Olive and May
The Drake in downtown Bend is no longer. New owners are currently remodeling the space and plan to reopen it later this spring under the name, Olive and May. One of the owners, Peter Kost, who also is one of the owners of Ken’s Artisan Pizza, told the Source the food will be northern Mediterranean with influences from Spain, Italy, France and Greece. The restaurant is named after two women in Bend’s history. Olive McKay arrived around 1900 with her husband, Clyde McKay, and were influential in the city’s early development. Kost says Clyde built the existing building in 1947. “The McKays had their business offices located in the building for quite a while. We are working on gathering a full history of tenants,” he says.
May Arnold led the Women’s Civic League back in 1928 and was responsible for gathering 1,500 signatures to put a $21,000 bond on the ballot to finance the city’s purchase of land along the Deschutes River for what was then called City Park, now known as Drake Park, thereby preventing it from becoming a housing development. “There were only 5,700 residents here at that time so quite a feat,” Kost says. “It passed, of course, but she was never recognized for her work in the preservation and official establishment of our beautiful Drake Park.”
Kost says the goal is to have Olive and May open by Memorial Day weekend. At first, the restaurant will only be open for dinner, but plans to expand to lunch this summer.
Casa Sur
Crave Bend closed on SW Century Drive. In its place is Casa Sur, a new Mexican restaurant that’s expected to open in early May. A father-son team is behind the venture. Reyes Nava has spent more than 20 years in the kitchen, including about 15 years as executive chef at another local Mexican restaurant. His son, Alex Nava, has been working in the medical field, primarily in hospital labs in Bend and Portland.
“Growing up around restaurants and seeing my dad’s passion for food always stayed with me, so we decided to take the leap and build something of our own together,” Alex told the Source. “For years we talked about creating something that truly reflects our family, our roots, and our style of cooking. Casa Sur is that vision finally coming to life.”
Casa Sur will specialize in southern Mexican food, drawing inspiration from regions like Guerrero, where the Nava family is from. Alex describes it as bold, deeply flavorful dishes like moles, slow-cooked meats and fresh salsas. They’re currently hiring for lead bartender and front of the house.
Olive & May
Tentatively opening Memorial Day weekend
801 NW Wall St, Bend
Casa Sur
Opening early May
335 SW Century Dr, Bend
casasurbend.com/
instagram.com/casasurbend/
This article appears in the Source April 16, 2026.
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