Central Oregon has a booming food cart community, with growing clusters of carts in Bend, Redmond and Sisters. Let us be your guide to good eats, with an interactive map to help you find whatever you crave.
...MORE
Bend’s original food pod offers diversity and originality
Gatherings of mobile kitchens, or food trucks as they are often known, are a common sight in Central Oregon. But not so many years ago, they were a novelty. It seems only yesterday that enterprising young men like Steven Draheim, who owns Barrio, and Joel
...MORE
Everyone loves a restaurant with a view. In greater Bend, there are a small handful. The Range at Brasada Ranch, on the flank of the Powell Buttes, features an impressive distant panorama of the High Cascades. Greg’s Grill and the Pine Tavern offer two very
...MORE
Despite the absence of brown rice, Cindy’s in Redmond offers high-quality food prepared mostly from scratch
First impressions can be misleading. The facade of Cindy’s Chinese Garden, on U.S. Highway 97 on Redmond’s south side, clearly needs a new coat of paint. Inside the double doors, highly visible cleaning supplies clutter a corner of the room facing the host stand, with
...MORE
Let’s get this out of the way first: I believe the Beaver Dam, the cafeteria on the Oregon State University-Cascades campus, is misnamed. A dam is a barrier that impedes the flow of water or other materials. OSU’s Beaver Dam, to the contrary, encourages the
...MORE
New location in Bend clings to its corporate model
The setting: Cracker Barrel Old Country Store, a restaurant just off U.S. Highway 97 at the north end of Bend. The time: About 9 on a recent Monday morning. My dining companion and I are seated at a table in the heart of the spacious
...MORE
Life & Time, the new free-range, fast food restaurant on Century Drive, wants to “change the face of fast food forever.” I think that’s more than a little overzealous. But it reflects the goals of partners Garrett Wales and Mike Moor, formerly of the 10
...MORE
Recently opened cafe boosts Redmond’s breakfast selections
Had it not been for last year’s volcanic eruption in Hawaii, Central Oregon would likely not have its newest early-day cafe. Mo’s Egg House opened in mid-November in Redmond’s Fred Meyer Shopping Center. But a few months earlier, owner Monica (Mo) and Rick Daniells had
...MORE
The Old Mill’s newest restaurant is the sort of place you’d be glad to take your parents — or, for that matter, your college-age children. The Boxwood Kitchen, which opened Jan. 3, is hip but not too hip. It’s spacious, but it maintains a sense
...MORE
When Corrine O’Shea opened the Salud! Live Kitchen & Juice Bar in September 2013, she was a pioneer in the vegetarian and raw-foods dining movement in Central Oregon. She wasn’t the first. Sarah’s Raw & Vegan Café, which is closed, was serving a daily special
...MORE
The Indian restaurant has served downtown Bend since 2003
You know when you’ve dined at a good Indian restaurant. Hours after a meal, scintillating flavors of coriander, cumin, turmeric, cardamom and other exotic spices continue to ricochet between your tongue and your palate. Tandoori oven-baked chicken, marinated in yogurt and cayenne pepper; lamb stews
...MORE
If the community of Sisters conveys a particular image, it is that of a proud ranching town, with one foot in the Wild West and the other planted firmly in the 21st century. The Sisters Meat and Smokehouse projects that flavor better than any other
...MORE
Croutons has found a solid niche in Central Oregon. Since opening its first area cafe on Century Drive in 2005, the casual salad, soup and sandwich shop has continued to attract a solid core of customers. That patronage ballooned in 2013 with the addition of
...MORE
Core menu is shrinking as more specials are introduced
In Bend’s burgeoning dining world, one constant has been Zydeco Kitchen & Cocktails. Since 2009, when owners Steve and Cheri Helt relocated to downtown Bend from Third Street, the fine-dining restaurant has been a model of consistency. To say Zydeco has been perfect would be
...MORE
Godzilla really shook up Tokyo’s urban landscape a few decades ago, when he and King Ghidorah, a three-headed dragon, thrashed things out on the silver screen. A mural of that epic battle in the shadow of Mount Fuji occupies one full wall of Bimbap, a
...MORE
When Chef David Touvell opened Chow in early 2008, it didn’t take much time for the breakfast-and-lunch cafe to establish itself at the vanguard of the local farm-to-fork movement. Eleven years later, the unpretentious eatery remains a model of sustainability for diners who support Central
...MORE
Popular Bend brewpub doubles capacity, improves menu
Since it opened in June 2012, Crux Fermentation Project has been among the most successful of Bend’s many brewpubs. But its popularity eclipsed the size of its tasting room. Its management team decided last year that it was high time to expand the former AAMCO
...MORE
The departure of an executive chef can be traumatic for a fine dining restaurant. When it happens twice in three months, a crisis is brewing. That’s what happened in 2018 at Red Martini Kitchen & Cocktails, one of a small handful of elite restaurants in
...MORE
Mexican eatery a fine dining choice at Cascade Village
El Rancho Grande is a family business. And that makes all the difference. Owners Rafael and Lorena Robles Rodriguez involve their entire family in every aspect of the restaurant, from the savory cuisine to the fine professional service, and their pride — as symbolized by
...MORE
I’m no Grinch — at least, I hope I’m not. But the thought of dining on green pancakes is as appealing to me as, well, green eggs and ham. Inspired by Dr. Seuss’ parsimonious Grinch character, IHOP’s seasonal menu will keep lime-hued flapjacks bursting from
...MORE
When the GoodLife Brewing Company opened its doors in mid-2011 in the Century Center complex on Bend’s west side, it really wasn’t set up for restaurant service. The beer was excellent. (It still is.) But without a deep fryer or a stove hood, the kitchen
...MORE
With youthful direction, Takoda’s is a proven success
Kyle Harbick has come a long way with Takoda’s Restaurant & Lounge since he and his younger cousin, Trey Harbick, opened the business on the west side of Sisters in 2011. Now 29, Kyle had little food-and-beverage experience when the Harbicks took over the former
...MORE
Restaurant offers food, drink and dancing in northeast Bend
If you’re a fan of country music artists like Blake Shelton, Tracy Lawrence and Lady Antebellum, there may be no better place in Central Oregon to be entertained than Maverick’s Country Bar & Grill. That’s especially true if you like to kick up your heels
...MORE
Ray Chan, the owner of China Doll in the Crossroads Plaza complex on Bend’s east side, is a charming man. He’s been in business for more than 18 years, so he’s clearly doing something right. He speaks proudly of a daughter who is attending a
...MORE
Not many years ago, it was hard for a vegetarian to get a good restaurant meal in Central Oregon. That’s no longer the case. More than a half-dozen cafes specialize in fare for vegan, vegetarian and gluten-free diners, and it is rare to find a
...MORE
Dump City expands its menu in a new permanent home
Dump City Dumplings owner Dan Butters wants his restaurant to be the “dumpling house of Bend.” For all practical purposes, it already owns that title. Butters and partner Keith Shayon, who established Dump City as a solo food cart in June 2010, elevated to a
...MORE
More than a decade after its early 2008 opening in a historic building in downtown Redmond, the original Brickhouse Steakhouse is still going strong. Lodged in the 1921 Davidson Meat Market building on Sixth Street — the structure was an insurance agency before it became
...MORE
The single most important factor for a successful seafood restaurant should always be: How fresh is the fish? Guaranteed freshness becomes more difficult for a restaurant as far inland as Bend. But the new Poke Row cafe in NorthWest Crossing is a step ahead of
...MORE
The owners of Bend’s new Best Western Premier Peppertree Inn, at Mt. Washington and Century drives, may have missed the boat in choosing the type of restaurant that now serves its clientele. Pizza and beer are not in short supply in Central Oregon. I can
...MORE
I can’t imagine that I will become a strict vegan. But I’m glad to know there are numerous options for my Central Oregon friends who do choose a plant-based diet. Not too many years ago, Bend did not have a single, dedicated vegetarian restaurant, let
...MORE
What’s this? A brewpub that doesn’t serve burgers and fries? One that, instead of pizza, offers pulled jackfruit and nori (seaweed) crisps? Chris “Tap” Mitchell, executive chef at Bend’s new Boneyard Beer Pub, explained: “Boneyard has always been a little different,” he said. “Why should
...MORE
Caribbean flavors are reminiscent of Little Havana
Cuban is not a style of cuisine widely known in the Pacific Northwest. Sometimes described as traditional Caribbean cooking with Spanish and African influences, it has footholds in the United States in the Little Havana neighborhood of Miami and in suburban New York, where political
...MORE
When Karen McCormack sold Palmer’s Cafe in September 2016, her immensely popular Bend restaurant of 15 years, she did so because the commute from her new home in La Pine had become tedious and sometimes dangerous in winter. Within a few months, however, she had
...MORE
What is it with all the “J” bar-and-grills in downtown Bend? There’s JC’s, J-Dub’s and the M&J. And now, adding to the confusion, the J&J Bar and Grill opened July 4 in the former Summit Saloon space on Oregon Avenue. I’m not a fan. Not
...MORE
Limited but wide-ranging menu offers exotic choices
Worthy Brewing likes to frame itself as a rebel in the world of craft brewing. Hanging on the walls of its new Taps & Tacos bar, an intimate cantina on Brooks Street alley in downtown Bend, are arrest photos of about 20 celebrities, retouched in
...MORE
It’s always disappointing when slipshod service gets in the way of an otherwise satisfactory meal. That was our recent dinner experience at Geno’s Italian Grill in Redmond. I believe the service problems were an exception. On a subsequent luncheon visit, I was well attended by
...MORE
When Portland’s River Pig Saloon expanded into Bend in May, it expected to serve the Old Mill District primarily as a neighborhood watering hole, not as a restaurant. Locals quickly discovered that the food was good, reasonably priced and a slight detour from what may
...MORE
Box Factory eatery supports athletes with the environment
As anyone who reads this weekly column knows, I am not a vegan. Neither am I a vegetarian, nor do I follow a gluten-free or any other special diet. I am an omnivore. But I have no issue with enjoying a vegan, vegetarian or gluten-free
...MORE
More than just a bakery, Foxtail thrives in its new location
Sweet and savory. That balance is what makes the newly reborn Foxtail Bakeshop & Kitchen a success. The sweet is owner Nickol Hayden-Cady, who has built a career as an executive pastry chef. A graduate of the Culinary Institute of America in New York, she
...MORE
Events at restaurant beckon foodies from near and far
Perhaps the most beautiful place to enjoy a meal in Central Oregon is on the fishing dock beside deep, glacial Suttle Lake. We’re not talking about a picnic. We’re talking gourmet big-city fare paired with fine wines, served family-style to as many as 40 guests
...MORE
Bend cafe serves meals with an international flair
Good food is good food, regardless of whether it’s served on land or sea. At downtown Bend’s Lemon Tree restaurant, diners get the best of two chefs experienced in both. Focused on all-day brunch recipes, inspired by years in the galleys of international cruising vessels,
...MORE
Modern “gastropub” occupies the former High Tides space
They make quite a pair, do the taciturn Gene Soto and the effusive Sanda Costello. As friends and business partners, they complement each other well. Their company of three years, Bowtie Catering, has earned notice as one of the busiest and most successful in Central
...MORE
After 20 years, Mexican restaurant opens a new east-side space
Twenty years is a long time for a restaurant to succeed in one location, especially in leased space tucked into a corner of a back-street building complex without prominent signage to attract drop-in business. El Caporal has survived and thrived — so much so that
...MORE
International menu earns local and national attention
In its five brick-and-mortar years on Bend’s west side, Spork has earned a reputation for its eclectic international menu — nurtured by locally sourced ingredients — and praise that has extended beyond Central Oregon and into national media. Much of the credit for its continued
...MORE
It’s impressive for a night club and cocktail lounge, regardless of the location, to persist for 17 years. The dynamics of the music and beverage industries tend to roll with the fickle behavior of patrons, who aren’t the same people in their 40s as they
...MORE
If you liked the menu at Currents, the fine-dining restaurant at Bend’s Riverhouse hotel, when it opened two years ago, you may be even more pleased. A Pacific Northwest-themed bill of fare has been enhanced with the arrival of new executive chef Michael Stanton. Formerly
...MORE
“Bronx Born” is not just a name. Thomas Schiffer was born and raised in the New York city borough of the Bronx. It’s where he got his first job making pizzas when he was 13. He took his skills with him when he moved to
...MORE
After 23 years in business, restaurant is still going strong
When I last reviewed Toomie’s Thai Cuisine seven years ago, I deemed the restaurant overpriced, especially during the dinner hour. That’s no longer true. Thai restaurants have come and gone since 2011, but Toomie’s — which burst upon the Central Oregon dining scene in 1995
...MORE
Sisters restaurant focuses on locally sourced ingredients
Pam Wavrin believes in the “Great Grandma Standard.” The co-owner of Sisters’ Depot Café (with her husband, Chris) still remembers childhood visits to her great-grandmother’s house, where she was greeted by the aroma of fresh bread baking in the oven. That loaf, Wavrin recalls, was
...MORE
Established in 2003, The Blacksmith continues to deliver
When The Blacksmith Restaurant was established in Bend in 2003 by a young Texas chef named Gavin McMichael, it almost singlehandedly propelled the entire Central Oregon restaurant scene to a new level of recognition. Within a few months after its opening, The Blacksmith had been
...MORE
It was just last month that I received an email from a reader who wrote in praise of his local watering hole, the South Side Pub. His words were enough to inspire me to visit: “It is truly a locals and blue-collar sort of place
...MORE
Authentic Middle Eastern flavor on Bend’s west side
To speak of Middle Eastern cuisine is to say a mouthful. So when a server at Kebaba, on Bend’s west side, described the restaurant’s cuisine as Turkish, he was doing the establishment a disservice. He was partially correct, of course. But Turkey is only a
...MORE
Is there a better time of year to be a TV sports fan than late March and early April? I think not. College basketball is wrapping up March Madness as the pro teams approach their playoff season. Major league baseball has just launched its 2018
...MORE
5 Fusion’s Joe Kim finds culinary magic in simplicity
Joe Kim may be Bend’s most honored chef, but he is not one to rest on his considerable laurels. Kim is a chef who never wants to stop learning. At every opportunity, he expands his knowledge by working for a week or two at nationally
...MORE
In a town without much authentic Chinese cuisine, Chan’s of Bend has a lot to recommend it. For one, the portions are more than generous. For another, its cooks understand the balancing concepts of “fan” and “tsai,” which together are said to bring harmony and
...MORE
