Value dining at Mountains Edge

A step up at Sweet Saigon

• Vietnamese cuisine finds a fine-dining foothold in downtown Bend

May 10, 2013 4:00 am

Two years after their Third Street cafe, Pho Viet, brought the unique cuisine of Vietnam to Bend, owners Tan and Tammy Vo decided it was time to step it up a notch. Sweet Saigon was the result. And their second effort, which opened in the heart of....MORE

A Worthy experience

• There are pros and cons to dining at Bend's new east-side brewpub

May 3, 2013 4:00 am

I feel like a heretic in saying that I don't absolutely love the new Worthy Brewing Co. Restaurant and Garden. The new craft brewery, which opened the first week of February on Bend's east side, is already a suburban landmark. Its spectacular....MORE

U.S. beer is a hit in Germany

May 2, 2013 4:00 am

BERLIN — Almost 65 years after Allied planes flew Western supplies into blockaded Berlin, a new American import is arriving by air: craft beer. The beer is being flown in as part of a new surge of German interest in American brewing, upending a ....MORE

Don't call it fast food

• From burgers to taters, 3 small Redmond restaurants offer choices for diners on the go

April 26, 2013 4:00 am

Fast food takes many forms. Franchise shops, such as McDonald's, Taco Bell and KFC, churn out ready-made, drive-through burgers, fries and burritos with a nonstop fury that can make a person's head spin. Mobile kitchens — and Central Oregon has....MORE

All about sustainability

• Chow's David Touvell creates a flavorful 'vibe' on Newport Avenue

April 19, 2013 4:00 am

Since Chef David Touvell opened Chow at the start of 2008, and soon thereafter made a decision to concentrate solely on breakfasts and lunches, the restaurant has become one of the most popular spots in Central Oregon for morning and midday meals.....MORE

Mexican in the a.m.

• Traditional dishes are served amid bright surroundings at Sabor a Mi!

April 12, 2013 4:00 am

As much as I enjoy good Mexican food, it's always seemed to me that there aren't enough places that serve south-of-the-border breakfasts. Sure, I can get huevos rancheros at many places — but not usually until after 11 a. m. That's not the same....MORE

A local fave

• Bend Brewing Company in downtown is going strong after 18 years

April 5, 2013 4:00 am

Just because you don't feel like a beer doesn't mean you shouldn't consider dining in a brewpub. Some of the best casual meals in downtown Bend are served at the Bend Brewing Company, the BBC. And nothing says you have to have a High Desert....MORE

Dining in The Meadows

• The Sunriver Lodge restaurant is among the region's finest establishments

March 29, 2013 4:00 am

Try not to be surprised when I tell you that I recently enjoyed one of my finest meals of the past year in The Meadows dining room at the Sunriver Lodge. Sunriver doesn't often get the consideration it deserves from Central Oregon diners. Bend-area....MORE

Wine, cider growlers near OK

March 27, 2013 4:00 am

SALEM — The Growler Guys, a father-son duo in Bend, have 34 different craft beers on tap, and they would like to add wine to their list. Here’s how it works now: Pull over. Grab your growler. Fill up with Silver Moon Brewery’s Train ....MORE

Starting from scratch

* Bend's new Eco Bistro serves up fresh, organic dishes (hold the GMOs)

March 22, 2013 4:00 am

Paulina and Mark Hopkins had a dream of owning a restaurant. They knew what they liked — but they had limited experience in the profession. Enter Florence Vincent. A longtime friend of the Hopkinses, Vincent had owned an organic restaurant in....MORE

The luck of the Irish

• Hungry? Don't miss the Reuben sandwich at Kelly D's Sports Bar

March 15, 2013 4:00 am

There are only two words that you really need to know when you talk about Kelly D's Sports Bar & Grill: Reuben sandwich. It's doubtful that you'll find a better one than is served in Kelly Davidson's southside Bend bar and grill. I love this....MORE

Slam-dunk subs

• A roundup of five shops for those submerged in TV basketball

March 8, 2013 4:00 am

Ah, March Madness: That point in the sports year when college basketball fans cluster around televisions to watch league championships and the opening rounds of the NCAA tournament, one game upon another, pausing only to refuel with sleep and food.....MORE

From Mexico with love

• Roberto Cardeñas' Rio serves gourmet cuisine in Sisters and Madras

March 1, 2013 4:00 am

Roberto Cardeñas built up a legion of fans during his years preparing meals at leading Mexican restaurants in Bend. His culinary creativity as executive chef at both La Rosa and Amalia's won the admiration of diners who enjoy the subtleties of fine....MORE

Lots to love

• Hot Rock Pizza has great salads, panini sandwiches and, yes, pizza

February 22, 2013 4:00 am

If you're like me, you enjoy a good salad with your pizza. That's why it's always perplexed me that so few pizza restaurants offer good fresh greens. More often than not when I go out for pizza I am offered a small house salad made with iceberg....MORE

Old school

• Now 31 years old, Roszak's Fish House continues to please its patrons

February 15, 2013 4:00 am

Roszak's Fish House and Prime Rib is old school. And that's exactly what its regular patrons want. Although prices have actually dropped a notch since I last reviewed this northeast Bend restaurant more than four years ago, not much else has changed.....MORE

Review

Sibling revelry

Family helps Smith Rock Brewing Co. make its mark with tasty food and beers in Redmond

February 8, 2013 4:00 am

It was inevitable, perhaps, that siblings Danielle Stewart and Don Fredrickson would wind up in the brewpub business together. Stewart had run a restaurant in Stockton, Calif., for more than a dozen years before moving with her husband, Kevin Stewart,....MORE

Food for outdoors lovers

• Velvet Lounge and Crow's Feet Commons take different directions in downtown Bend

February 1, 2013 4:00 am

Having a small drinking establishment in downtown Bend may often be a challenge, especially when your kitchen facilities are limited. Two businesses have approached the issue in two very different ways, but in keeping with the demands of the mountain-....MORE

Cozy, tasty, sweet

• 2nd Street deli in Bend offers homespun food and sensational chocolates

January 25, 2013 4:00 am

When your cafe is in a location that gets little or no pedestrian or drive-by traffic, success can be elusive. Somehow, Tricia and Jeremy Pollard are finding a way to make it work at their 2nd Street Eats & Sweets. A health-conscious deli that....MORE

Family-friendly Mexican dining

• Good food and great prices lure diners to Mexi-Fresh & More

January 18, 2013 4:00 am

Salvador Robles' little cafe is just a hole in the wall — a tiny storefront in the Albertson's mall at the south end of Bend. Mexi-Fresh & More seats only two dozen patrons, and with no highway frontage on Business Route 97 (South Third....MORE

Food from 'across the pond'

• British fare reigns at the Pig & Pound Public House in Redmond

January 11, 2013 4:00 am

What's an English pub doing in the heart of Redmond?Apparently, whatever it wants. And owner Paul Mercer, recently of Camp Sherman's Kokanee Cafe and Sunriver's Trout House, said he hasn't had so much fun at a restaurant in 10 years. The Union Jack....MORE

A flair for innovation

• Surprises abound for diners at downtown Bend's 5 Fusion & Sushi Bar

January 4, 2013 4:00 am

There may be no better training for becoming a sushi chef than growing up in a sushi bar. A prime example is Joe Kim Jr., executive chef at 5 Fusion & Sushi Bar in downtown Bend. Kim, 32, grew up in a restaurant family in the San Francisco Bay....MORE

Hidden treasure

• The Hideaway Tavern features a laid-back atmosphere and a standout menu

December 28, 2012 4:00 am

'If the Victorian Cafe is my kitchen," said Hideaway Tavern owner John Nolan, “then this is my living room."It could become mine as well. Ten years after buying “The Vic" and cementing its reputation as one of Bend's go-to places for eggs ....MORE

Restaurant Review

Village people

East-side bakery is equal to the original with quality breads and soups

December 21, 2012 4:00 am

For more than 16 years, beginning in 1996, Bill and Lauren Kurzman have run a popular bakery on Bend's west side. A loyal clientele has earned the Village Baker a reputation as one of Central Oregon's best places to find freshly baked bread,....MORE

Thai fine dining at its best

• Noi brings gourmet elegance to Bend's Franklin Crossing building

December 14, 2012 4:00 am

Ten-foot-tall Buddhist temple guardians, their skins forest green and ivory white, their tusks accenting multicolored armor, maintain side-by-side vigilance over the spacious dining room of Bend's new Noi Thai Cuisine restaurant. Lights that hang....MORE

An oasis for sports lovers

• Redmond's Clock Tower Pub offers games, great grub and a bevy of beers

December 7, 2012 4:00 am

I would never have guessed it before dining there, but some of the best fish and chips in Central Oregon — and some of the tastiest sandwiches — may be found at an off-the-beaten-track sports bar at the north end of Redmond. The Clock....MORE

Basking in the Alpenglow

• Downtown Bend institution still pleases the taste buds in its 2nd home

November 30, 2012 4:00 am

Since moving to new digs in 2007, Alpenglow Cafe hasn't missed a step. OK, prices have gone up about $1 across the board since the cafe vacated its longtime Bond Street premises — where the newly expanded Deschutes Brewery Public House now....MORE

A smooth transition

• Mother's Cafe on Bend's east side offers a light and healthy cuisine

November 23, 2012 4:00 am

Dedicated patrons of Mother's Juice Cafe on Bend's west side may not have noticed the subtle name change that came when the little restaurant established a second location, just off Greenwood Avenue, in August:The new cafe has dropped the....MORE

Meanwhile, back at the Ranch

• Redmond's Coyote Ranch serves a solid steak-and-seafood menu

November 16, 2012 4:00 am

David Shurtleff is a contractor by trade. But to scores of Redmond-area steak lovers, he owns the best restaurant in town. Since opening the spacious Coyote Ranch, just off U. S. Highway 97 on the south side of Redmond, in March 2004, Shurtleff and....MORE

Traditional Arabic cuisine

• Palestinian restaurateur brings family recipes to downtown Bend

November 9, 2012 4:00 am

The owner of the Mazza Bistro, a new Middle Eastern restaurant in downtown Bend, is not just another face in the crowd. In fact, Michel (Mike) Shehadeh might be one of the most prominent Arab-Americans on the West Coast. Born in Jordan and raised in....MORE

A slice of paradise

• Pete Wojda's Little Pizza Paradise sets roots in Bend's Cascade Village

November 2, 2012 4:00 am

When it comes to pizza, Pete Wojda takes a scientist's approach. The owner of Little Pizza Paradise in the Cascade Village Shopping Center says that precision is the key to consistency in making a good Italian-style pie.“We try to use the best....MORE

Love barbecue? Think breakfast!

• Baldy's welcomes Bend's morning crowd at new east-side restaurant

October 26, 2012 4:00 am

Out on Bend's east side, breakfast cafes have been few and far between. With the notable exception of the venerable Jake's Diner and a couple of supermarkets, it's been hard to find anything more substantial than an Egg McMuffin on the sunrise side....MORE

Downtown

Support for ban on smoking in Bend core

October 19, 2012 4:00 am

More than three out of four Bend residents are bothered by second-hand smoke and would support some type of public smoking ban downtown, a recent survey found. According to survey results released Thursday, 78 percent of Bend residents are bothered....MORE

Welcome to The Porch

• Get to know Sisters' outstanding new restaurant

October 19, 2012 4:00 am

I want to tell you about Sisters' newest best restaurant — The Porch. Surprised? So was I. Caryl Hosler, formerly of Jen's Garden and Thyme, opened the restaurant in late June with her son, Jon Hosler. While Caryl was working as the sous chef....MORE

The Crux of the matter

Bend's newest brewpub brings style to a former midcity garage

October 12, 2012 4:00 am

The new Crux Fermentation Project is an impressive addition to Central Oregon's burgeoning roster of craft brewpubs. Its late June opening was highly anticipated by beer aficionados, in part because co-owner and brewmaster Larry Sidor headed the....MORE

A delicious surprise

• Taqueria los Jalapenos has been in the same location for 18 years

October 5, 2012 4:00 am

Sometimes it's the tiniest, most easily overlooked restaurants that offer some of the best food. Such is the case with Taqueria los Jalapenos, which I have driven past on Greenwood Avenue for years without so much as a second glance. The unassuming....MORE

In praise of the 'new' Jackalope

• Chef Tim Garling has realized his dream in downtown Bend

September 28, 2012 4:00 am

All you really need to know about downtown Bend's “new" Jackalope Grill is that its chef-owner has branded it with his own name. It is no longer merely the Jackalope Grill. It is now Tim Garling's Jackalope Grill. Nearly seven years after moving ....MORE

New York style

• Pastrami Old World Deli in Bend picks up where Letzer's left off

September 21, 2012 4:00 am

Central Oregon's only Jewish-style New York deli has what might seem an unlikely location: in a corner of the Re/Max Key Properties real-estate building, opposite Chase Bank on Franklin Avenue in downtown Bend. The Pastrami Old World Deli opened June ....MORE

Pillar of the community

• Prineville's Solstice Brewing Company offers good, family-friendly food

September 14, 2012 4:00 am

The most prominent landmark in Ochoco National Forest is Steins Pillar. The 350-foot-tall volcanic plug, 15 miles northeast of Prineville, was named for one Major Enoch Steen, who led a U. S. cavalry expedition through this region in 1860. A century....MORE

Mediocre McMenamins

Food and service 'not that good' at the Old St. Francis School in Bend

September 7, 2012 4:00 am

This is how an online dictionary defines the word “mediocre": “Of only ordinary or moderate quality; neither good nor bad; barely adequate."That's exactly how I describe my recent dining experiences at McMenamins Old St. Francis School....MORE

Heavenly hopes

Angel Thai is off and running at its new location on Bend's west side

August 31, 2012 4:00 am

Here's a vote of cautious praise for Angel Thai Westside, which opened in early June on College Way near Newport Avenue. Having moved into the same low-key plaza cafe that, over the years, has been home to the Mercury Diner, Zucca Italian Kitchen and ....MORE