Blue Eyes Burgers & Fries — Restaurant in Bend

Jackson’s Corner, the local conglomerate famous for somehow having half of its restaurants sit unopened and still surviving, has FINALLY opened Blue Eyes, the stylized hamburger diner also boasting soft serve and cocktails. I want to love it. Burgers and ice cream and cocktails, half a block from my front door. I so desperately want to love it.

They’re only open three days a week: Thursday, Friday, Saturday. They’ve apparently decided to split the difference between their forever-closed restaurants and their always-open restaurants in a clever fashion that lets them maximize peak day revenue while never needing to hire anybody full time. Brilliant. American. Just like hamburgers. This unfortunately does not line up with my ice cream desiring schedule, which is daily and continuous.

(Regardless, the soft serve ice cream machine was offline on my visit, which prevents me from making any “soft open” puns. Side note, they charge $0.50 for sprinkles, which I believe is illegal per the Dodd-Frank Act)

Right, so, let’s talk hamburgers. They cook up their burgers “Oklahoma Style,” a depression era method which means minimal beef, a lot of smashing on the flattop to eliminate any potential moisture or flavor, and then a ton of onions to extend the meat. That’s actually the story on their menu. It’s on purpose. While many places might brag about their bold 1/3 pound patties, or even settle on a juicy 1/4 pound patty, Blue Eyes has chosen the far less common 3/16 pound patty. “Gimme a three-sixteenth pounder with cheese” you might stumble through ordering. They then throw on some iceberg lettuce and American cheese to round out the poverty experience.

A 3oz patty is dangerously close to a 2oz patty, the sanctioned cutoff between slider and hamburger. Quick history lesson: in the 1920’s, the world’s first fast-food hamburger chain started serving “Kansas Style” burgers that used small patties married with lots of onions and topped with cheap condiments. You’ll know these as White Castle’s infamous sliders.

Blue Eyes has given us the locally sourced, made to order, $9 White Castle burger, perhaps as part of that new craze where people take classically bad things and make them fancy and hip and tasty. I ate my fair share of handmade artisanal Pop Tarts when I lived in Austin. I know the game.

Smash burgers have an origin as a way to enhance the texture and flavor of cheap, overly fatty ground beef. Just like loading onions into the meat, it’s a way to make poor food palatable. These are techniques to push inferior ingredients towards mediocre. When you start with great, fresh ingredients, like Blue Eyes has done, these depression era techniques work in the same way: they push towards mediocre.

They do manage to rehydrate the burgers with plenty of “supreme sauce” (?) which does finally come around to a tasty burger. I’ll be back. Especially once that ice cream machine comes online.

UPDATE: Pro-tip - ask for the burger "unsmashed." Now, the cook will give you a lot of condescension and tell you that they cook it the way they like it and you should just deal with it. You'll leave feeling sad because you were talked to like garbage. But the burger is WAY better and the high quality of the beef finally comes through. This is now my go-to burger stop when I want a great cheeseburger with a dash...

What a disappointment! This place rocked when they first opened. I raved about it to many and supported their business gladly. I went semi-regularly as it is burgers and fried food after all.

Their burger was next level in the beginning. The onion rings were the best I had ever had in the world which includes many 5 star steak houses. I mean the best!

I went today after not having been in a couple of months.

Upon entering, the first difference I couldn't help to notice was the music. It was at an uncomfortable listening level, blaring in fact, and the selection was not conducive to the environment. Pas de tout!

I regret not being able to name every song to give you the big picture yet there was definitely that 'Humpty' Dance song. I am not trying to do the humpty hump nor Get My Freak On while enjoying a burger. I felt like I was trapped at a really bad frat party. And too I noticed the volume level change when songs ended or new ones began. Someone in the kitchen jamming out instead of focusing on doing what they are hired to do perhaps?

Back to the food. I had a double double. It's 13 bucks and used to be worth every penny. I would pay 6 bucks and only if I were drunk for something like what I got today. It was soggy. I believe they forgot to toast the bread. I couldn't finish it yet my dog sure didn't mind. To its benefit i will say the grilled onions were done nicely on it. They were cut thin and very flavorful.

The onions which were used to for the onion rings used to be much thicker and substantial. Not any longer. I found a thin excuse of an onion inside most of the rings. And they were over cooked. Just before being burnt and long enough to dry out the batter to more of a hard crust. Mind you they charge $7 per order of onion rings.

One, and only one of the onion rings today, had half of it with that perfect golden outer and a tender and delicious thick onion inside. What a tease of what they once were! I was so sad. Unlike the burger, I would not even eat these if I were drunk.

It used to be the food came out in a couple of minutes. Today I waited right about fifteen minutes. I am a patient person so that would not have bothered me if I wasn't being subjected to that god awful, and very loud, noise!

I looked around for the owner, who I had met when they first opened. He was no where in sight. In fact, I did not recognize a single person from their first few months of opening.

I noticed there were a lot of staff on hand and very few customers. I couldn't give them an excuse of being short staffed which I desperately wanted to do because...... My god they used to be good! Time to find a new spot.

oh.....and fact. I have a cast iron stomach and don't get sick from food like nearly ever. I was nauseous for four hours after eating...

Before I start this review know that the burger is the saving grave of this place.

They do their smash burgers correct. Pressed thin. Crispy all over fantastic flavor. They have great quality buns. The cheese is good lettuce is fresh and onions are cooked with the burger so they are extra tasty.

The fries are just ok. They aren't anything special. Normal fries. They are at least cut from whole potatoes.

However. When I arrived at 6:48pm and wasn't able to order until 6:57pm. I received my food at 7:19pm for a total of 31 minutes from entering till food arrived.

They didn't appear short staffed with 5 people working up front. So this is most likely a common occurrence.

What I ordered is a classic double ($14.5) fries ($3) and a coke ($3) The fact that fries don't come with the burger and are separate is irritating as the burger is already $15. And on there menu there is a spot labeled "make it a combo" for $3. All it does is add fries. Which already is $3. There is no combo discount and combo doesn't come with a drink.

The double is the only real option as far as burgers go. The patties are 3 Oz smashed. So extremely thin. Tasty but super thin. As smash burgers should be.

But the norm should be 2 with a double being 4.

The interior and vibes were weird. Their main colors are white and green with a lot of plants and greenery everywhere. Giving the feeling of environmental friendliness. Bur the music playing was constant pop punk. Giving a vibe of angry with society

If the idea for decor They were going with was environmental punks I guess they nailed it.

All in all the venue is odd the wait is long the fries are just ok and the prices are high. But damn is that burger good.

If I go back I'll just order the...