Hawkeye & Huckleberry Lounge is self-described as a modern cowboy steakhouse. The “modern” part just might be the Cool Hand mocktail — if you can imagine a cowboy under the stars next to a campfire sipping a cucumber-mint beverage. Chef Carlos Anthony Ochoa says the drink, chosen by the public as the Best Mocktail in Bend by the readers of the Source, was crafted a few years ago when one of the owners gave up drinking. The refreshing, frothy green beverage served in a champagne glass is a concoction of house-made cucumber cordial, mint, egg whites, basil and lemon.
Executive Chef Carlos Anthony Ochoa takes the honors for his Cool Hand Mocktail. Photo by Nic Moye
The restaurant’s Happy Hour was also voted the best in Bend. “We do a $10 smash burger, two patties, cheese, our own special burger sauce and that’s paired with a $1 Coors Light,” Ochoa says. “You literally can’t beat it anywhere in town. There’s a line out the door every day at four o’clock of people waiting for it.” Happy Hour is only one hour, from 4-5pm daily in the bar, lounge or patio only. Other items on the menu include a $10 herbed Caesar salad, a Roast Beef Sammich’ and beef fat fries for $5. During that one-hour, draft beer is $5, house wines are $8 and there are a handful of cocktails on special. The beef served at the restaurant comes from the company’s Tumalo ranch that has an on-site butcher shop and smoker.
If you’ve never been to Hawkeye & Huckleberry Lounge on SW Century Drive, it feels a bit like entering another world, with hundreds of dazzling lights on the ceiling, three cozy tents along one wall and a spacious bar and patio area.
Ochoa says it’s his 16th restaurant with co-owner Brian Malarkey, and he appreciates the public support. “I think that’s so important with food and dining in a community, having a voice where, truthfully, the readers get to decide,” he says, “When you really see what the public thinks, you get a real interpretation of what’s going on in this town.”
Runner up Best Mocktail: San Simon’s Calm the F Down
Runner up Best Happy Hour: Pine Tavern
Hawkeye & Huckleberry Lounge
Sun.-Thu. 4-9pm, Fri.-Sat. 4-10pm
Happy Hour daily 4-5pm
225 SW Century Dr., Bend
hawkeyeandhuckleberrylounge.com/
This article appears in Best of Central Oregon 2025 and the Source August 21, 2025.
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