Bend’s pub scene is growing
August 14th, 2009Here in Bend, as in Oregon generally, we love our beer—so much so that local news ran a story yesterday about five new pubs opening (or planning to open) here recently. I’m not sure I would classify all five of these as beer-news-worthy, but let’s run them down:
- The Abbey Pub. I covered this on my blog on Bend, pre-opening, and it’s a straight-up beer bar, with about ten good craft beers on tap and plans on stocking an extensive bottle inventory. I know the owner, and the beer is definitely his focus. We had lunch there today (just over a week after it opened), and the food is good too (though a limited menu).
- Brother John’s Public House. Less of a “beer bar” and more of a family-friendly pub, from what I gather, but they do focus on craft beers as well. Here’s an early review; the food sounds great.
- Fox’s Billiard Lounge. One of those “pubs” I’d take issue with being included in the article—it’s a pool hall, really—but they do offer cheap prices on beer and food ($2.75 for beer, $5 for all food on their menu). I have no idea what beers they’re serving, though.
- Bend Draft House. Actually not on Bend’s “east side” as the article reports, but on the far north end of town. Also less of a “pub” and more of an “internet café and bar”—the owner’s words, not mine, who also owned the previous business in the same space (which went bankrupt), “Dinner’s Ready”—one of those pre-prepare your own dinners to take home and put in freezer places. Apparently they just opened today and I can’t tell you a thing about it. Presumably they have some craft beers on tap—you can’t find a place in Bend that doesn’t at least offer Mirror Pond Pale Ale—but who knows?
- 10 Barrel Brewing expansion. Yes, one of the area’s newer microbrewers is planning on opening a brewpub on Bend’s west side. As in, brew and serve on-premise along with food. Currently, the only have a production brewery on Bend’s north side, and distribute kegs throughout the area (with JC’s Bar & Grill downtown being the main outlet for them since the owners of JC’s are also the 10 Barrel owners).
Five pubs of various sorts that are opening; I’ll leave it to the reader to decide which is the most newsworthy. And, this is all sort of tangentially-but-not-directly related to my prediction about Oregon brewery growth; the only brewery involved is 10 Barrel, but they are growing. Perhaps I should have cast my prediction net wider, saying “Oregon beer growth” instead?
2 responses to “Bend’s pub scene is growing”
Bend is really growing more and more as a hub for beer. When I moved here I honestly wasnt a fan of any kind of beer, but being immersed in this area has made me grow into a definate lover of everything micro-brew. Will they all survive opening at the same time? Maybe, there is definately a growing niche market for microbrew on draft, most bars around here only supply a few locals, and then the macro brands. It’s nice to see a few business that see an opportunity, and I cant wait to try them.
@ September 1st, 2009 at 20:10My wife and I went to the Bend Draft House tonight; very, very impressed. Solid beer selection (nothing super rare, or remarkable, but 15 or so quality handles which they mention rotate monthly), good atmosphere, friendly, extremely reasonably, and truly a nice place to enjoy an evening. Food was good, particularly when a chicken/bacon wrap + chips is $5, service was prompt and friendly, and they have 4 HD tvs to accommodate the sports fan. They even support an MLB package, which pleased this Giants fan a great deal. Overall, we walked away very pleased and will certainly go back again, if not regularly. Highly recommended.
@ September 2nd, 2009 at 20:19