Posted inRestaurant Guide

Restaurant Guide 2026

“There is no sincerer love than the love of food.” โ€” George Bernard Shaw

The restaurant world is ever-changing. The annual Source Restaurant Guide aims to include new openings and popular staples to help you plan your eating year! We know more is coming as well. Bamboo Sushi is expected to open in the spring of 2026 in downtown Bend on NW Oregon Avenue. The owners of Powder House […]

Posted inRestaurant Guide

Restaurant of the Year: Sen Thai Noodles & Hot Potย ย 

Hospitality forward

Several things make Sen a remarkable dining experience, but itโ€™s the combination of all of them that solidifies it as the Sourceโ€™s restaurant of the year. First among everything, as delicious and groundbreaking as the food is, the hospitality is what is immediately apparent. There is a genuine warmth to the staff that makes Sen not just a destination location in Bend, but reminds […]

Posted inRestaurant Guide

Rookie Food Cart of the Year: The Dominican

Where Caribbean comfort food meets heartfelt customer service

Robert De Los Santosโ€™ love language is serving someone up a delicious plate of food. Heโ€™s been that way since his days growing up in the countryside of the Dominican Republic, where itโ€™s customary for people to have a meal ready for anyone who might happen to walk in the door. The love behind the […]

Posted inRestaurant Guide

Rookie Restaurant of the Year: Ken’s Artisan Pizza

As date night destination or weeknight staple, Bendites love Kenโ€™s

Iโ€™ve been dreaming about the next time I can go to Kenโ€™s Artisan Pizza for at least the last 15 years, so it feels odd now to be naming it the Rookie of the Year. But many will already know that those two things can co-exist, because Kenโ€™s has been a world-renowned pizzeria in east […]

Posted inRestaurant Guide

What It Takes to Run a Restaurant Right Now in Central Oregon

Rising costs, staffing challenges and the daily grind of making it all work

Running a restaurant in Central Oregon in 2026 is not for the faint of heart; by nearly every account, itโ€™s harder than it has ever been. But the ones who make it work are rewriting the rules in real time. โ€œHands down the most difficult challenge in operating restaurants right now is trying to make […]

Posted inRestaurant Guide

Food Cart of the Year: NorthFresh Sushi

Chasing perfection with every roll of the rice

Youโ€™d be forgiven for assuming that local sushi chef Jeff Berneski has it all figured out. Source readers, after all, voting in the 2021 Best Of Central Oregon contest, elected Berneskiโ€™s NorthFresh Sushi Best Rookie Food Cart. And Berneski had only just relocated to Central Oregon the year before. And this year, NorthFresh is also […]

Posted inSpecial Issues & Guides

Restaurant of the Year: Rancher Butcher Chef

Itโ€™s unprecedented, but our nod for restaurant of the year goes once again to Rancher Butcher Chef

If thereโ€™s any sign that an establishment is earning the love of local crowds, among the most brightly lit might be the rapid opening of a second place, with a name that hints to the first. Over the past year, the Rancher Butcher Chef brand โ€” known commonly by its initials, RBC, did just that […]

Posted inSpecial Issues & Guides

Restaurant Closures Reflect Broader Trends, But Local Dining Scene Holds Strong

Evolving tastes reshape local culinary identity

The local closings of restaurants such as Cracker Barrel and Shariโ€™s might lead one to think that Bend is a microcosm of whatโ€™s been happening with restaurants across the country, especially casual dining chains. But as those of us who live here know, Bend is its own macrocosm in so many ways, typically incomparable to […]

Posted inSpecial Issues & Guides

Rookie of the Year: Hawkeye & Huckleberry

Hawkeye & Huckleberry Lounge hit Bend with a splash this year. Its efforts are duly noted.

Maybe itโ€™s like a rocket ship landing in a placid Cascades lake โ€” or perhaps more appropriately, like a clatter of hooves in a mud puddle, but itโ€™s hard to overstate the gusto with which Hawkeye & Huckleberry Lounge splashed down on Bend this year. With a massive bar and dining room โ€” done to […]

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