Sisters Meat and Smokehouse Is Coming to Bend

When I walked into Sisters Meat and Smokehouse in Redmond, the enticing aroma of smoked meat and the invitation from the windowed wall to watch the butchers slicing steak made it clear to me that this was the place to get high-quality meat. The cashier, Garrett, rang me up for a couple of sandwiches and some bratwurst to take home, enthusiastically sharing that he was going dancing that night for his 25th birthday. Then he walked around to the front of the register to say hello to my 5-month-old child in her stroller. And that’s what made it clear to me that this was a family-owned business with strong community values.

I met co-owner Molly Wymer during this same visit to the Redmond meat shop and deli. I was sitting at a community table, with fridges full of quick grab meats, smoked butters and cheeses to my left, dipping sauces and soup mixes to my front and the sound of Garrett’s voice echoing through the shop from the deli counter in the back. I took my first bite of the Reuben sandwich when a woman standing next to my table asked me what I ordered. She emphatically shared that the Reuben was one of her favorites, that she loved how the corned beef had no gristle and made for a lean, delicious sandwich. I agreed and told her it was dressed well — it wasn’t overpowered with sauce and the marbled rye stayed fresh, not soggy. I was under the impression that I was chatting it up with a fellow patron of the restaurant given her genuine, unjaded enthusiasm for the sandwich and, again, my 5-month-old. I was thrilled to find out she’s one of the people responsible for shaping said sandwich and my experience.

Wymer opened the original Sisters Meat and Smokehouse in 2016 with four other friends, all who moved to Sisters at various times from the same small town in Southern Oregon. At the time, Wymer was running a food cart in Sisters and was a schoolteacher with three kids of her own. Brothers Wade and Brody Waller, a meat cutter and a meat smoker who learned the arts from their dad, had joined forces with Jeff and Kay Johnson, who would handle the business side of the establishment. All that was missing was, well, a general manager and employees. So when Wymer got wind that her friends needed help she stepped up to the plate — along with her husband and their three kids. Before long, Wymer sold the food cart, quit teaching and took on the role of co-owner and general manager full-time. Two of those kids, Jay and Annie Wymer, continued to work at the meat house through college, and today are the majority owners of the second storefront, located in Redmond, which opened in 2023.

The collaboration doesn’t stop with the ownership of the business. When I asked Wymer who creates the recipes for the sandwich menu, she said, “It takes all of us because everyone has a different opinion on flavors,” and all of those opinions together are what make the menu so great. The company sources its meats with strict integrity: beef from Greeley, Colorado, chicken from Mary’s Chicken and local lamb from Sisters. Consistency is integral to this establishment, so if the meats aren’t available from its trusted sources for any reason, you simply won’t find those meats on the shelves that day. And every smoked product is smoked in-house, from beef to cheeses to bolognas, sausages, fish, turkey — the list goes on. Don’t forget to grab some pepperoni sticks for a snack: Each bite starts with a satisfying snap, followed by an influx of salty, smokey flavor, but skips the over-the-top grease bomb that can often accompany a meat stick.

So what’s next for Sisters Meat and Smokehouse? Expansion. The Sisters location is moving into the old Antler Arts building next to its current spot, with an expected opening date of June 15. Here you’ll find indoor seating and a large mercantile with soups, dips, sauces, charcuterie boards, gift packages and much more. It’ll also feature after-hour happenings like wine tastings and basket-making events. And, drumroll please: Sisters Meat and Smokehouse is opening a location in Bend as well! The dates and location are being finalized, but you can expect to see more details in the months to come.

Sisters Meat and Smokehouse
Sisters: 110 S Spruce St. (moving to 311 E Cascade Ave. this June)
Redmond: 308 SW Evergreen Ave.
Bend: Coming soon!
sistersmeat.com

This article appears in The Source Weekly March 6, 2025.