Hampton Station Cafe was a welcome oasis stop in long drive between Burns (OR) and Bend (OR) in the time it was open up to 2020 but previous owners closed it during early pandemic days and it remained closed until earlier this year, 2023, when it has reopened with new ownership of a couple of delightful young sisters. We drive from Boise to Bend to visit my ailing dad frequently and we were SO surprised to see Hampton Station open again that we zipped right by it heading into Bend (if you do it is difficult to turn around and go back) so we paid attention to slow down and visit it on the way back a few days later. NOTE FOR WAYFINDING: The address is 41700E US-20 if you're using GPS. But probably easier to just keep a look out for the low slung, wood building with CAFE above it at about milepost 63 on Highway 20.
TIMING NOTE: Any reviews or photos written or posted prior to March 2023 will be for the previous owners / menu / interior.
WARM WELCOME & FRIENDLY DINERS: The young woman behind the counter called out "Welcome" as we walked in. And one of the fun things about this visit is the other people inside were also locals, as we had once been in Central Oregon for 20 years, and after the hordes of tourists in Bend (well over 1.5 million these days) it is a breath of fresh air to have local folks passing through to chat with here. Like a guy who was the fire marshall in Bend during some of the years we lived there.
But I'm sure tourists are the bread and butter of a little roadside stop like this and so tourists that we are these days, we loved having it available!
EATS: We didn't have time to eat in but took a piece of chicken pot pie ($9.75) to tuck in our cooler and heat up for dinner when we got home that evening. The menu describes this as large slice and that is truth in marketing for sure as it was plenty big for two to share!
It was breakfast time and the guy eating a cinnamon roll ($4.50) and sipping a mug of coffee ($2) said both were really good. Blueberry pie was about to go in the oven, so worth noting they make their own pies. (Seasonal fruit pies $5/slice.) It is a small place and just recently opened with this sister duo and I'm sure they're finding their footing for how much of what to bake on what days. This is to prepare you not to be disappointed if they happen to be sold out. ;-)
MENU: Breakfast and lunch menu was on the counter. Breakfast was limited to a breakfast burrito ($8), muffins, cinnamon rolls, pie (yep, pie is a breakfast food in my lexicon) and a special that day I would DEFINITELY have ordered for breakfast had we been staying to eat which was sweet biscuit with fresh strawberries and whipped cream.
Lunch service starts at 11:00a, I think, and expands the menu to include about half a dozen sandwiches in options like grilled cheese ($8) to BLT ($8.50) to Patty Melt ($10.50) and all of which come with "salad of the day".
Had I noticed when we were in the bright, sparkling clean space that the menu including hand squeezed fresh limeade ($3) a cup of that would have made it to the car with me. But I was too busy enjoying looking about and taking photos to see that entry on the menu. That'll teach me. Next time.
FOOD SOURCE: Perched about 45 minutes from Bend and about 90 minutes from Burns, I was happy to learn they source their food ingredients in Bend, a city of about 120K people these days and wealth of places to buy good quality ingredients. (Unlike Burns which is...well...Burns with a single Safeway.)
LOO: On the long drive between Boise and Bend, I'm sure a bathroom is one reason people want to stop at a little place like this. The loo is for customers only, and so is posted on the door, but they conveniently have an assortment of candy right inside the door for a mere 15 cents. So, really, if you're going to use the facilities, buy something. (This I wanted to say to two young women who came in to use the loo and skeedaddled while we were there.)
ACCESSIBILITY: Hard packed gravel lot, a wooden ramp up the single step height to the door and travelers using wheelchairs and walkers can get in the door. Tables work too for being standard heights. Alas, the loo (ladies at least) has two very ancient and tiny, tiny stalls and would not work for even a zaftig person to fit into let alone be usable for a disabled guest.
PS: The Brothers Cafe just up or down the road (depending on if you're headed east or west) has recently closed, for good this time it seems. Not that that was ever a good place to stop but now with what seems to be expensive water and sewer problems it may not reopen. So on this stretch through Brothers, Hampton Station Cafe is it. read more