Visiting Bend OR. Tips?

Discussion in 'Northwest' started by Juanlopez03, Feb 5, 2015.

Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.
  1. Juanlopez03

    Juanlopez03 Zealot (600) May 11, 2013 Nevada
    Trader

    Going to be in Bend Friday and part of Saturday. Any recommendations on bottle shops and places to eat with a good craft selection? Wll have my wife and kid (2yr old) with me so hopefully some place to eat somewhat family friendly if possible. Thanks.
     
  2. sharpski

    sharpski Grand Pooh-Bah (3,100) Oct 11, 2010 Oregon
    BA4LYFE Society Pooh-Bah Trader

  3. guajolote

    guajolote Maven (1,359) Sep 12, 2008 Oregon

    I'm not a Bend expert by any stretch, but Jackson's Corner is a good option. Lots of bottles and 6-8 good draft choices if I recall correctly. Plus, it's about 2 minutes from Boneyard, although that might not be an option with the kid in tow.

    Also, if you're a breakfast / bloody mary fan, hit Chow for brunch on Saturday. They probably have beer too, but I didn't look when I was there last. Kid friendly, great food & outstanding bloodies.
     
    sharpski likes this.
  4. distantmantra

    distantmantra Pooh-Bah (2,954) May 23, 2011 Washington
    Pooh-Bah Trader

    Jackson's Corner and Riverside Market are both great options with kids. Boneyard isn't kid friendly, but it's not like you'd be in there for more than five minutes.
     
    sharpski likes this.
  5. John_M

    John_M Grand High Pooh-Bah (6,849) Oct 25, 2003 Washington
    Mod Team Society Pooh-Bah Trader

    I'm always puzzled by folks who insist that they have to visit the Boneyard tasting room. At most they'll have one or two options you can't find readily around town, and there's nothing particularly impressive about the tasting room otherwise. It's a great place to pick up growlers of Boneyard beer, which seems to be what most folks living in Bend stop by for.
     
  6. distantmantra

    distantmantra Pooh-Bah (2,954) May 23, 2011 Washington
    Pooh-Bah Trader

    I stop in for cheap fills and have a taste, but I'm literally there for less than five minutes.
     
  7. TheeWalrusHunter

    TheeWalrusHunter Initiate (0) Aug 23, 2013 Oregon

    I am not a Bend expert, but I have a few standbys I like to go to. I second the Chow recommendation for breakfast. Great spot, great food, but ive gotten spotty service there a few times. I would also recommend Spork. Small but nice tap list. Food is awesome. Also, if you are into very good coffee: Lone Pine Coffee Roasters is a must stop.

    As for bottle shops and tap lists, I may or may not recommend Crows Feet Commons. I am still undecided on how I feel about them.
     
  8. maltmaster420

    maltmaster420 Initiate (0) Aug 17, 2005 Oregon

    Oh hell yes. That place was one of the highlights of our recent trip.
     
  9. John_M

    John_M Grand High Pooh-Bah (6,849) Oct 25, 2003 Washington
    Mod Team Society Pooh-Bah Trader

    Yeah, I don't want to say I never go there, but it's always a low priority on my list of places to visit in Bend. Even if I want a growler fill of something, typically growler guys East will have it for the roughly the same price or a bit less.

    Here in Eugene, 16 tons runs a special on RPM every Monday. Growler fills are $8, and you can get a pint for $2. It's deals like that, that have gone a long way towards quenching any interest I once had in visiting the tasting room up in Bend.
     
  10. distantmantra

    distantmantra Pooh-Bah (2,954) May 23, 2011 Washington
    Pooh-Bah Trader

    I also spend a great deal of time helping out at Crux when I'm in Bend, so a quick walk over to Boneyard is always nice.
     
  11. JohnGalt1

    JohnGalt1 Grand Pooh-Bah (3,880) Aug 10, 2005 Idaho
    Pooh-Bah Trader

    Aestro, jpbebeau and TheeWalrusHunter like this.
  12. BBThunderbolt

    BBThunderbolt Grand High Pooh-Bah (7,846) Sep 24, 2007 Kiribati
    Pooh-Bah Trader

    sharpski likes this.
  13. maltmaster420

    maltmaster420 Initiate (0) Aug 17, 2005 Oregon

    They have a neat "Culture of Beer" exhibit running right now. Education-wise, it's probably nothing that most BA's don't already know, but it's kind of cool to see the various pieces of equipment, cans, and bottles that were donated by Oregon breweries.

    Your 2 year old may be a bit young to appreciate it, but they have a reptile "show and tell" thing at 11am (I think) every morning where they bring out various tortoises and lizards that you can touch. Oh yeah, they also have a tame porcupine that they bring out for a show and tell session as well. Watching the guy actually pet the thing without getting stuck full of quills kind of blew my mind.
     
    sharpski and BBThunderbolt like this.
  14. BBThunderbolt

    BBThunderbolt Grand High Pooh-Bah (7,846) Sep 24, 2007 Kiribati
    Pooh-Bah Trader

    Don't know if it happens this time of year, but they also had a raptor presentation with the birds flying right over the heads of the audience.
     
  15. PDX_dennis

    PDX_dennis Initiate (0) Dec 28, 2012 Oregon

    I think for a first-time visitor to Bend, it's definitely worth checking out the Boneyard tasting room. If anything, just to see where the "magic happens". Probably not worth multiple repeated visits, but every beer traveler should make the pilgrimage at least once.
     
    NWer and sharpski like this.
  16. John_M

    John_M Grand High Pooh-Bah (6,849) Oct 25, 2003 Washington
    Mod Team Society Pooh-Bah Trader

    I don't know. Just speaking for myself, much as I love their beers (and I REALLY love their beers), stopping by the tasting room the first time was pretty much a "is this all there is" moment for me. The small tasting room is kind of cool and rustic, but the beer aspect was a let down I thought. I was hoping that they might have something on tap that you couldn't find very readily in Bend, PDX or Eugene, but there wasn't anything out of the ordinary there.

    Shrug. If you have plenty of time, then hell yes, I'd recommend that a first time visitor stop on by. Especially, as Distantmantra pointed out, you probably aren't going to be there more than 5 or 10 minutes. However, if someone only had time to visit a couple of different places, the tasting room would be one of the first places I would cross off the list.
     
    sharpski and TheBungyo like this.
  17. kscaldef

    kscaldef Initiate (0) Jun 11, 2010 Oregon

    That's sort of luck of the draw. Some days you might be "unlucky" and it's only RPM and Hop Venom. But they also rotate through lots of small-run stuff. Plus, at this point it appears to be the only place where you can get a growler fill of Notorious any more.
     
  18. maltmaster420

    maltmaster420 Initiate (0) Aug 17, 2005 Oregon

    ...and if you're lucky they'll go in back and pull a sample of Suge Knight from the tanks so you can try that too.
     
    sharpski likes this.
  19. G_Z_a

    G_Z_a Zealot (635) Feb 2, 2015 Oregon

    Tried Sunriver Brewing's Vicious Mosquito for the 1st time recently on tap in Portland. Was really impressed. Maybe the best IPA I've tried in a while. Very Pliny like. Keep an eye out for that wherever you end up or go straight to the source like the Bend page suggests.
     
  20. dirtylou

    dirtylou Grand Pooh-Bah (3,352) May 12, 2005 Oklahoma
    Pooh-Bah Trader

    I'll 3rd the Spork call - that place was dope. Had a RPM too
     
Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.