Catch Up with Buck Bales at D&D Bar & Grill

Buck Bales has been bartending at D&D since 2010. Credit: Savannah Mendoza

Buck Bales at D&D Bar & Grill was voted Best Bartender in the Source Weekly’s Best of Central Oregon readers’ poll in 2024. Bales, who has been at D&D since 2010, has worked in several local spots over the years, including Cascade West and JC’s, to name a few. The Source Weekly caught up with Bales to talk all things cocktails.

Source Weekly: You’ve clearly been bartending in Bend for a while now. How do you feel about the growth in the industry?

Buck Bales: I think it’s great. More places have come along and introduced more craft cocktails and, kind of, inspired bartenders in town to expand their repertoire and get interesting with some of the drinks that they like to make. You know, get a little more experimental.

SW: What are some popular drinks right now?

BB: It’s kind of all over the board. We do a pretty good job with our old-fashioneds and our margaritas. We have a pretty decent whiskey selection and a pretty decent tequila section. We’ve expanded and gotten a few mezcals. A mezcal old-fashioned has actually gotten to be kind of popular lately.

For people that don’t like a real heavy mezcal taste, I’ll do a wash of mezcal in the glass then make a margarita in that, just to get some of that mezcal flavor — the smokiness — to go along when you don’t want a whole mouthful of it… I’ve kind of seen a lot of people getting away from these super sweet drinks that were really popular, like, in the late ’90s, early 2000s.

SW: If you’re not at D&D, where are you going on a night out for drinks?

BB: I do enjoy going to the M&J because of their tequila selection. I think they’ve got around 200 different tequilas. If me and my wife want to go out someplace, we’ll go someplace a little bit nicer. If we’re going to go out for dinner too, we’ll go to Zydeco. They have some interesting cocktails that I like there, like habanero margaritas. They’ve got a good selection of craft cocktails, so does 900 Wall. If you’re looking for something to level up a little bit, those are two places I really enjoy.

SW: What’s your favorite thing about bartending?

BB: Working with people. I’ve always been in the customer service business; I taught snowboarding and did all that kind of stuff. So, face time with people is always a beneficial thing for me. For the most part, people are awesome.

D&D Bar & Grill
927 NW Bond St., Bend

This article appears in The Source Weekly January 30, 2025.