When I asked Lisa LaChapelle to describe Wetlands Taphouse in La Pine to someone who had never been there, here's what she said: "It's the best backyard! A great place to come hang out with other families and friends. The kids can run around. You can bring your dog on a leash. The views are to die for; the other day we saw a herd of elk."
Six months ago LaChapelle, along with several other partners, opened the new taphouse in La Pine in south Deschutes County. Just off the main highway through town, the Wetlands is perched on the edge of, you guessed it, a lush wetlands area in the valley of the Little Deschutes River, so it's really not surprising that an elk herd would be passing through. Other wildlife abounds as does plenty of good food and drink. That was all a part of the original vision for the venue: to bring the beauty of the wetlands, the mountains and the wildlife, along with amazing food, drink, music and ambiance, to all ages.
"It's a great place to chill," LaChapelle said, and people are digging it. "Customers are totally loving it here and it's amazing to see so many returning customers every other day." She also reported that it's getting busier and busier now that the weather is better and they're seeing more tourists and more new faces stopping in. "We have future plans of building a big deck and adding more firepits and more parking," she explained. But in the meantime everyone seems to be having great fun at this family-oriented establishment that La Pine desperately needed, according to LaChapelle, who relocated from Las Vegas a number of years ago.
"La Pine is growing and the people who live here needed a nice place to go out to, so my partners and I bought the place, gutted it and made it beautiful," LaChapelle said. The property's original building was from the 1950s and had been a number of different cafes and restaurants over the years. Now it's home to the kind of place Central Oregon is becoming famous for – taphouses and food trucks. The difference at the Wetlands is the owners of the taphouse also own the food trucks.
Currently there are four food trucks including Cluckin Amazing, Fat Kat BBQ, Fish Lips and LaChapelle's Pizza. "All our food is great," LaChapelle boasted. "The barbecue is all smoked for 16 hours. The brisket is amazing! The fish is very high quality and the fish tacos are the best I've had in a long time. The clam chowder is homemade. We own the food trucks so that we can stay on top of it and make sure it's the best it can be." Other standout food offerings coming out of the Wetlands trucks include: a 1/2 pound all beef loaded hot dog with grilled onions, coleslaw and hobo sauce on a hoagie; brisket short rib sliders (called Wimpy Burgers); a Smokey Reuben with corn beef brisket, kraut, pickle and Thousand Island; and a chicken and waffles sandwich with a house-made pepper jelly syrup. There are also chicken fingers, wings, salads and a nice variety of pizzas.
Of course, being a taphouse means the beer selection is solid, including IPAs, lagers, ales, porters, stouts, ciders and more. And if beer isn't your thing, there's also wine, coffees and specialty cocktails such as the Wild Coyote Old Fashioned, the Mosquito Mojito, the Busy Beaver Long Island and my favorite, the Mallard Margarita with Cointreau, an agave salted rim and lime.
The fun doesn't end with views and plenty of food and drink, however. Live music and other events are a staple at the Wetlands including Thursday night karaoke. Be on the lookout, too, as La Chapelle says other events are in the works as the taphouse looks forward to bringing even more to the La Pine community.
