Spoons' grand reopening

Spoons Restaurant is relocating in Sisters. After being on Cascade Avenue since opening in 2017, owner Doug Stevens finally had the opportunity to move locations to a bigger space that will complement their increase in sales and business.

Deri Frazee encouraged Doug Stevens and his wife, Debbi, to buy the first Spoons location when the Cuppa Yo frozen yogurt shop went up for sale. Stevens and his wife, and their cooking partner, Carrie McGonagle, decided to add lunch, soup, and sandwich options to the restaurant besides just the frozen yogurt.

"Our food sales really grew and became the most important part of the business," said Stevens.

Spoons was just going strong when the COVID-19 pandemic hit in 2020, shutting everything down, and halting any ideas for expansion. Shortly after that, McGonagle's daughter was killed in an automobile accident in the fall of 2020, and Stevens' wife passed away one year after that.

That left McGonagle and Stevens running the business on their own.

Stevens stated: "Our sales really expanded then, and we were unable to meet the demand and so we started looking for additional space, and initially this space was not in a competitive price. But this year we came to a deal on renting it. What precipitated the move was the demand."

That new location is on the south end of town on Hood Avenue, across from Dutch Bros. Coffee stand in the big green building, that has been empty for many years.

Spoons began the move-in process a year ago, coming to a rental agreement with the owners and starting the remodel. One of the reasons it was such a great location, and a relatively easy process, was that it already has a certified kitchen, which meant they didn't have to rebuild the kitchen entirely for business use.

"It was a little difficult to move away from Cascade Avenue. We did look at some stuff on Main Street, but the time frames were two years out, and this building had a certified kitchen in it, and that meant we were able to accelerate the time frame that it takes to move," said Stevens.

They had an accelerated move-in time, signing the deal in January, painting and remodeling for two months, and then taking two weeks to officially move in and get operating.

"There have been so many people in the community helping us move, and it's been amazing," Stevens said.

Spoons will be offering full-service breakfast and lunch with table side-service. All their menu items are homemade, and they partner with Baked Northwest for all their pastries and baked goods. They plan to continue to expand their menu options to include more sandwiches and burgers as the summer moves forward. As of right now, they are not offering frozen yogurt because the machines they had been using were 20 years old and unreliable.

They also have a separate area reserved for events for up to 20 people with food service availability.

Spoons has been having a soft opening all week leading up to their grand opening on Saturday, May 13, at the new location. During the weekend of the SALI lacrosse tournament, without being officially open, their numbers far exceeded the prior year's numbers at the old location.

"So far this week it looks like it's been a good move," said Stevens.

"We are excited to continue to expand our menu and do some fun things in collaboration with the Quilt Show, and for the new space," he said.

See their menu items by visiting https://spoons- restaurant.business.site/. Business hours are Monday through Sunday, 8 a.m. to 3 p.m.