Forrester

Thirty-year-old Kegan Forrester made a bold move on Aug. 1, when he opened a mobile food cart in Monument, a town that boasts fewer than 150 residents.

So far, his gamble appears to be paying off.

His establishment, the Rim Rock Grill, boasts a restaurant-style menu with everything from bacon, eggs and toast for breakfast to ribeye steak for dinner. The building itself is a full camp trailer that has been cut open at the end, extended and reframed like a house.

Forrester said the reason for the construction method was to have more room and make the vehicle feel like a restaurant. “I didn’t want a food cart, I wanted a restaurant,” he said. “I wanted to do a restaurant menu. … I didn’t want like a hotdog or barbecue, I didn’t want to zone in on just one thing.”

Another unique feature of the Rim Rock Grill is the facade of the establishment itself. Forrester ditched the typical look of a food cart, instead going with a rustic wooden look that makes the place feel more like a traditional restaurant and less like a cart on wheels.

Forrester was born in Monument and stayed there throughout most of his youth before moving away during his junior year of high school. He stayed away for a number of years before returning to Monument in 2020.

At first, Forrester was driving back and forth from Monument to John Day, where he worked as a welder. But high gasoline prices were a problem, and the lack of a restaurant in Monument was an opportunity. So Forrester decided to get out of the welding business and into the food business.

“I got tired of not having a resource in town, so I was like, ‘I’m going to build something and maybe hire one of the high-schoolers to run it,’ and then it’ll give the community something and I won’t have to cook dinner every night,” he said. “Kind of the best of both worlds.”

Rising fuel prices left Forrester without much money at the end of the month following daily commutes to John Day, which kicked his restaurant plans into high gear.

“We buckled down and got it finished. We hired a high school student. It didn’t work out right away because she’s playing sports and stuff,” Forrester said.

One of the things Forrester takes pride in is preparing all the ingredients for his dishes in-house.

“All my pulled pork, all my meat — that stuff is all done in-house,” he said. “We smoke our own corned beef, we smoke the pulled pork, we smoke the chicken for our street tacos.”

All of those things, from the facade to the preparation of the food, contribute to Forrester’s main goal, which is to make you feel like you’re at a restaurant and not a food cart. His ultimate goal is for the Rim Rock Cafe to turn into a well-known foodie destination similar to the Dayville Cafe.

The reception from the community has been great so far, according to Forrester. “It’s been awesome. We love it. I hope the community and people continue to support us and whatnot, because they’ve been amazing,” he said.

“I hope it doesn’t slow down to the point that it’s not sustainable, but as of right now they’ve been great.”

The Rim Rock Grill is open daily from 7:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. The restaurant can be contacted at 541-934-2551 and can be found on Facebook @TheRimrockGrill.

NAME: Kegan Forrester

AGE: 30

RESIDENCE: Monument

OCCUPATION: Owner/operator of The Rim Rock Grill in Monument

ETC.: The Rim Rock Grill, run from Forrester’s home, is Monument’s only restaurant