((Left) Owner Kelly Green, shown with daughters Gentry and Carlee, credit Blue Duck Saloon’s success to “a collaborative effort” (Right) In addition to building a kitchen and renovating the interior, Blue Duck’s owner continues to make improvements | Photos courtesy of Blue Duck Saloon)
Two miles outside downtown Prineville, a building that in its past had housed a grocery store, gas station, feed barn, and poker club has been transformed — thanks in part to the inspiration of a 1989 TV miniseries that follows two former Texas Rangers on a cattle drive in the late 1870s.
“I grew up on ‘Lonesome Dove,’” said Kelly Green, owner of Blue Duck Saloon, which has references to the epic Western throughout the restaurant, “and still watch it once a year. One of the characters, who believed that when life offers an opportunity, you just go for it, was my inspiration to follow a childhood dream.”
However, far from emulating the beans, dried meat, and biscuits that sustained cowboys in those days, Green and her two daughters are committed to “serving the best food we can serve.” The five-page menu — which features appetizers, pasta dishes, entrees and seven variations on the cheeseburger — reflects their pride on “our attention to detail — we cultivate a lot of creativity,” she said.
Examples include the popular Scottsdale burger with bacon, white cheddar, BBQ sauce, peanut butter, and grape jelly; sweet cream pancake tacos with fruit filling; pork belly lettuce wraps; and — among the newer dishes — Caprese-stuffed salmon stuffed with mozzarella and tomatoes and finished with balsamic and pesto.
“We’re inspired by anything,” Green said, “such as the apple butter that was part of my childhood, and is now featured in French toast stuffed with apple butter and vanilla yogurt. We also grow things in the back patio such as strawberries and tomatoes, and incorporate them into recipes — what we have helps determine what we prepare.”
Green emphasized that “It’s not just food — we want customers to leave Blue Duck Saloon thinking that ‘we had a good meal, a good time, and were also entertained.’”
Those are lofty goals, but Green has been in hospitality since the age of 15, and while she periodically worked in other industries such as financing, “I kept returning to hospitality. It’s my comfort zone, and I’m really good at it.”
Although her background includes being a bartender and restaurant manager, Green had “never worked in a kitchen. So when the previous owner reached out to me, through mutual friends, to buy his business, my initial reaction was ‘no thank you.’” However, his offer precipitated a “good conversation, and the wheels started turning.”
Daunting challenges were involved before Blue Duck Saloon opened in February 2023. “The building was a blank canvas,” Green said, “and didn’t have a kitchen. So we built one, along with cleaning and fixing up the inside, and putting in a back patio. We continue to make improvements — it’s a work in progress.”
Green readily admits that this endeavor involves “a lot of work and a lot of money — I’m really married to it. It’s the toughest business you can be in.” But she and her two equally committed daughters, Carlee and Gentry, “are trying to get better every day with innovative food and drink recipes, seasonal specials, and locally sourced ingredients. We’re women-powered out here.”
These unflagging mother-daughter efforts are enhanced by Blue Duck Saloon employees. “We’re lucky to have the ones we do,” Green said, “and everyone works well together. It’s truly a collaborative effort.”
Realistic about their limitations, “we didn’t put anything out there for the first year. We wanted to stay quiet,” Green said, “as we had a lot to perfect and didn’t want to overdo ourselves. But interest spread by word of mouth, and Blue Duck Saloon “really caught fire” these past few months. She also thanked the Prineville community for being “very welcoming and encouraging.”
As Green explained, “We’re creating an experience for everyone 21 and older, and we love what we do. What makes it so rewarding is getting positive feedback from customers about how great the food or the service is. That’s what drives us.”
