A long-term Bend entrepreneur and her partner have purchased the much-loved Jackson’s Corner restaurant on NW Delaware Avenue in Bend.

The new owners, Chris and Anna Hall, sealed the purchase on Jan. 26. They do not intend to make any wholesale changes to the menu or the restaurant concept.

But that doesn’t mean they don’t have a lot of plans for the future.

“First we want to maintain the core restaurant concept,” Chris Hall said. “There’s a lot of existing values that really resonate with us, particularly the way of local sourcing and community involvement.”

The asking price was $1.2 million for the restaurant run in the old Delaware Grocery & Ice House. The previous owners, Jay Junkin and Parker Vaughan, said they were selling the business because the current business climate has made it difficult to continue to operate in the manner that felt comfortable to them.

Local businesses on sale

Bend businesses in their prime go on the market

Anna Hall had been a co-owner of the Lone Pine Coffee Roasters in Bend until 2016. Since then, Anna Hall had established 123 Ramen and The Root Cellar catering company.

It’s always challenging selling a business, said Katy Brooks, Bend Chamber of Commerce CEO.

“It is becoming more expensive to operate retail or a restaurant here, making the opportunity to purchase a successful existing business a rare opportunity,” Brooks said. “When a popular existing business goes up for sale, it’s a best-case scenario to see a local purchase.”

Jackson’s Corner is founded on the farm-to-table concept and the Halls said they want to continue that concept, and even make it stronger going forward by sourcing more products locally and integrating the “what’s available” concept into the menu — cooking menu items from what’s available locally will enable the kitchen staff to respond to what the farmers are growing, Anna Hall said.

“That will allow us to be more mindful and efficient,” Chris Hall said. “The more efficiently we can work together, the easier it will work for everyone.”

For example, a new menu item is fried rice using collard green kimchi, she said. Using preserved vegetables grown locally in the winter months makes sense, she said.

At one time, Jackson’s Corner had a second location on the east side of town. The east side location on NE Cushing Drive in 2021 opened in 2015, but closed in 2021. The owners cited hiring challenges as a main reason for closing. The Halls hope to find another location on the east side to expand to. Another potential change is maybe using the restaurant as an artists space, he said.

“We’re looking at things,” Chris Hall said. “We want to re-engage with the locals and building Jackson’s Corner as a community hub.”