The Top 3 Restaurants We Always Visit in Bend, Oregon

We are big fans of Bend, Oregon. I’ve been visiting Bend and Sunriver since I was a kid — I remember taking my American Girl doll I got for Christmas when I was probably… 7? — and it’s a tradition I’ve continued with my kids. Both my kids have lots of memories of Bend: Forrest’s first trip was in February 2016, Violet’s was July 2023. I can measure their ages and growth in Bend and Sunriver visits.

For a few years, Bend was our stop on the way to Idaho: we had a handful of favorite hotels, restaurants. My parents own a house in Sunriver now and since 2023, we’ve created a fairly strong tradition of things we love to do, have to do, and look forward to.

Some of those (ok, a lot of those) are restaurants. After a successful Labor Day weekend in Bend, I wanted to share our top 3 restaurants. These are the ones my kids ask about — “are we going to…” as we drive over Willamette Pass — and are considered must visits even on the shortest trips.

1. Casa Sur

The quesa birria tacos — huge, delicious, filling.

Casa Sur is a restaurant that serves food from Southern Mexico. And when I tell you it’s good, it’s good. It’s so good, in fact, that Danny and I both consider it the best Mexican food we’ve ever had. It’s a relatively nondescript building on the west side of Bend — sort of between the Old Mill and downtown — and is easy to mistake for a bank. However, don’t let the experience fool you. It’s a fantastic restaurant. The inside is modern and sleek, but still cozy: think dark colors with light wood accents, neon signs, cactuses, flags. The porch to sit outside is beautiful and features a fireplace for colder months.

We’ve tried a variety of things on the menu; the Mexican Street Corn bowl is a total standout, alongside the quesa birria tacos (pictured). Our kids love the cheesy fries and chicken nuggets, but honestly the thing they eat the most of is the chips and refried beans that are brought once you’re seated. (I’m a sucker for their salsa too — it is smoky, spicy, and so so good. It’s not just straight tomato with some cilantro, it’s so dimensional and delicious.)

Service is fantastic and every employee we’ve encountered has been fantastic. They’re attentive without hovering, quick with refills, and love to make recommendations. This is a great spot for a casual lunch after a busy morning at High Dessert Museum, before stopping at the candy store at Old Mill.

2. Old St. Francis School McMenamins

We love McMenamins — I know this is perhaps a controversial statement in some parts of Oregon. But I love them. And I especially Old St. Francis School — it was the first Catholic School in Central Oregon and still has many of the hallmarks of an old Catholic school. Think stained glass windows, heavy pew-like booths, old fashioned wood carvings… it’s beautiful inside. I love it.

The menu is the same as basically every McMenamins: a ton of local beers, plus burgers, a few salads, breakfast… the usual suspects. My son especially loves it here; he always orders the kids sliders with the fries well done and extra Mystic 88 sauce. My husband and I try to get something different every time, but it really does always taste delicious. This place is an old faithful for dinner. However, I did carry my toddler out of here like a surfboard the last time I was there — so if any employees of Old St. Francis School see this, I’m sorry.

3. Big O Bagels

This is a new-to-us, but not to Bend, situation. My husband and I are on a hunt to find good bagel places near us. In Eugene and surrounding areas, it’s really hard to find (my favorite bagel place shut down — RIP to the downtown Bagel Sphere). However, Bend has tons of bagel shops and we’re slowly working our way through them.

Big O Bagels is on South 97, near the Walmart, which we always stop at for groceries in Bend. So it’s a really convenient side quest to run to Big O, grab some bagels for breakfast, and carry on with our day. I had the BLT bagel (on a sourdough bagel) — incredible. Forrest and Violet split a chocolate chip bagel with strawberry cream cheese. These bagels were 10/10 — chewy, flavorful, and perfect for a sandwich before heading out on a hike or to visit downtown.

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I’m so obsessed with these 3 places — but I told Danny, we have to try some place new next time!

A few honorable mentions:

• Dandy’s Drive In: This old fashioned style drive thru is so fun for kids (and Forrest loves their corn dogs). The prices are a little high and we found it a little slow, but it’s super fun, great for if you’re craving a milkshake and burger.

• Bangers & Brews: Not my favorite place to eat, but it is my husband’s and he would be offended if I did’t include it. I do like the bangers and mash; Danny loves trying a new variety of hot dog or sausage. They also have reindeer dogs, which I do want to try.

• Village Bar & Grill: This is a Sunriver staple for us. It is a little expensive, but it has my favorite sandwich of all time on the menu: the chicken caprese sandwich. It’s so dang good. My kids also love eating here — Forrest loves the root beer and Violet always gets the kids sliders.

Here's What I Learned from An Autumn Road Trip (with a Toddler)

I am not a traveller.

I know, I know. It seems like everyone these days talks non stop about traveling. Everyone wants to travel and see the world. And in some ways, I definitely want to see the world. But I don’t like traveling.

I don’t like driving for long periods of time. I don’t like airplanes. I don’t like the stressed, naked feeling of being transitional between two places (home and destination). I don’t like the anxiety it gives me. And now that I have a small human I’m responsible for, I absolutely do not like having to pack up everything I can think of for him (including but not limited to: blankets, toys, any medication he might need, extra food, juice, cups he can use, forks he can use, emergency meals, and milk). The amount he needs has consistently gone down since he was a baby (no more giant container of formula, bottles, bottle wash, sanitizer bags, Pack’n’Play, and more), but it’s still a lot.

And doing it by myself? Excuse me, no thanks.

Well, I did just that on Friday. Danny had gone over to Central Oregon (Sunriver, to be exact) for a teaching conference in Bend. My parents have a cabin in Sunriver, so we had decided it would be a family vacation. But with Forrest in school now, I didn’t want him to miss a day so we planned to go over once he got done with school.

As the days lead up to Friday, I started to seriously panic. Taking a three-hour plus road trip by myself with a toddler? Packing up the whole car on my own? I was nervous. Danny told me he would be fine if I decided not to do it, but I knew he really wanted me to. And of course, Forrest was excited at the prospect of a vacation. Nothing makes him nervous.

As I wrote on Instagram, I didn’t want my anxiety to make Forrest miss out. Yes, it would have been better for me personally to stay at home for the weekend. But Forrest would have missed out on some potential fun and that prospect made me sad.

So I did it. On Friday afternoon, I packed up the car, got Forrest a Happy Meal (no judgement), and drove 3 hours with a potty trained toddler. Here’s everything I learned.

1. It’s probably going to all be fine.

Probably. My biggest worry was that, while going over the pass, Forrest would need to use the bathroom. Since he’s relatively newly potty trained (it’s been about 3 or 4 months), when he has to go, he usually has to go immediately. This is fairly normal for preschool age kids. However, while driving across a mountain pass, the last thing I wanted to do I was pull over and break out the little potty we keep in the car. However, my anxiety was for nothing: we stopped at a rest area before the pass and he was fine all the way until we got to the cabin.

So yeah, the thing you worry about? It’s probably going to be fine. (Please remember to tell me this next time I go on a real vacation aka go flying.)

2. It’s ok to do things you normally wouldn’t (or that you would).

I had all these plans for things Fo and I would do. Museums. Outdoor parks. Everything. I wanted him to have as much fun as possible while we were on our own mini-trip, especially as Danny was still in a conference on Saturday. However, we ended up going for a nice long walk to get coffee and a treat, then went shopping and spent time relaxing in the cabin. I felt bad that we hadn’t done any of the exciting stuff I had planned, but we did have a nice lunch out together (my first time taking him to a real restaurant on my own) and he really has fun no matter what.

3. The weather won’t cooperate, but that’s fine.

Part of the reason we didn’t do all the fun stuff I had planned? It was raining! I think of Central Oregon as very cold and relatively dry. But it had been raining at home and that rain followed us on vacation. So, the museum I wanted to go to? Mostly outdoors. The walking trails? Off limits thanks to the puddles and downpour. We made it for our walk in the morning, but that was about it. We had fun jumping in puddles outside the cabin, then retreating inside to warm up and go pick up Danny from the conference. The weather wasn’t really what I had planned on, but that’s Autumn for you, really!

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This is a much more personal post than I usually post for Blogtober, but I thought I’d try something different! I had so much fun over the weekend (even when Forrest pretended to have a stomach ache to get us to leave dinner!) and I tried something outside of my routine—and it was all fine! What’s something you are challenging yourself to try this Fall?