompanying mashed potatoes. She said the meat was tender and tasty, though she wished she had requested wheat bread. A generous serving of coleslaw, as recommended by our server, was very soupy and much sweeter than either of us prefer.

Service was not stellar. Although Sargents wasnt busy it was toward the end of the lunch hour we waited as our server cleaned vacant tables before coming to take our order. After she delivered our meals, it was kitchen manager Mike Orcutt who emerged to ask us, How is everything? We didnt see the server again until she delivered our check.

Service with a smile

What a turnabout, then, when I returned to Sargents alone for a subsequent breakfast and found the service excellent. The restaurant was much busier, but two servers bustled cheerfully between tables, rapidly taking orders and delivering dishes with smiles, and continually ensuring that coffee cups were refilled.

I ordered corned-beef hash and eggs, one of the two breakfast specials offered that morning. It wasnt the best Ive had, but it tasted good. Minced brisket was blended with potatoes, pressed into a cake and pan-fried a little too long, frankly, because one side of the patty had a carbon crust. Oh well. My two eggs, fried over-easy, were perfect. And the coffee was good.

I subsequently learned that Sargents has a reputation among Bend east-siders for having perhaps the best biscuits and gravy in town. This is something Ill have to check out at a future breakfast visit.

Aylward, a restaurant-industry veteran, said that when he and his wife, Jennifer, bought Sargents in early 2005 after moving to Bend from California, our dream was to change things and make great food that we like. That plan was quickly foiled, he said, when they got to know the cafes customer base.

Some people come in five or six days a week, he said, adding that four employees have worked for the restaurant for a dozen years or longer. Orcutt, he said, has been at Sargents for 20 years. Its sort of like Cheers in that way, Aylward said. The clientele supports the menu and cuisine thats there … so we just had to leave it alone.

SMALL BITES

Veteran Central Oregon restaurateur Axel Hoch and partner Mark Perry opened the River Mill Grill on July 22 in the former location of Fireside red, overlooking the Deschutes River in Bend. The menu emphasizes steaks, highlighted by a 16-ounce New York cut for $21.95. Open 2 to 10 p.m. Monday to Saturday. 803 S.W. Industrial Way, Suite 202, Bend; 541-678-5666, www.rivermill grill.com.

Chef David Touvell, owner of Chow restaurant on Newport Avenue, will prepare a five-course, locally harvested dinner at 5 p.m. Aug. 29 for A Summer Evening at Fields Farm. A benefit for the Small Farms Conservancy, the meal is priced at $75 per person. In addition to Fields Farm, produce and meat will come from Fresh Start Farms, the Big Star Farm and Pine Mountain Ranch. Fields Farm is at 61915 Pettigrew Road, Bend. For information and reservations, contact Jen Levinson (Local Seed Productions), 541-383-8084.

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