Three of downtown Bend's most familiar dining rooms went dark in the last twelve months. Drake, 900 Wall, and Shari's near the River Promenade all closed, and the spaces are reopening this summer under new names and new chefs. If you live here, the story of Bend summer 2026 isn't the events calendar. It's that the central dining core is being rewritten in real time, and July is when most of it lands on your plate.
The Downtown Turnover, Address By Address
Four rooms you have walked past a hundred times are now something else. Worth knowing before you make a reservation for out-of-town guests.
| Address | What it was | What it is now |
|---|---|---|
| 801 NW Wall St | Drake | Olive and May |
| Corner of NW Wall & NW Minnesota | 900 Wall | The Hudson |
| 125 NW Oregon Ave | (long-vacant) | Bamboo Sushi |
| 3098 Highway 97 | Shari's Cafe & Pies | Elmer's |
Olive and May took over the Drake building after Drake served its last meal on April 12. The kitchen is northern Mediterranean, with owner Peter Kost, who also co-owns Ken's Artisan Pizza, drawing on Spain, Italy, France, and Greece. The name honors Olive McKay, whose husband Clyde built the 1947 building, and May Arnold, who in 1928 led the Women's Civic League drive to secure the land now called Drake Park. Kost aimed for a Memorial Day weekend opening, dinner only at first, with lunch service planned later this summer.
The Hudson replaces 900 Wall, which closed in May 2024 after seventeen years. Chef George Morris, formerly of Bos Taurus, is running a live-fire chophouse where nearly everything cooks over wood or charcoal. Expect pork, lamb, wild game, and seafood alongside steak, plus an oyster and caviar bar. Morris trained at the Culinary Institute of America and was sous chef at Zak Pelaccio's 5 Ninth in Manhattan before Colorado mountain-town kitchens brought him closer to Bend.
Bamboo Sushi finally opened in March at 125 NW Oregon Avenue after a three-year wait. The menu is entirely gluten-free and safe for diners with celiac disease, with vegetarian options and the sashimi-and-nigiri variety that regulars of the Portland locations already know. The Green Machine roll, tempura green beans with avocado and sweet chili aioli, has traveled well from other cities.
The May And June Additions
Two more rooms opened between spring and now:
- Casa Sur, a father-son Mexican concept from Reyes Nava and his son Alex, took over the former Casa Sur Crave Bend space on SW Century Drive. Reyes spent roughly fifteen years as executive chef at another local Mexican restaurant before this became the family project.
- Mountain View Roadhouse at 594 NE Bellevue Drive occupies the former Phoenix and Kayo's Roadhouse site on the east side. It comes from the Traxler Group, the same operator behind The Gallery Restaurant in Sisters and Chambers Grill in Eugene.
And in the Old Mill District, Stacks Dinner & Delicatessen arrived at 545 SW Powerhouse Drive. Cheri and Steve Helt of Zydeco brought the concept back from years living in New York, and Chef Eric Joppie is cutting the pastrami. Meat and fish are cured and smoked in-house.
Still To Come Before The Snow Flies
If you've been watching signs go up around town, here's what they attach to.
- Haven Bagels is opening a second location at 515 Century Drive between the OSU-Cascades campus and Terava Apartments, targeted for late summer. The Reed South original earned its following on clean, organic ingredients and gluten-free options.
- Way West at The Jackstraw, 310 SW Industrial Way next to the Box Factory, is a partnership between Bend Brewing Co. and Sisters Meat & Smokehouse. Bend Brewing co-owner Packy Deenihan said permits pushed the opening toward early summer. The smokehouse handles sandwiches, deli meat, and cuts. The brewery pours beer, cocktails, and its own food menu.
- Powder Hound Doughnuts, run by husband-and-wife team Matthew and Whitney Elliott, is going into the old Bo's space at 1366 NW Galveston Avenue. Classic donuts and coffee.
- The Hudson's grand opening was still being pinned down at last word from general manager Ken Macias, but the room was already hosting soft events downtown.
That is six new dinner options and a doughnut shop in roughly a six-block radius of Wall Street. For a market where restaurant supply has trailed population growth for years, that is not a slow season.
July Weekend By Weekend
The event calendar is thick this month, and the useful move is knowing which weekends are booked and which are free for a quiet river walk.
July 4 through 11 brings the Deschutes Historical Museum's community LEGO build. Entries have to be original, no kit-based designs, and inspired by historic Deschutes County locations. Kids twelve and under compete in one bracket, everyone else in another. Winners are announced July 11.
July 5 at 7 PM, comedian Zarna Garg brings her Million Dollar Excuses Tour to the Tower Theatre, presented by Bend Comedy Festival.
July 8 through 12 is the Oregon Trail Gravel Grinder, one of the country's better-known gravel cycling events. Registration is closed, but organizers are still taking volunteers if you want to be inside the ropes.
July 11 is the Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show, 9 AM to 4 PM, with more than 1,300 quilts hung on storefronts and lampposts across downtown Sisters. Free shuttle from Sisters High School. Arrive early if you're driving over.
July 18 and 19 the Oregon Lacrosse Classic returns, boys' and girls' teams from across the region playing at Central Oregon fields backed by Adrenaline's tournament operation.
July 24 through 27 is the anchor of the month: Balloons Over Bend. Sunrise launches at Jewell Elementary are free every morning of the festival. The Night Glow at Central Oregon Community College on Friday, July 24, from 5 to 10 PM is the ticketed piece, roughly $12 to $14, with glow-in-the-dark balloons, music, food, and the Balloon Blast Kids Race. Tickets through bendticket.com.
July 29 through August 2 is the Deschutes County Fair & Rodeo in Redmond. Not in Bend proper, but close enough that most locals treat it as home turf.
And running underneath all of it, Munch & Music returns to Drake Park for its 35th season, free live music on Thursday evenings, plus Restaurant Row and a kids zone. Presented by Summit Health, PacificSource, and Source Weekly. This is the July tradition that most transplants adopt in their first summer here and never let go.
The stretch from July 8 through July 27 has something ticketed almost every weekend. If you have guests visiting, aim them at that window. If you're the one who lives here and needs a quiet Saturday, the first weekend of the month and the first weekend of August are the breathing room.
What This Actually Means For A Resident
Two years ago the complaint at any dinner table was that Bend's dining had plateaued: same rooms, same menus, waits pushing an hour by 6:30. What is happening this summer is a full reshuffle of the downtown core, and it is happening while the event calendar is running at full capacity. That combination is unusual. Most cities get one or the other in a given season.
The practical read: if you have not been downtown for dinner in three months, your mental map is out of date. The Drake corner is a different restaurant. The 900 Wall corner is a different restaurant. The gluten-free crowd finally has a downtown sushi option. And by August, you will be able to eat a bagel walking to class at OSU-Cascades, a doughnut on Galveston, and a smoked brisket sandwich at the Box Factory without moving your car.
Worth resetting your standing reservations for.
If you're thinking about what all this activity means for property values on the west side, downtown-adjacent streets, or the corridors around OSU-Cascades and The Jackstraw, that conversation is a good one to have over coffee. Julie Reber has been watching Bend's downtown edge shift for years, and can walk you through what the current momentum means for a home you already own or one you are considering. Schedule a free consultation when you're ready.
