Cinco de Mayo is an odd holiday for gringos to celebrate. It would be a bit like Mexicans celebrating Gettysburg.
In 1862, a very young General Ignacio Zaragoza Seguín scored an unlikely defeat of the French troops at the Battle of Puebla, and helped turned back Napoleon III's forces (which, really, what were they doing in Mexico anyway; looking for vacation homes?).
While there may be some parallels between Corona and Hallmark creating holidays for the sake of commerce, put away that cynicism for the day and raise an earnest tequila to General Seguín.
Festivals and Music
Saturday 4
Kinko de Mayo
The return of Kinko de Mayo for the snowboarding crowd, ride some rails and enjoy the sunshine. 12 pm. Mt Bachelor, 13000 Century Dr.
Cinco de Mayo Celebración
Traditional Mexican food, dancing, folklore and music from DJ Luna. Proceeds go to a scholarship fund for Latino students. 6-11 pm. COCC Campus Center, 2600 NW College Way. $10 suggested donation.
Sunday 5
¡Chiringa! at Silver Moon
One of the only Latin flavor bands in Bend, ¡Chiringa! will be accompanied by Bachata dance instructor Andres Garcia. Lesson at 7:15 pm. Silver Moon Brewing, 24 NW Greenwood Ave. $5.
Hideaway
Moon Mountain Ramblers and margarita specials. 6 pm. Hideaway, 939 SE 2nd St. Free.
Restaurants
Amanda's
Discounted margaritas and food specials TBA. 744 NW Bond St.
El Caporel
Cinco de Mayo party weekend (Fri. 3, Sat. 4 and Sun. 5) will include the introduction of a variety of new margaritas that will stay on the menu year-round. Happy hour lasts all day long with piñata breaking (weather permitting) at 1 pm, 3 pm and 5pm on Sunday, and fake mustache giveaways. Eastside: 570 NE Twin Knolls Dr., Ste. #108. Tumalo: 64637 Cook Ave. Sunriver: 57100 Beaver Dr. Ste. 110.
El Burrito
Happy hour all day long, everything is $1 off. 335 NE Dekalb Ave.
El Ranchero
$5 margaritas and a taco bar in the cantina. 150 Bend River Mall Dr., Ste. #260.
El Rancho Grande
Food specials TBA, discounted drinks and margarita Jell-O shots. 63455 N Hwy 97, Ste. #23.
El Rodeo
Margarita and beer specials plus taco bar! El Rodeo, 785 SE 3rd St.
Hola!
Music from DJs, live bands, dancing and drink specials all weekend.
Eastside: 2670 NE Hwy. 20
Old Mill: 680 SW Powerhouse Dr., Ste. 1002
Downtown: 920 NW Bond St.
La Rosa
Both locations will offer a specialty menu and drinks. At the newly opened Brookswood location, the mezzanine level will be open with live music by Crescent Jazz at 5 pm. At NorthWest Crossing, the patio will be the ideal perch to sip a margarita with music from Buck 'n the Diggs starting at noon. 12 pm-close. NorthWest Crossing: 2763 NorthWest Crossing Dr. Brookswood: 19570 Amber Meadow Dr.
Michelada, How To
For such a simple—and wonderful—concept, the michelada doesn't have one agreed-upon recipe. A Baja, Mexico, staple, the two primary ingredients are tomato juice and beer. But that's like saying that a car is made up of wheels and an engine. Variations to the refreshing summertime drink include lining the rim with salt and chiles, dashing in hot sauce or soy sauce, sprites of lime and splashes of fish juice.
Highbrow
900 Wall, 900 Wall St.
Pouring tomato juice into beer shouldn't be dealt with lightly. This sort of drink needs a finesse, pizzaz, and...Clamato. The combination of clam broth, tomato puree and beer is a sturdy, meal-in-a-glass base for 900 Wall's original touches, including straight lime juice and Maggi, a super-salty extra-strength soy sauce sort of condiment. Swirl in some spicy chilis, salt that rim and, bam!—that's some kinda tang for $5. (EFM)
900 Wall's recipe:
Beer (Negro Modelo or Tecate for $1.50 extra)
Lime Juice
Rocoto Chili Puree
Clamato
Maggi
Rim the glass in chunky salt and crushed chilis
Serve on the rocks
Garnish with lime wedge
Lowbrow
Riverside Market & Pub, 285 NW Riverside Ave.
Look, there's no need to overcomplicate this. Yellow fizzy beer and something redd-ish for "nourishment." Chris Neal, Riverside's bartender/cook/shopkeeper, is a michelada master. His recipe requires zero fancy pants ingredients or yuppie kitchen implements. It is refreshingly straightforward. It also makes for a $3 beverage that tastes like an easy sunshiny afternoon on a Pacific beach south of the border. (JW)
Chris Neal's recipe:
muddle lime and lemon in pint glass (with a plastic straw)
Coors Light (fill glass 3/4 full)
bloody mary mix
generous dashes of Tabasco (or whatever's handy)
salt and pepper
top off with more Coors Light