Have you had fried rice before? Oh, you have? NO! NO! You are wrong! You have never had fried rice until you’ve eaten Pono Farm’s Fried Rice. Heck, you haven’t even lived until you have had their insanely addictive, bacon-fat-and-meat-flurried-fluffy-rice-and-what-is-that? A-shred-of-carrot? Oh-this-is-healthy! …fried-rice dish. Pono Farm & Fine Meats is a magical place where cows […]
Pacific Northwest
Best Microcosm of Bend
Let’s say you have some friends coming through town and they only have an hour to spend before they head out. How do you show your friends the essence of Bend in 60 short minutes? Do you take them downtown? To the east side? Out to the lakes or some super sweet mountain biking trail? […]
Best Seasonal Beer
One beer is a good start and a pair is even better — but everyone knows that three of a kind is the way to go. Deschutes Brewery is holding that winning hand with its seasonal offerings: Red Chair NWPA, Jubelale and Twilight Summer Ale. Packing a variety of malts with a small punch of […]
What Does Central Oregon Do Best?
It’s hard to open a travel, lifestyle, or outdoor magazine lately without seeing Bend on a “Best” list. This year alone, the accolades for Bend include USA Today’s list of the nation’s top 10 ski towns, Men’s Health’s suggestions for “6 Unforgettable Adventure Vacations to Take in 2016,” Travel + Leisure’s roundup of “Best Winter […]
Little Bites: Taj Palace Specializes in Fresh South Indian Cuisine
Americans tend to think of Indian food as a single, monolithic cuisine consisting of basmati rice, assorted curries, and tandoori chicken. In reality, Indian food is as diverse as the country itself, where 1.2 billion citizens speak more than 300 languages, and each of the nation’s more than two dozen states features at least a […]
Best Worst Answers
We asked you to tell us about your favorite restaurant, the best of shopping and the number ones in service. Most of you answered in a way that actually made sense, and for that, some of our great local businesses came out victorious. Then again, some answers left us scratching our heads, laughing out loud […]
Best Way to Ruin Your Workout
Imagine you just finished the best workout of your life. Maybe you broke a personal record; maybe it was your best friend’s record. Doesn’t matter. What matters is that you are past the point of caring about fitness goals and are ready to indulge in everything your personal trainer would shun you for wanting. Then […]
Side Notes 8/10-8/17
Legal Pot Increases Home Prices? Since June of 2015, home prices in Bend-Redmond have increased 10.4 percent, tracking closely the 10.9 percent increase in home prices in Oregon over the past year. In fact, the Beaver State topped the list of states with the biggest increases in home prices, followed by Washington at 10.3 percent, […]
A Vessel Worthy of the Craft
For the past 10 years or so, the watchword for Central Oregon beer has been “expansion.” It’s a trend that continues apace, although it’s perhaps not so noticeable at the moment because not as many new breweries are opening. But our existing breweries are expanding like there’s no tomorrow. So it goes, as well, for […]
Best Vegetarian
Most menus in Bend provide ample options for vegetarians on the hunt for a meatless meal – so in that way, the best vegetarian category has some meaty competition. Still, it’s Laughing Planet that came out, well, laughing. Their well-designed menu makes it easy to decipher which plates are veg-friendly. Meat is by no means […]

