The Rancher, a mixed salad from the Brown Owl in Bend

Brown Owl

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Food: While not really a food cart and not quite a restaurant, the Brown Owl straddles the line between both. Menus are available at all tables inside the cozy, woodsy bar and seating area. Then patrons then go order their meal outside the front door from the yellow cart. I went for the reasonably priced salad, The Rancher ($10 and gluten free), which features spring mixed greens tossed with a light homemade ranch dressing, cucumbers, tender pieces of freshly fried chicken, perfectly cooked bacon bits, cheddar cheese and pickled jalapenos. I forgot to have the cook hold the peppers, but I found them easy to remove myself. The menu states that avocado comes on the salad as well, but mine was sadly missing my Millennial staple. The salad had the perfect amount of every ingredient (sans avocado) that made every bit full of flavor but not sopping in herbed dressing. My dining companion’s mac and cheese ($9) was equally the perfect mix of cheesy sauce, shell noodles and peppers.

Service: The cook informed me that my food would unfortunately take a while to get to me. She was the only one working and there must have been several orders ahead of mine because it took 45 minutes for the simple salad to make its way to my fork. She did warn me though.

Atmosphere: Brown Owl feels like a ramshackle cabin on a mountain. With some taxidermy animals, hidden owls, strange, old and cracked paintings hanging on the walls including a sleuth (yes, that’s the term) of bears dancing in the woods.

More Info:

Location: The Brown Owl, 550 SW Industrial Way, Suite 120

Hours: 11 a.m.-11 p.m. Monday through Sunday

Price range: $5-$13

Contact: brownowlbend.com or 541-797-6581

— Makenzie Whittle, The Bulletin