Fun fact: According to the 2022 American Community Survey from the U.S. Census Bureau, Redmond is the youngest city in Central Oregon — by a lot.
Redmond’s median age was 36.4 in 2022, compared to 38.3 in Madras, 41.7 in Bend, 42.4 in Prineville, 47.9 in La Pine and 49.4 in Sisters. Oregon’s median age overall was 40.7 as of 2022, meaning Redmond is a very young town indeed.
If the potential of a city can be demonstrated by the age of its population, then with those recent stats, Redmond is indicating a present — and a future — where opportunities for younger people are more in reach. Young families are moving there for more-affordable housing and earlier homeownership. Transplants and telecommuters are choosing it for its bigger lots and proximity to the third-largest commercial service airport in the state. And in the commercial space, Redmond offers opportunities to set up quicker, and, for some we spoke to, to distinguish themselves in the growing culinary scene.
In honor of our Redmond issue, we spoke with some of Redmond’s diners and restaurateurs to get a handle on Redmond’s food scene — past, present and future.
The Celebrated Newcomers
If there’s a couple that could encapsulate the dynamics of living in Central Oregon as entrepreneurs and younger adults in the present day, it might be Chris and Emma Leyden. The pair found themselves buying a home in less-expensive Redmond while working at Bend restaurants. Wanting to work for themselves, the Leydens then opened their food truck, called Feast Food Company, in February 2021 in the lot at General Duffy’s Waterhole in Redmond.
By December 2022 they’d purchased a building to move Feast into its current brick-and-mortar location, in the space along Seventh Street that has once housed Smith Rock Brewing and several other restaurants. Feast, which places a serious focus on farm-to-table dining, quickly gained a following, winning Best New Restaurant in Redmond in the Source Weekly’s annual Best of Central Oregon readers’ poll in 2023, and Best Restaurant in Redmond in 2024.
Getting the place in shape was a labor of love, Chris Leyden told the Source Weekly.
“I think that’s one of the things that we pride ourselves on, is that, in this day and age, there’s a lot of folks out there that get large sums of cash from a lot of different people to get things up and running and get off the ground,” he said. “But us being generally grassroots — just trying to make it happen, ripping and running, you know, doing what we can to make it work. I think that both of us are very proud to be able to say that 85% of what was done in there is our blood, sweat and tears.” The Leydens are backed by a silent partner, they said, but the burdens of prepping and maintaining the space are theirs to shoulder.
Since opening, the Leydens have leaned more heavily into the farm-to-table approach, developing closer relationships with local farms that now supply everything from veggies and meat to local flowers that adorn the tables.
“That has been our mission since day one,” Emma Leyden told the Source, “to have that as our foundation to what we do and making sure that we’re taking our small business to help other small businesses thrive as much as we can.”
It’s a good idea in theory, Chris Leyden said, but difficult to pull off.
“There is a lot of organization that goes on, and the availability of ingredients is extremely sparse at sometimes, and you really have to get creative,” he said. “And I think that that’s kind of the biggest thing that I want to get across, is that it’s not always easy or favorable, but at the end of the day, it means a lot to us to be able to be a part of the community.”
Diners who live in Redmond have embraced Feast, seeing it as an encouraging sign of how Redmond could evolve.
Kendall Schiff, who moved from Oakland, California, to Redmond with her husband four years ago, appreciates the budding food scene in Redmond.
“I would say that it is growing — new restaurants are opening up all the time. Of course, new food trucks are in and out,” Schiff said. “It feels like one-third more restaurants than when we moved there initially.” While on the one hand she misses the diversity of food available in the Bay Area — particularly Korean and Ethiopian cuisines — Schiff appreciates the farm-to-table aspect of Redmond’s dining scene, including the offerings at Terra Kitchen in the SCP Redmond Hotel, and Feast.
“Knowing that all of their food comes from the region is amazing, and it really highlights the farms of Central Oregon and Oregon in general,” she said of Feast. Of Terra Kitchen, she said, “How they lean on vegetables is so refreshing for the area. I feel like a lot of. . . can always find pizza and burgers and that sort of thing that are really good in Redmond. But it’s extra special when you find somebody that does vegetables.”
As a homeowner who bought a home in Redmond to take advantage of the larger lot sizes compared to Bend, Schiff appreciates the ongoing growth in the culinary scene.
“Redmond does really [have] an up-and-coming food scene. I feel like it’s still small now, but I think highlighting the restaurants from Redmond, especially to the people that live in Bend, giving them more of a reason to come to Redmond, I think is great.”
At Feast, the Leydens share the enthusiasm about the Hub City.
“It feels like there’s a lot of excitement in the food scene here,” Chris Leyden said. “There’s an excitement that something is coming.”
“There’s these cool new wine bars… there’s enough things that you hear it through the grapevine and in the works,” Emma Leyden added. “I think that there’s so much potential.”
The Innovators
Not far away, on SW Forth Street in Redmond, some of that potential is currently drenched in wet paint. Dave and Amy Bodi are weeks away from opening Chef’s Table in the 1,110-square-foot space that once housed Eqwine Wine Bar, before it closed this summer. When I visited, remodeling was still underway; Amy Bodi was busy painting the space while Dave Bodi worked on refining the wine pairings.
Dave Bodi’s professional experience includes being executive savory chef at the former Foxtail Bakeshop, and operating his own food truck, Bangarang, starting in 2015 in Bend. In 2020, the Bodis opened FERM & fare wine bar in Brooks Alley in downtown Bend, allowing Dave Bodi to study wine intensively and to pursue advanced certifications as a sommelier.
In Redmond, the couple is planning an exclusive experience for diners. They’ll serve up to 12 guests each night, with Wednesday and Thursday night service consisting of a six-course Chef’s Tasting Menu, with optional wine pairings. Friday and Saturdays, the Chef’s Tasting Menu is 10 courses, plus optional wine.
“Our menus are constantly in flux with changing micro seasons and artistic inspirations,” they described in an email to followers.
“We’re hoping that when they come to experience what he offers as a creative chef, and everything being scratch-made and hyper seasonal and so forth, that they’re here to celebrate something,” Amy Bodi said. “They’re RSVPing and purchasing tickets in advance, and they have something to look forward to.”
Siting Chef’s Table in Redmond was part luck, part practicality — but Redmond’s regulatory process has been easier to navigate, the couple said.
“It’s definitely been an easier process with Redmond, for sure. I mean, we got our Bend spot off the ground, too. So, it is what it is, but it’s definitely been a lot easier,” Dave Bodi said of working in Redmond. “The City’s actually been very excited about what we’re doing. There’s been a lot of support for it. So that’s just been icing on the cake.”
Redmond City Manager Keith Witcosky notes the easier permitting process in Redmond, too.
“You can come in, you can meet with the building official, you can come in and meet with a planner, and not have to make an appointment ahead of time and figure out what it takes to get a permit, rather than what you might experience in bigger cities,” Witcosky said. “So, it’s having someone to talk to… come to City Hall, and you can meet face to face with somebody and figure out how to get through that paperwork and fill out the forms correctly and have good customer service.”
Like some others who have homed in on Redmond recently, the Bodis see lots of potential in Redmond.
“There’s some fun stuff happening. Obviously, we don’t have the hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of restaurants that Bend does, but I think there’s definitely been a need for more out here, and I think there’s increased competition, which is helping to stimulate what’s happening out here,” Dave Bodi said. “We’re trying to create something that’s very, very unique. And this isn’t just a Redmond thing for us. This is creating a space that is unique in all of Central Oregon.”
The Family-Run OG
Along the east side of Highway 97 in Redmond sits Mazatlan, the brightly colored building that’s become a mainstay for diners looking for consistent Mexican food in a welcoming, family friendly environment. The restaurant has been part of the community for close to 30 years, when it opened in the Red Barn space before moving to its current location. Founder Salvador Galvan opened the first Mazatlan in Tigard, Oregon, in 1985, followed by a Bend location in 1992 and a Redmond location in 1995. The business now boasts 15 locations, including a second, more casual space, Fiesta Mazatlan, on SW Rimrock Way in Redmond, as well as Madras and Prineville locations.
A stroll around the Highway 97 location demonstrates the labors of love that have been added to the space: hand-painted murals depicting scenes from the owners’ native Jalisco, Mexico, on the walls; hand-carved designs adorning the thick wood tables. On the weekends, a tortillera — tortilla maker — makes up fresh white-corn tortillas right before diners’ eyes.
Mazatlan’s longtime presence in Central Oregon means that today, entire generations of families have grown up eating there. Its ability to endure has also fostered connections with the other Mexican restaurants in the area, said General Manager and part owner Laura Garcia. Many of the employees at Mazatlan have worked there for over 20 years, she said. Some of those who have left have gone on to open their own places in the area.
“There’s so many restaurants here — so many. I have really good relationships with every owner of the other ones,” Garcia told the Source Weekly. “I would say every single restaurant — somebody has worked at a Mazatlan.”
The restaurants’ deep roots in the community have showed up in numerous ways. In 2022, Garcia was awarded the Citizen of the Year award from the Redmond Chamber of Commerce.
“She has a strong record of community involvement as a quiet, humble leader who never wants praise for her actions,” the Chamber described. “During the forest fires that pushed fire crews to the breaking point, this individual stepped up with her team and fed them. Supporting local organizations with fundraisers, serving on Boards and Commissions and always giving back to the community is what she does best.”
As a longtime resident of Redmond, Garcia says she enjoys other Redmond staples, such as Mo’s Egg House and Brickhouse for a great steak. And while she’s noticing the growth of her town — who wouldn’t? — for her establishment, consistency and some measure of innovation are both important.
“If you come to Redmond, it’s like, how many restaurants are here?” Garcia said. “It’s so many Mexican restaurants, yeah? For some reason we’re blessed… We’re doing good, but we’re always tweaking stuff. People, like the younger generation, they like online ordering. This generation, they like fries — asada fries – so we are always changing.”
As Redmond continues to grow in population, City Manager Witcosky sees the growth benefiting all businesses.
“We’re seeing not only the new restaurants and foodie places pop up, but we’re seeing the ones that serve good food surviving as well,” he said. “You’ve got Mazatlan. You’ve got One Street Down… It’s probably one of my favorite breakfast places, lunch places, and they get filled up. And it is the whole ‘rising tide’ thing. Some folks feel like, ‘oh, you’re bringing in competition.’ And some of the people that have those concerns don’t realize, when you have a cluster of businesses, you’re more successful than when you’re on an island. It draws more people.”
—Check out this week’s Chow story, “Birria, Boba, Bowls, Burgers and More: Redmond boasts a booming food cart scene” for information on food carts and food cart lots — an aspect of Redmond’s food scene not covered in this story.
This article appears in Source Weekly October 10, 2024.
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