The space recently known as Walt Reilly’s is getting new life as a “hipster cowboy steakhouse.” According to the San Diego, California blog Sandiegoville, Brian Malarkey, a celebrity chef, bought the Walt Reilly’s building on Century Drive, and along with his brother, James, plans to open it under the name Hawkeye and Huckleberry Lounge.
Deschutes County property records show that the building sold to Mom Hawkeye, LLC — a company registered to Brian Malarkey — for $4.1 million in August. The name Hawkeye and Huckleberry comes from a famous line uttered by Val Kilmer in the movie “Tombstone,” according to Sandiegoville. The new space along Century Drive, according to the blog, is set to open in 2024 and will offer live music as well as food and libations.
Malarkey grew up on a ranch in Central Oregon, attended Redmond High School and later studied at Le Cordon Bleu in Portland before moving to Southern California, according to a bio on his website. Malarkey has created over 15 successful restaurant concepts, according to his website, and has appeared on numerous celebrity chef TV shows, including Bravo’s “Top Chef All-Stars” (Season 17), and as a judge on Food Network’s “Guy’s Grocery Games.” Last week, on “Guy’s Grocery Games,” Malarkey invited his high school teacher from Redmond, Dave Perdue, to compete on the show.
“He was one of my favorite teachers,” Malarkey wrote on his Instagram page, “greatest Mentors – Reach out to one of yours.”
This article appears in Source Weekly October 19, 2023.
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I moved to Bend from California to get away from d-bags like Malarkey (the last name is fitting). Having dined (on someone else’s nickel) at several of his restaurants in the San Diego-area (plus Las Vegas) I can guarantee the following:
– A splashy opening limited to only the right people
– Food that is way overpriced for the quality and quantity received
– Drinks that are ridiculously overpriced (does Bend really need another place where cocktails are $16?)
– Service that heavily disappoints relative to the price paid for the meal (will be especially true in Bend, which has the world’s laziest workforce)
– A blink and you miss it lifespan (ask him what happened to all of his restaurants in San Diego and Las Vegas that were named after fabric). All gone.
Please don’t open this restaurant. This place holds all the culinary promise of a block of Velveeta at a premium price. We have enough mediocre places with apathetic staff, that expect because Ariana charges a certain price, they should too. It’s about quality and professionalism. Evidencing from this guys sites and reviews, he should spare us the agony of another waste of space.