If you want an indication of the popularity of a restaurant in rural America, there's one good tell: the parking lot. In the case of Brand 44 N in Terrebonne, the parking lot is decidedly full — though on my visit it was a bit of a moot point, since I'd decided to devote my Saturday to riding my bike from Bend to the small town just north of Redmond, just to stoke the hunger for what I'd heard was a delicious breakfast and lunch spot. Bike hunger or not, it was a delightful brunch.
Brand 44 N opened in March 2023, started by business partners Danielle Nogosek and Kayla Jeffrey, who also own Terrebonne's Pump House, and will soon open a Mexican restaurant in the iconic Depot building in Terrebonne as well. The two met when they both worked at The Hideaway Tavern in Bend, eventually realizing their dreams of restaurant ownership in Nogosek's hometown of Terrebonne.
"We don't even have a sign," Nogosek told the Source Weekly about the restaurant's popularity. In spite of the minimal branding, locals and visitors alike seem to flock to Brand 44 N. As a breakfast and lunch place that's only open until 2pm, the menu is heavy on breakfast. A big benedict menu includes a classic version, as well as adventurous ones that riff off of other current culinary trends —like the Smash Benedict, featuring two smash beef patties. A full menu of pancakes — including standouts like the Cinnamon Roll Pancakes and Strawberry Short Cake Pancakes — makes it tough to narrow it down to just one, but you don't have to, since there's also the option of a Pancake Flight featuring one of each of the restaurant's specialty pancakes. Don't sleep on the French Toast, either, says Nogosek, who said the Blackberry Cheesecake French Toast is a hot seller.
Traditional breakfast items like build-your-own omelets and breakfast burritos also make an appearance — but my eyes were on the Specialty breakfast menu. My dining partner and I tried the John Wayne Casserole, a recipe gleaned from Wayne himself, Nogosek told me. The dish, served in a cast iron skillet, has a layer of buttermilk biscuits on the bottom, topped with ground beef, creamy sauce, melty cheddar cheese, onions, peppers and two fried eggs. I don't know exactly how many biscuits make up the John Wayne Casserole, but suffice it to say that us two hungry cyclists, plus John Wayne himself, could have shared this dish and still maybe had some left over.
Next up from the specialty menu were the Breakfast Bao Tacos, featuring four bao buns made up like tiny, fluffy egg tacos with bacon, served with a side of maple syrup. Ever used a pancake as a vessel to hold eggs and bacon? That's the effect here — a soft, pillowy receptacle for all of the best parts of breakfast to put on a flavor show.
Just to round things out, we also ordered the Cuban Sandwich from the Hand Held menu — otherwise known as the lunch menu — that has a full complement of burgers, a Hot Nashville Chicken Sandwich, a reuben and more. The Terrebonne Pressed Cuban features not just the shaved ham that often comes with a sandwich of this ilk, but also carnitas — perhaps in a nod to the largely Hispanic staff at Brand 44 N. Of that staff, Nogosek said she and business partner Jeffrey have endeavored to let them have a creative hand in the formation of La Catrina Chingona, the new Mexican spot that will open in the Depot building sometime this month. The idea, Nogosek said, is to eventually have some of the key staff members take over the Mexican restaurant.
For Nogosek, the entire effort is about family — from the inclusion of the staff in creating the new restaurant, to the way she hopes people feel when they visit one of her places.
"You have to make it feel like family," Nogosek said. "Food is supposed to be fun!"
Back at Brand 44 N, somewhere along the line a staff member toured around with an open basket of fresh, house-baked treats — as if the menu at this place wasn't already robust enough. Add in the temptation of cookies, warm doughnut holes and other sweet treats and one might need to bike another 25 miles to fit it all in.
