Laurie Allison, owner of The Little Miss Griddle food truck in Prineville, expanded her food truck to a full restaurant: Laurie’s Grill. Allison spent years working in her father’s restaurants in the Gorge — The Pancake House in The Dalles, and Monagon’s Pancake House in Hood River. When Monagon’s closed during the pandemic, Allison asked her dad to help her open Laurie’s Grill in Bend. The influence of her father’s restaurant is clear from the moment you open the menu.

Fifteen types of pancakes are offered, with the choices presented in a graphic of circles in an iron skillet. It’s almost the same graphic used in Monagon’s menu.

Laurie’s pancake options include bacon and buttermilk potato pancakes, buckwheat, blueberry, gluten-free and several more. Monagon’s Famous French Toast is also available.

The extensive breakfast menu is served all day, including classic breakfasts, breakfast burritos, omelets, eggs Benedict, and biscuits and gravy. Along with pancakes and French toast, there are a variety of Belgian waffles and crepes.

My dining companion and I met at Laurie’s Grill, which is the former Kayo’s Dinner House and Lounge. Inside the restaurant looks much as it did when it was Kayo’s, only a little brighter during the day, and the artwork has a farm-animal theme. Padded dividers between booths also use a printed farm calico fabric with extended ribbed plexiglass for COVID safety. Fresh alstroemeria flower arrangements sit on each table.

From the moment our cheerful, unassuming server greeted us (with her mask below her nose), it was clear this was a casual family-style restaurant. My friend ordered a blintz because she’d never had one. By definition, a crepe and a blintz begin with a paper-thin pancake. Blintzes are filled with cheese, rolled and often served with fresh fruit. My friend chose blueberries. Laurie’s blintzes were filled with cottage cheese and honey cream cheese. The flavor was acceptable, but the cream cheese made the filling a bit runny, and the crepe was thick and eggy.

I chose the eggs Benedict. The menu lists traditional eggs Benedict with meat or an Avocado and Tomato option, but you can create the Benedict you want. I asked for avocado and tomato on a bacon and egg Benedict. The hollandaise sauce was smooth, without lumps, and plentiful, as it covered half the plate. While very thick, I could still taste all of the typical elements: butter, lemon, egg yolks. It tasted like a basic recipe for eggs Benedict should taste. It was also a bit too rich. The hollandaise spilled over on top of the accompanying hash browns, which benefited from the sauce as they were a bit dry.

We also got some pancakes. The banana pancakes did not disappoint. Fluffy buttermilk pancakes were piled high with banana slices and served with butter and real maple syrup. The pancakes were my favorite.

I returned to try dinner at Laurie’s. I opted for the 12-ounce ribeye steak and chose a baked potato and a salad. The dinner also came with a tasty, soft rosemary dinner roll. The dinner salad was fresh with crisp baby greens, slices of cucumber, chunks of tomatoes, sliced mushrooms and red onions, shredded cheddar, and shaved parmesan. I was glad to have a fully packed salad that came with my meal. Many restaurants include salads that are often not much more than lettuce and one or two other ingredients.

The steak was a good cut. There were no visible chunks of fat on the ribeye, yet it was very tender. Nicely charred on the outside and perfectly cooked medium-rare. The seasoning was a simple salt and pepper combo. The server asked if I would like anything to go with it, offering A-1 sauce. The plain steak benefited from the horseradish I requested. The foil-wrapped baked potato served with the dinner might have been better with a little more time in the oven. It was lightly buttered and served with a stainless steel ramekin of sour cream. The dinner also came with perfectly roasted slender asparagus.

Our other meal was pork chops. For a starter, we chose the soup of the day: potato and ham soup. The thick, creamy soup felt like comfort food with chunks of ham and simple seasonings.

Two huge bone-in pork chops were served with potato and asparagus. Like the steak, the outside of the chops were nicely charred, searing in the juices which filled the plate as I cut into the pork. Again, it was simply seasoned with salt and pepper. There was no apple sauce, gravy or other flavor accompanying it. Nonetheless, it was cooked well and was a satisfying pork chop.

If you enjoy simple, satisfactorily cooked food in a family-owned restaurant, you’ll like Laurie’s Grill.

Laurie’s Grill

415 NE 3rd Street, Bend

541-330-8955