Ryan Shanks installs the Outlaws Bar & Grill banner at the Sumpter restaurant on July 8, 2023.

SUMPTER — Heidi Epler and Rachelle DePiazza of Sumpter have revised and rebranded the former Mad Dog Saloon on Sumpter’s Main street into their own Outlaws Bar & Grill.

After buying the restaurant from Carole and Michael Davidson this spring, Epler and DePiazza will be trading off on the cooking and bartending duties as needed, bringing roughly two decades of combined experience to the enterprise.

They hosted a grand opening on July 8, coinciding with the Baker City Motorcycle Rally, which brought hundreds of riders through the historic gold mining town about 28 miles west of Baker City.

The owners featured a chuck wagon meal of pulled pork, mashed potatoes, cornbread and more, and had to start an hour early to meet the demand.

True to the restaurant’s namesake, the High Country Outlaws, a train-robbing reenactment group in Eastern Oregon, were in attendance and staged a poker-game-turned-gunfight spectacle for the patrons.

Fighting words, blazing six-shooters and rifles firing theatrical blanks filled the air in the adjacent streets as they carried out their

two-act performance. The outlaws included Dean and Melissa Adcock, Ken Williams, Ryan Shanks, Mick Allen and Glen Lewallen, who runs the troop.

Renovations

Inside Outlaws Bar & Grill, Epler and DePiazza have made significant changes to the building.

“Everything’s been redone inside the bar as well,” Epler said. “We just opened up the dining room side, it’s been closed for quite some time. Everything’s been updated, painted, and a big cleanup job.”

The owners bought a new pool table and renovated the games room, which includes a digital jukebox and Oregon Video Lottery. After a fresh coat of interior paint and new lighting, they’ve fixed several art pieces to the walls, supplied by Sumpter’s Lynn Bean Gallery and for sale at the restaurant.

On the wall there’s a framed picture of Epler, DePiazza and the High Country Outlaws at the Sumpter Valley Railroad station.

Epler and DePiazza say they will be serving diner staples such as pizzas, hamburgers, steaks and pastas, with an ample selection of drinks on the tavern side as well.

Laramie Shanks, who owns the Sumpter Stockade motel and whose husband, Ryan, works with the reenactment troop, has been lending her help to the duo as they waded into their first month of operation.

“They’ve been really busy getting everything ready,” Laramie Shanks said. “They’re both single-mom business women, which makes them unique in a lot of ways. They’re juggling a lot and they’re damn good too.”

“So far it’s been great,” Epler said during the grand opening. “Everybody has been really helpful, real busy.”

“A great weekend turnout,” DePiazza said. “It’s actually been one month that we got keys, today. The locals in town, they all showed up and they helped us, whether it’s painting the walls or cleaning or getting stuff from the grocery store. It’s been a big community effort.”

More than a dining destination

Epler and DePiazza say they’re grateful for the public outpouring, the support of their families and friends, and are hoping to add some community purpose to the restaurant.

“They’ll have an old western party, there’ll be the cornhole tournaments, a lot of featured events, the pirate party, maybe even a sock-hop, one pretty much every month,” Shanks said. “The mindset is a very welcoming, very old-fashioned feel, like the town has.”

“It’ll be a destination,” she said. “A place to go when you’re gonna come up the mountain.”

“The locals in town, they all showed up and they helped us, whether it’s painting the walls or cleaning or getting stuff from the grocery store. It’s been a big community effort.”

— Rachelle DePiazza, co-owner, Outlaws Bar & Grill in Sumpter