Some mornings need a little something extra. Maybe it’s a hot cup of coffee, maybe it’s a
warm donut—or, if you’re lucky, both at once. That’s exactly what Kyle and Breanna Uptegrove had in mind when they launched Pacific Roots Donuts and Coffee, a mini-donut cart now serving up freshly made treats here in Bend. What started as a shared love of coffee and sweets has turned into a full-on family venture — complete with two very enthusiastic taste-testers, their kids, Jamie, 5, and Owen, 2.
“We just love those small celebratory moments,” Kyle said. “A good cup of coffee, a fresh
donut—it can turn an ordinary day into something a little more special.”
Breanna, the self-described culinary mind behind the operation, is the one tinkering with
flavors and chasing down just the right recipes. That might mean working seasonal ingredients
into the mix or even borrowing a friend’s old family recipe to perfect something like a coconut
custard donut.
“We’re always trying to get that balance just right,” she said. “Flavor, sweetness, texture—it
all matters.” At their cart, donuts aren’t sitting around waiting for you. They’re made fresh, right when you order, thanks to what Breanna jokingly calls their “fancy little donut robot fryer.” The result is a hot, consistent batch every time — simple but done well.
And simple is kind of the point.
“These are straightforward, honest treats,” she said. “But we care a lot about doing them
right.” The idea for the business had been simmering for years before finally taking shape in 2020,
when the couple decided to go all in. Inspired in part by trips to Portland and a noticeable lack
of good donut options on the Oregon Coast — where they were living at the time — they figured,
why not build something of their own?
After years on the coast, the Uptegroves recently returned to Bend, drawn back by familiar
surroundings and a community that values both quality and connection. The couple wanted to
add a product to pair with coffee, so they took inspiration from one of their favorite spots in
Portland, Pip’s Coffee. “Donuts were one of our favorite celebratory outings,” added Breanna,
“and we noticed there were no good donut shops on the Coast.”
“Why not fill the void for ourselves and others,” said Kyle with a trademark grin. His casual style with customers is as warm as their fresh delights. Now, they’ve brought that idea inland. “There’s something about Bend,” Breanna said. “People care about where their food comes from. They care about the people behind it. That really matters to us.”
That mindset shows up in their ingredients, too. Pacific Roots leans heavily on what Oregon
has to offer — local honey, sea salt and seasonal fruit whenever they can get it. They’ve built
relationships with small producers along the way, from salt makers on the coast to farmers
they’ve met at markets.
“It’s those connections that make a sweet little treat feel like something we can be proud of.
We’re excited to make new partnerships here in Bend and discover all the goodness Central
Oregon has to offer.”
Their latest culinary creations are partnering with local producers and farmers to utilize the
gorgeous ingredients this state has to offer, such as salt from Jacobsen Salt Co. in Netarts Bay
and honey from Peace Crops Honey, a small-scale producer in Nehalem Valley. “Our fresh
blueberries come from a young farming family we befriended at a farmers market,” added
Breanna. Other sources include Marigold Coffee, Metolius Artisan Tea, Eberhard’s hot chocolate and Lionheart Kombucha.
“It makes it feel more meaningful,” Kyle said. “You’re not just grabbing a donut—you’re
getting a piece of all those connections.” A batch of donuts can be prepared, custom-made to
order, for special occasions.
Customers seem to notice. One recent visitor from Santorini, Greece, compared the donuts
to Loukoumades, a traditional fried treat from back home, and didn’t hold back his praise. “You
will be very happy,” he said with a grin. “And the kids will be ecstatic.”
You’ll find Pacific Roots at Ponch’s Place in northeast Bend, where they’ve become part of a
growing cluster of food trucks. Their hours are straightforward—Thursday through Monday,
7:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.—because, as Kyle puts it, “people should be able to count on when you’re
open.”
Current mini cake donut toppings include cinnamon sugar, honey + sea salt, brown butter
maple, Nutella + sea salt, Dirty Shirley (CS + BBM), plus seasonal fruit and preserve specials. In
the end, their approach is pretty simple: good ingredients, made fresh, served with care.
Or, as Breanna summed it up, “We just want to make something people can feel good
about—and maybe brighten their day a little, too.”
Pacific Roots Coffee & Mini Donuts
Thu-Mon 7:30am-1pm
Ponch's Place
62889 NE Oxford Ct, Bend
pacificrootsdonuts.com/
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