Decoy - Bend Oregon
Decoy - Bend Oregon
Upon my first visit to the Decoy Bar and Grill I was not that impressed with the "club" sandwich that I was served. But I wanted to go back and sample something else on the menu. There have been a couple favorable reviews from trusted sources but I have received some mixed responses via email and amongst friends.Recently, the wife and I made it downtown for some lunch at Decoy. She was excited since it was going to be her first time eating there. After reading through the lunch menu we thought we'd start off with the wings. For $9.95 we received some tasty wings in a mild sweet chili sauce. All 6 of them. 6 drumettes for $10. That's $1.66 a wing. They were pretty good but not anywhere near $10 for 6 wings good.
The wife decided on the Ruben and potato salad. Her sandwich was piled high with corned beef and sauerkraut. The sandwich was big and falling off the plate. She also got a healthy scoop of potato salad that was very good. It was also $10.
How can 6 drumettes sauced with the same sweet chili sauce I have in my fridge cost the same as a Ruben and salad? What am I missing here?
Good ol' Hack Bend has his favorable review of Decoy on his site and based off his recommendation, I decided to try the burger.
Hand pressed patty on two thick slices of sour dough with the traditional fixins and accompanied with fries for $12. The burger was juicy and messy. I was actually quite pleased with it and the fries. The fries were pretty good unlike the first go around.
My photos did not turn out very well so I'll not post them. All in all I enjoyed the meal but found the prices to be off.
Decoy Bar and Grill
1051 Bond Street, Suite 100
Bend, Oregon 97701
(541) 318-4833
http://decoybarandgrill.com/
Labels: Decoy Bar and Grill, Decoy Bend Oregon
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5What? Got something to say?
The food cost on wings is extraordinary. We pay over 50-cents a piece (although they are the largest ones we can find), and that's before all of the labor costs and sauces that go into and with them.
I always remember your gripe about charging for dipping sauces when someone asks for a "side of ranch" or "side of marinara"...
You'd be surprised to know how much a side of ranch actually costs the restaurant.
For us, it's 9-cents per oz. Put 3oz in a plastic ramekin, and you're talking 33-cents for a side of ranch. That price alone can put a dish over the recommended food cost to stay in business.
Silly-sounding, yes, but it can be the deciding factor on whether to even keep a dish on the menu.
50 cents a wing? You're joking. Have you tried Costco? I bought a few lbs of drumsticks for next to nothing. I guarantee it was less than 50 cents per!
Decoy's wings were not the big daddy's. These were half the size of Hardy's and not near the size of Deschutes or BBCs.
So even at that high price for actual wings, we're only looking at $3. How much for the ingredients, labor to make them, plus the carrots, and the one ounce of sauce, maybe $2 total (which is a stretch for a plate of wings)? So we're at a 100% profit margin? Seems a bit high. Seems like I'm paying the price of this fancy pants bar (with a slopped floor forcing you towards the bar).
I'm not going to pretend that I'm in the restaurant biz and I definitely value your comments Keeneye. But as a customer that can get better wings at a better price anywhere in Bend, that means that these wings are overpriced. Just my opinion though. $20 a dozen is crazy. Just like $0.75 for a side of ranch is crazy. I don't want to put your kids through college just cause I like ranch dressing.
(I'm laughing too much at that last sentence, BOR) :))) Kids through college. Jeez.
We do pay more than the industry average on our wings, but it's because I insisted on having the largest ones available. There are only 6-7 to a pound - these aren't the tiny ones you can shove in your mouth and pull the meat off the bone. They take a good 2 or 3 bites to finish.
You'll appreciate that for us to be in line with the recommended food-cost mark-up, we should be charging $12.95 for a pound of our wings, yet we only charge $7.95.
And no, we don't charge for extra dipping sauce (unless it's one of the high-school kids wanting a side of ranch, and blue cheese, and BBQ sauce for their slice of cheese pizza - even then, we charge less than our food-cost).
I travel for business extensively.
We also visit Bend as a family year around for vacations. We personally often tire of "kitch"
recipes that often have "too many flavor notes" in a single bite or entre.
I have sampled almost everything from the Decoy and despite the previous nits/blogs mentioned about the price of a chicken wing....We have found every meal excellent consistently and good value given that it is a downtown location and so convienent! The menue is a great combination of traditional favoirite with fresh twist to the more nuanced and delicious soups, deserts or other entres The ingrediants are very fresh, nothing is greasy, the meats are lean, veges and salads are made to order not preped several hours earlier..
I love the friendliness of the staff. who ever is comparing COSTCO
chicken wings w/ those at the Decoy
doesn't deserve to blog as a food edict. In fact....we're going back to the Decoy tonight for a Bday. the drink selection and Quality is one ofthe best in Bend.
You're My BOY BLUE! I'm glad that you enjoy Decoy and find that the value is good for you. I hope you write off your meals for the tax break if you're eating at Decoy that often.
I don't have that luxury as I don't travel for business and I can't write off my meals (yet). I want to clarify about these wings. They tasted good, I enjoyed them. I just think that 6 wings should not cost $10. Downtown has many excellent places to get wings for a lot less money and taste just as good if not better.
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