Jake's Diner — Restaurant in Bend

My mother, daughter and I stopped in on mother's day for breakfast on our way out of town. We didn't have high expectations of quick seating and quick dining since it was a holiday, but we're pleasantly surprised that the 3 of us were seated within 10min. Our server, Jennifer B, was so awesome and explained the menu when we expressed it was our first time in. My mom and I both got a complimentary mothers day coffee mug, which really added some needed sunshine to my day, having 1 child not in attendance to mothers day this year. Our wait time for food was very long, about 45 minutes, but that even seemed pretty quick for how busy the place was. The food came out hot, portions massive, and incredibly flavorful! My daughter and I order eggs over hard and they were actually cooked correctly, which seems odd to positively review but it's rare that we order our eggs [overhard, broken yolk] and get them anything other than over medium. My compliment and HUGE thank you to the kitchen was the awareness of a severe food allergy I disclosed during ordering and the willingness [but understandable inability at that time due to how busy it was] to cook potatoes differently so that I wouldn't be at risk for cross contamination on the grill. I was told my eggs were cooked separate from the allergen and attention given on the line to prevent cross contamination with every step. I don't dine out with the expectation of that level of service because I understand it's not always possible, it's a risk I'm taking, and sometimes I've gone out and only had a side of toast because I KNOW that will be "safe" to eat. To have a place even consider taking those steps is really incredible for me and a wonderful, unique dining experience. THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!! We have family in Bend, so we will be back in the area, and already decided we will 1000% be coming back and telling everyone we know. I work at [White's Restaurant] the oldest breakfast diner in Salem and have been serving since 1999, so I appreciate even more the level of service and quality we received today; especially being a holiday morning. Oh, and my serious, strange and horribly inconvenient food allergy...? Pork..yep..not just certain styles, the whole freakin animal. No bacon, sausage, ham, canadian bacon or even traces of it. So, as you can see, the efforts made by the staff of a breakfast restaurant to prevent that cross contamination is Rockstar level customer service I would never expect anywhere.

If you are passing thru Bend or even live there and have never been, YOU'RE MISSING OUT IF...

I try to have an "apples to oranges" attitude when writing reviews. Jake's Diner is more like the kind of place I grew up eating in than the kind of place I'm used to now. In other words, it's a very small town, down-to-earth kind of place where "dietary restrictions" are a new concept -- meaning that they now understand vegetarians (vegans and others will have to wait). When we there, it was packed with what I gather to be, largely, regulars and Bend residents who are truly Bend residents (not hip younger people or wealthy older people who moved to Bend after it became trendy). The portions are outrageous. If you are looking for a lot of food, Jake's is your place. My omelette was about the size of my calf (as was my pile of potatoes). The quality of the food was very much in line with what I expected -- everything was fresh enough. One item on the menu: the Denver omelette -- specifically comes without cheese (cheese is listed as optional). I don't eat dairy, so I ordered that and dry sourdough toast. I specified no cheese on the omelette -- despite the fact that it was supposed to come that way. We waited a pretty long time (we were warned of the wait, but I saw at least one table get seated, fed, and out the door before we got our food). My omelette was loaded with cheese and my toast was bathed in butter. The waitress (who was very nice) took both away to be remade. The wait was shorter (I went to the top of the line), but a table of six that came in after we got our food, got their food before I got my replacement. When the waitress brought my toast, she asked if I wanted butter on the side. I try to not be bothered by certain things, but the hostess's fingernails were filthy and many of the staff were wearing stained shirts. I sincerely wondered if this was part of a defense against outsiders catching wind of the place. One thing that is really cool about the place is their generosity. They raise money for Habitat for Humanity and other places. All in all, a good place with a good heart, but not good for those with...

We went to Jake’s on a fairly busy Sunday morning, perhaps around 10am. We’ve been many times before and have thoroughly enjoyed their food, but I’ve never been treated by a service staff this poorly before. Due to the high volume of customers, we were sat at the end of bar (our only choices being either end of the bar). As we sat down, we noticed the tightness and uncomfortable space of the area. We were placed next to the expo line and drink station, with used rags littering the floor. After we had been served two drinks (a pepsi & apple juice) and to no fault of the establishment, we had decided to dine elsewhere. We were just feeling a bit crowded and seeking a different experience when we let our server know that we had changed our minds but thanked for the service thus far. Before getting up from the table, my boyfriend took a small sip from the apple juice, under the impression they would just dump it anyways. On our way out (in front of a full waiting room of potential customers), we were chased down and yelled out by what i’m assuming is the short, rude fry cook in the beanie. He insinuated that we were trying to skip out on our bill. Which is a ridiculous sentiment if you’ve read this far. It was embarrassing and we felt we had been ridiculed for a pretty serious allegation over a sip of apple juice. He inquired if we were gonna pay for the bill, and we ended up being charged $3.65 for that single sip of apple juice. I had thought he was chasing us down to sincerely ask why we had chosen to dine elsewhere, instead we were belittled and mocked in front of an entire dining & waiting room.

The larger bearded man behind the counter is great. The servers are sweet. The host was kind. The counters and seats needed cleaned and the floor was filthy, but not as filthy as the fry cooks attitude. He made an attempt to embarrass us, failing to realize he was the man yelling over a sip of apple juice we had on a dirty counter, above dirty seats, above a disgusting floor. We won’t be coming back and suggest you never give...