You Don't Need a Gate Code to Eat Dinner at Nineteen

How do you invite someone to dinner in a neighborhood where the gates close automatically and require a code after hours?

You don't solve that problem. You skip it. The residential streets inside Awbrey Glen sit behind gates that open automatically between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. and remain shut outside those hours, with a code, remote, or call box handling everything outside that window. But that system controls who drives onto the home streets behind the clubhouse. It has nothing to do with who gets a table at Nineteen, the restaurant inside the golf club itself, because the club side of the property has been open to the public since Brooks Resources built the place.

That distinction gets flattened by people who hear "gated golf community" and assume the whole 400 acres works the same way. It doesn't. Brooks Resources broke ground on Awbrey Glen in 1992 and logged the first tee times the following summer, and public restaurant access was part of the plan from the beginning, sold alongside golf and sports memberships as a way to keep the club relevant in a crowded field. More than a decade ago, longtime general manager Mark Amberson put a number on that competition, counting twenty-two golf courses across Central Oregon all chasing the same members. The count has surely shifted since, but the logic that made a public restaurant worth building into the club hasn't. You can live three doors from the ninth green and still need a reservation on a Friday night, same as someone driving over from Awbrey Butte or downtown.

What's actually running the kitchen

Nineteen today operates under Director of Food and Beverage Tim Casinelli and Executive Chef Jake McPeck, splitting service across a casual Grill Room, a sit-down Dining Room, and deck seating that faces the course and the Cascades beyond it. The layout has stayed consistent for years: order something quick and unfussy in the Grill Room after a round, or book the Dining Room for something slower with a wider wine list. On a clear evening the deck is the draw, since it puts you level with the fairway and the mountains at once.

The weekly rhythm is where the restaurant separates itself from a generic clubhouse grill. For years, Thursdays have meant no corkage fee, which turns the night into an unofficial bring-your-own-bottle event for anyone who's been holding onto something good. Fridays lean into a standing prime rib special rather than a rotating one, which is the kind of detail that only makes sense once you've eaten there more than twice. Sunday brings brunch, and recent specials have included a Cascadian Hash built around salmon, potatoes, peppers, and a chive hollandaise, the kind of dish that reads as a nod to the region rather than a generic hotel buffet item.

None of that requires club membership to enjoy. It requires a reservation, since the restaurant's popularity among both members and outside diners means walking in on a Friday without one is a gamble. The patio also welcomes well-behaved dogs, which matters if your idea of hosting someone this fall includes bringing the dog along for a slow dinner outside before the weather turns.

The property around the plate

Walk past the pro shop after dinner and you're at the edge of the Golf Learning Center, a 13-acre practice ground that includes The Loop, a five-hole, par-three course that Brooks Resources still describes as the only one of its kind in Central Oregon. It's built for a short evening round rather than a full 18, which is part of why it works as an after-dinner activity rather than a separate outing. In 2014, Awbrey Glen became the first course in Central Oregon to add a FootGolf layout, giving the practice grounds a second use that has nothing to do with clubs or swings.

On the back nine, Lake Tye holds a private, catch-and-release fishery. It's stocked for members rather than restaurant guests, so it's not something a non-member dinner reservation gets you access to, but you'll see it from the deck at Nineteen regardless of which side of the membership line you're sitting on. The golf course itself has been shaped over more than a decade by architect David McLay Kidd, whose other Central Oregon work includes Tetherow, through a long-range master plan the club adopted back in 2011. It's a patient, incremental project rather than a single renovation with a ribbon-cutting date, which fits a club that has spent over three decades building a reputation more on consistency than on splashy overhauls.

None of this requires solving the gate. A friend who lives outside Awbrey Glen, a parent visiting for the weekend, a client you're taking to lunch: none of them need a code, an escort, or advance clearance from the HOA to sit down at Nineteen. They need a table, and on a Thursday, maybe a bottle of something worth bringing.

If you already know your way around Nineteen's Thursday specials and you're curious what your Awbrey Glen property is actually worth in today's market, that's a conversation Bend Lifestyle REALTORS® is glad to have, over the phone or over a table at the club you already know.