Like a Happy Hour Time Machine

Settling into a curvy, off-turquoise chair in the windowless lounge of Roszak’s Fish House in Midtown, a thought occurred to me: When people reminisce about the good ol’ days of Bend, before it became one of the fastest-growing cities in the U.S., this, right here, is what they’re talking about.

Roszak’s opened in 1981, making it among the OG spots of Bend—and clearly, there’s still a market for it. We grabbed the only table available on that Saturday night—though it’s not really hard to see why the place was full, since, unlike other spots, Roszak’s offers happy hour even during the most popular times for going out. (Granted, the restaurant portion was a ghost town.)

From the ample happy hour food menu, we opted for an all-fish selection (it’s a fish house, after all) including clam chowder, cod fish and chips, cod fish tacos and fried shrimp with fries—each food item around $7. It’s fairly standard fried-fish pub fare, served with the art of folksy friendliness that some of the newer Bend spots might have yet to hone. The beer taps lean toward the macro, with two 10 Barrel selections taking up the “craft” side. I ordered whiskey, served with “homemade” ginger. Just one, though.