Restaurant Guide 2017

The Source StaffApril 12, 2017July 26, 2025

Lucky for all of us, eating is a pleasure the majority of us get to enjoy at least three times a day. And with so many glorious restaurants to choose from in our area, all the better!

Think of this as your guide for where to go when you’re craving a night on the town—or even just a night free from the confines of your kitchen. The pages ahead are intended to help you get a grasp of abundant options—and a little teaser of what to expect—from the restaurants serving dinner in Central Oregon. (Some of them serve breakfast and/or lunch, too, but in case you’re wondering, we’ve reserved a full roundup of breakfast and lunch guide items for… wait for it… our Breakfast and Lunch Guide, out each fall!)

In addition to dinner spots in Bend, La Pine, Redmond, Sisters, Sunriver, Terrebonne, Tumalo and beyond, we’re bringing you our annual pick for Restaurant of the Year, Rookie of the Year and Food Cart of the Year—our choices for the places truly standing out in 2017.

For the Restaurant of the Year, we chose Ariana for its abiding attention
to a quality experience, and a love of family. For Rookie of the Year, we chose Washington, well, because we can’t stop dreaming about that popcorn they serve you while you’re waiting, the fun cocktails and the double cheeseburger we recently devoured in record time at the bar. And that doesn’t even cover some of their more adventurous dishes. As for Food Cart of the Year, our culinary editorial board chose The Brown Owl, first and foremost for its crave-worthy sandos, but also for the one-two punch of a rad bar adjacent to the cart.

Yet, those locations, of course, are only the beginning when it comes to dinner in the C.O. Read further to get some tips on the “Go-Tos” for situations such as ladies night or a first date. And don’t miss our rundown of the food trends to watch this year. All we’re gonna say about that is, Mermaid freaking Toast.

Buen provecho!