Small Business Spotlight: Downtown Bend’s newest spot, The Coyote, aims to bring good food and country fun
Kelsey Merison
BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) — Last Friday, a new country spot in downtown Bend celebrated its grand opening.
The Coyote was packed full–with a line wrapped around the building–that was once Unofficial Logging Co.
Opening night
“People know this is a place you can come and kind of be someone else for the night,” said Jordan Houle, a co-owner of The Coyote. “Put on your country best.”
It’s a lot more than just a country bar.
“It’s a great space, it’s family-oriented,” said Jeff Berneski, another co-owner of The Coyote. “There’s a lot of different things that we put in here that people aren’t familiar with. We didn’t have an interior designer, we didn’t have any help on this. (Jordan’s) wife was a great help. She came up with a lot of the artwork and everything.”
“We did all of this from scratch. We wanted to bring in, like, a little bit of Scottsdale, Old Town vibes here… A lot of it is the ambience in here and the general aesthetic. I think people aren’t used to seeing it,” Jordan added. “The lights are crazy in here and we put up a disco-saddle.”
Jeff Berneski (co-owner) left, Jordan Houle (co-owner) middle, Justin Hodgert (co-head chef) right
Jordan and Jeff set out on a mission to bring something new to town.
“I mean, we’re the only place in town with a (mechanical) bull,” Jordan said.
It’s a space for all to enjoy.
“We’re welcoming everyone in here,” Jeff said. “We want a safe space, we want a clean space…We just want to make it welcoming.”
Complete with merch and a full menu.
“It’s the only bar in town that offers late night food that’s not going to make you feel sick when you go out to dance,” said Justin Hodgert, co-head chef of The Coyote. “(My favorite thing on the menu is) probably the Southern Slide. It’s chicken and waffle sliders with jalapeño-maple and in-house chipotle hot sauce.”
Food options
“It’s clean food, high-quality, farm-to-table,” Justin said.
Minors are welcome until 8 p.m. and then the atmosphere shifts.
Opening night
“If you’re single, there’s definitely a sense of romance in the air. Like the anticipation that you could turn around any second and, like, bump into that person,” Jordan said. “You walk in here at night on a Friday or Saturday and there’s just that romance in the air for everyone.”
Opening night was a huge success.
“I’m stoked about it. I think we did really good for the community,” Jeff said. “We brought everyone together. The vibes in here were really good. It was a good time.”
“There was a line around the building. There was people ordering pizza, having it delivered while they waited. Something that we didn’t expect,” Jordan added.
Opening night
And this is just the beginning.
The Coyote is located at 910 NW Harriman Street and is open Wednesday-Sunday. You can learn more about The Coyote on Instagram, @thecoyotebend