Food & Drink

Fish and a smile, what else can you ask for?At Bend Fish Company, no energy is squandered on the superficial. It’s
all about the food. Besides the stylized fish in the logo, the only
other decorative touches in the place are a plastic blue marlin mounted
on the wall and a small collection of toy dinosaurs displayed in the
window of the sushi counter. Instead of fine china and candles, you get
red-checkered paper and fluorescent lights. If it’s warm enough, you
can opt out of the cafeteria-like interior and take a table on the
patio, but even then you’ll have to settle for a view of the
Blockbuster across the street. However, if you love seafood, you won’t
mind the lack of ambience. You may hardly even notice. Your eyes will
be immediately drawn to the extensive and rather eclectic menu of
seafood favorites from around the world, and for those who prefer their
own preparations, the beautiful filets of fresh fish, shrimp, scallops,
and other delicacies are for sale behind the glass in the front.

It's been a brutal year for the restaurant industry. Nationwide, restaurants and bars shed more than 11,000 jobs in October as the country marched deeper into recession.
Last month's dismal numbers represented the fourth straight month of job cuts for the restaurant industry - something that hasn't happened in 45 years, according to the National Restaurant Association. While consumers have been cutting back on eating out as their discretionary income dries up, the industry has been able to mask some of the slumping performance through price increases, but even that couldn't hold a drop in sales revenue last month - the first backslide that the industry has seen in 17 years, according to the restaurant association.

It’s been a brutal year for the restaurant industry. Nationwide, restaurants and bars shed more than 11,000 jobs in October as the country marched deeper into recession.
Last month’s dismal numbers represented the fourth straight month of job cuts for the restaurant industry – something that hasn’t happened in 45 years, according to the National Restaurant Association. While consumers have been cutting back on eating out as their discretionary income dries up, the industry has been able to mask some of the slumping performance through price increases, but even that couldn’t hold a drop in sales revenue last month – the first backslide that the industry has seen in 17 years, according to the restaurant association.

Not your mother's health food co-op.Devore's Good Food, a neighborhood gem too often obscured by the mammoth shadow cast by Newport Market across the street, offers food you can truly feel good about. Produce is always organic and locally grown when in season. The shop is locally owned. And for those of us who are too busy/lazy/inept to feed ourselves, Devore's has a mountain of delicious prepared foods, including fully constructed but uncooked casseroles, pizzas, and pies (both sweet and savory) you can pop in the oven and pass off as home-cooking, as well as soups, wraps, quiches, salads, and other ready-to-eat meals in individual and family-sized portions.
I'll admit that when I first darkened Devore's doorstep, I was skeptical. If you were raised in a hippie commune in the '70s and spent your formative years crawling around among barrels of bulk grain in the food co-op that your mother helped found, you'd immediately see-and smell-red flags everywhere. Before you even enter, the old picnic tables on the worn wooden porch under a thatched awning and, particularly, the bulletin board by the front door displaying flyers for folk festivals, homeopathic healers, and lectures like "Be Kind to Your Colon" set off alarms. (No mom, this wheat gluten doesn't taste like chicken!) That distinct whiff of damp cardboard, soil, carrot greens, and freshly cut Camembert overcomes you as you walk the produce aisles and past the cheese counter. (Um, this "candy" looks suspiciously like dried apricots.) But as you make your way to the coolers in the back room brimming with attractive options, that visceral urge to flee subsides, and you realize that this isn't your mother's health food.

Not your mother’s health food co-op.Devore’s Good Food, a neighborhood gem too often obscured by the mammoth shadow cast by Newport Market across the street, offers food you can truly feel good about. Produce is always organic and locally grown when in season. The shop is locally owned. And for those of us who are too busy/lazy/inept to feed ourselves, Devore’s has a mountain of delicious prepared foods, including fully constructed but uncooked casseroles, pizzas, and pies (both sweet and savory) you can pop in the oven and pass off as home-cooking, as well as soups, wraps, quiches, salads, and other ready-to-eat meals in individual and family-sized portions.
I’ll admit that when I first darkened Devore’s doorstep, I was skeptical. If you were raised in a hippie commune in the ’70s and spent your formative years crawling around among barrels of bulk grain in the food co-op that your mother helped found, you’d immediately see-and smell-red flags everywhere. Before you even enter, the old picnic tables on the worn wooden porch under a thatched awning and, particularly, the bulletin board by the front door displaying flyers for folk festivals, homeopathic healers, and lectures like “Be Kind to Your Colon” set off alarms. (No mom, this wheat gluten doesn’t taste like chicken!) That distinct whiff of damp cardboard, soil, carrot greens, and freshly cut Camembert overcomes you as you walk the produce aisles and past the cheese counter. (Um, this “candy” looks suspiciously like dried apricots.) But as you make your way to the coolers in the back room brimming with attractive options, that visceral urge to flee subsides, and you realize that this isn’t your mother’s health food.

Soup and samboe at RiversideA town like Bend that has nearly quadrupled in size in the past two decades is home to a multitude of recent transplants whose ties to the community are tenuous and whose families and lifelong friends are hundreds of miles away.
For the most part, the sea of friendly, if not entirely familiar, faces that crowd the city's bars, restaurants, parks, and shops is sufficient reassurance that the situation is temporary. Yet there are inevitably times when the newcomer feels rootless and yearns for a sense of belonging-the comfort of home, those moments around the kitchen table, talking trash with the people who know you better than you do yourself. That's exactly what you'll find at Riverside Market (or a pretty close approximation). Part corner grocery, part cafe/bar, Riverside Market is the kitchen table, living room, and front porch for a cast of local characters and other passers-by who happen in for a PBR and a bite to eat.

Soup and samboe at RiversideA town like Bend that has nearly quadrupled in size in the past two decades is home to a multitude of recent transplants whose ties to the community are tenuous and whose families and lifelong friends are hundreds of miles away.
For the most part, the sea of friendly, if not entirely familiar, faces that crowd the city’s bars, restaurants, parks, and shops is sufficient reassurance that the situation is temporary. Yet there are inevitably times when the newcomer feels rootless and yearns for a sense of belonging-the comfort of home, those moments around the kitchen table, talking trash with the people who know you better than you do yourself. That’s exactly what you’ll find at Riverside Market (or a pretty close approximation). Part corner grocery, part cafe/bar, Riverside Market is the kitchen table, living room, and front porch for a cast of local characters and other passers-by who happen in for a PBR and a bite to eat.

Packing a bowl at La ParrillaWith winter fast approaching, our bodies increasingly yearn to stock up on calories, while our pockets-depleted from the cost of season passes and gear upgrades-are urging us to cut back. To reconcile this disagreement between stomach and wallet, the wise turn to the burrito. Providing most of a day's calories for less than $10, the burrito is the food of choice for the active and the strapped. To celebrate the coming season and its go-to meal, we hit the streets in an attempt to find the best burritos in Bend. With no shortage of options in town and a limited number of burritos that a human should consume in a short period of time, the list of honorees is far from comprehensive, but it represents the variety and quality that Bend has to offer. So without further ado, we are proud to present the Source Weekly's First Annual Bend Burrito Awards.
Best Traditional:
Rico's Tacos
If authenticity is what you're after, look no further than Rico's. A sparsely decorated yet charming room with bouquets of cloth flowers on the tables and a portrait of the Virgin Mary garlanded with roses and Christmas lights on the wall, Rico's Taco is simplicity at its best. The basic burrito, served with nothing but a couple of lime wedges and sliced radish on the side, is filled with seasoned rice, refried beans, and your meat of choice. (You can request additional fixings.) Try the chorizo sautéed with cilantro and onions or the spiced beef and you can't go wrong. 1326 NE 3rd St., 382-4022

Packing a bowl at La ParrillaWith winter fast approaching, our bodies increasingly yearn to stock up on calories, while our pockets-depleted from the cost of season passes and gear upgrades-are urging us to cut back. To reconcile this disagreement between stomach and wallet, the wise turn to the burrito. Providing most of a day’s calories for less than $10, the burrito is the food of choice for the active and the strapped. To celebrate the coming season and its go-to meal, we hit the streets in an attempt to find the best burritos in Bend. With no shortage of options in town and a limited number of burritos that a human should consume in a short period of time, the list of honorees is far from comprehensive, but it represents the variety and quality that Bend has to offer. So without further ado, we are proud to present the Source Weekly’s First Annual Bend Burrito Awards.
Best Traditional:
Rico’s Tacos
If authenticity is what you’re after, look no further than Rico’s. A sparsely decorated yet charming room with bouquets of cloth flowers on the tables and a portrait of the Virgin Mary garlanded with roses and Christmas lights on the wall, Rico’s Taco is simplicity at its best. The basic burrito, served with nothing but a couple of lime wedges and sliced radish on the side, is filled with seasoned rice, refried beans, and your meat of choice. (You can request additional fixings.) Try the chorizo sautéed with cilantro and onions or the spiced beef and you can’t go wrong. 1326 NE 3rd St., 382-4022

Not to worry, the world still revolves around Bend. But for times when you are forced - by death or marriage - to leave Bend, where will you eat along the way?
For many years, my trips northbound on Highway 97 to Portland or Seattle were punctuated by visits to Pepe's in Madras. I swore up and down that Pepe's was the only decent food to be had between our fair berg and the Northwest's culinary utopias. When I say decent, I just mean food prepared by real cooks - versus pimply faced teenagers - in an owner-run establishment. When Pepe's temporarily closed last year, I reluctantly embarked on a deeper search into my roadside dining options