Food was really great! I never write reviews but felt inclined. The burger was phenomenal as well as the Caesar salad. Would definitely go back! read more

Great little casual but upscale downtown dinner stop in Bend. Carrot hummus appetizer was fresh and healthy tasting with just the right amount of sweetness. My wife had the mac and cheese which was rich, perfectly cooked and very filling. I had the fish special which was a thick Columbia River salmon cooked medium-rare in red curry broth with arugula, sweet corn, green beans and saffron. It was divine. They also have a nicely stocked bar with local draft beers and a cocktail menu. I opted for a kombucha drink which was a nice option to have available. Tables were limited but the chef's bar was open seating so be prepared to sit there without a reservation. Would go back and highly recommend! read more

Drake Downtown Bend - Great Columbia River salmon dish. 6/30/17 - New American Near Me - Bend, Oregon

What a great experience! Our waitress was wonderful, the Fried Chicken was delicious, and our drinks were always full. Thank you for another terrific time! read more

Interested in the menu, we stopped by here for an early dinner. I had the fried chicken and my fella had the fish & chips, we shared the bacon wrapped dates and grilled street corn. The bacon wrapped dates were good, the bacon was delicious. The street corn was ok, the sauce on it was amazing! The fish was ok, the fries were ok. I was sorely dissapointed with the chicken dinner. The breading on the chicken was literally cooked perfectly but there was no flavor! It looked like the corn had just been dumped out of a can on top of the meal. The mashed potatos had very little flavor as well. It's basically an expensive KFC famous bowl but w less flavor. Our server was very friendly and the cocktails were good. Unfortunately will not be returning... Just not worth the price for very little flavor. read more

I went to lunch here with some girlfriends. Service was okay, kale salad was tiny! It was supposed to come with quinoa and crispy sweet potatoes. The quinoa was seriously hard to find, sprinkled on and no lie I got one, one tiny piece of a sweet potato. When I said something to the waiter he just said okay, offered no real explanation. I was surprised because the owners also own Washington another restaurant here in Bend and the kale salad there is quite large. Needless to say I left still hungry and that will be the last time I eat there after spending $11 on a minuscule salad and okay service. I really wish now that I had taken a photo of the pathetic salad. read more

Things that were really yummy: Heirloom Tomato Toast, Drake Mac, and the Buttermilk Biscuit. The collard greens were AMAZING! We were disappointed in the prawn appetizer-the corn salad underneath was good, but the prawns were so overcooked they were chewy. The fried chicken was also way overcooked-the crust was on the verge of tasting burnt, and the double crusted chicken was mostly just breading. Enjoyed the Ricotta Donuts-and it was a good sized portion. The atmosphere was fun, but the mixed drinks didn't wow us-the tasted good but pretty weak in the alcohol department. read more

My husband and I are new to Bend so pretty much eating our way through town. The DRAKE is delicious- we both shared the Burrata appetizer and each got a burger. One of the best burgers I've ever had! And pretty reasonable for a nice dinner for two - our bill was under 50$ and we had leftovers. Great service as well! Loved the cozy atmosphere. read more

Googled downtown dining. Stumbled on this wonderful place! Great food! Great cocktails, great service. Took wonderful care of our dog with the cold water when we sat down. The butchers plate was delicious. The hamburger was wonderful, soup was excellent. We are visiting from out of town. If we lived here this would be a go to spot for dinner. read more

We went during happy hour. Ordered a variety that included the mac n cheese, fried pickles, carrot hummus & rockfish tacos. read more

Drake Downtown Bend - We went during happy hour. Ordered a variety that included the mac n cheese, fried pickles, carrot hummus & rockfish tacos. So good ***** - New American Near Me - Bend, Oregon

Summary: If Drake is to avoid extinction, several things need to change. Like most people around Bend, we watched the new restaurant going in at the corner of Franklin and Wall with hopeful anticipation. What kind of food would they serve, would it be good, would the place be fun, etc. After returning from vacation earlier this week, Blushing Bride and I noticed that Drake was finally open and took to Yelp to see what other people thought, if we'd like to go, etc. The early reviews ('this n that' and Georell's) were both in the five star territory, so we called and made reservations for Saturday dinner. Sadly, our experience was *nothing* like either of the two other reviews. We were seated at a nice booth, where a waitress took our drink orders from the full bar. The beer selection was interesting, but I had my mind set on a Ten Barrel selection, which was absent. No problem, there was plenty of selection from the bar, and the wine list was adequate. After getting our drinks going, we settled in and started searching for the cool local vibe. Search as we might, the aforementioned vibe was missing. We watched the owner/manager greet and seat people when they entered, but that was it. No chit-chat. No "how is your meal". No nothing. Too bad too...because he could have enquired about the BIG BLACK HAIR IN MY ARUGULA SALAD (see my posted picture). When I pointed it out to our waitress, she took it back to the kitchen, where three employees gathered around to perform their CSI analysis. No, it didn't match either my blonde or Blushing Bride's brown hair. This was a big black yucky hair. Gross. But the owner/manager didn't notice. Well hell. We did later notice that the Arugula Salad was erased from the special board... were they all hairy? Our waitress, however, did remove the half-consumed salad from our check, and was very nice about it. The menu was a bit slim - Drake could really benefit from a few more selections that would create a bit more diversity. No, not like a Cheesecake Factory which has Hungarian Goulash, Mexican Food, Chinese Food and hamburgers...but a bit more appetizer breadth and a couple more small plates to choose from. Maybe a vegetarian dish sans tofu. My main course was a delicious, special-board $32 Halibut with Polenta, which raised this review a full star. This is clearly an order of magnitude more expensive than I would expect for this, but it was good. Note to self: look at prices, don't assume specials are in the same range as everything else on the menu. But, this was a special occasion, so I wasn't going to gripe over spending $10 more than I should have on fish - especially since it was really tasty. Small, but tasty. Blushing Bride had a Waldorf Salad, which was like no other Waldorf I'd ever seen. It looked interesting and was really tasty though. About that missing vibe - since Blushing Bride was seated facing the kitchen, she observed several employees socializing amongst themselves instead of interacting with customers. There is an excellent opportunity here go make customers feel welcome without being overbearing. You know, like "welcome to Drake" or "are you enjoying your meal" - you know, typical restaurant chit chat. Final note to the Manager/Owner: go three doors down to Five Fusion and watch how Lillian meets, greets and treats her guests. I'm not saying you have to copy her, but she's a real professional who knows how to make customers feel special. You set the tone for the place, and your employees tend to echo your example. read more

Drake Downtown Bend - Zoom in on my salad...yikes! The manager/owner didn't seem to either notice or care. - New American Near Me - Bend, Oregon

The Drake is a very new and cool spot in Bend, but I can't give it 4 or 5 stars because it's very pricey compared to other options in town and while the food is good it isn't fantastic. They do a few dishes well(like fried chicken sand) but others are just ok like the risotto of the day we had and the poutine. I was really hopeful that this place would be my go to spot and be a replacement for the sorely missed Mercury Diner, but it hasn't quite hit the spot. It seems to be very popular among the over 50 crowd, but they will either have to bring the prices down or make the food really stand out to survive in Bend's ultra competitive restaurant scene. I really want to LOVE this place, but I can only really like it at this point. read more

Had high hopes for this "diner" - My hopes dashed. Our server was horrible. After reminding him 3x for many things, I was very annoyed. Entrees were under par for how much they were. This place is way to pretentious. I won't be back. The one positive they get is the french fries. read more

My husband and I dined the first weekend they were open. We lowered our expectations quite a bit and decided to give them a shot. We knew full well that things may not be in great working order yet. We were pleasantly surprised!: The restaurant seemd unusally well run and efficient. We were greeted and served promptly. The drinks were good: Nice fume blanc. And they brought us popcorn while we were waiting. Nice touch. The food was good, but choice was slim: We weren't thriled with the choices. We hope that this changes. Thus the paper menus. Hopefully they will add more happy hour foods to the menu that actually represent a small meal. The mussels are probably the best deal on this menu, but I do not like muscles. Clams would have been a nice option. Our entrees were deliscious! The filet was like no steak we had ever eaten. And I agree with another yelp here that said they thought the rissotto seemed small, but it did the trick. I was full. We stayed for dessert. OMG. Must try the blueberry cobler with salted caramel ice cream. This was to die for. Overall good. I just think they need to get a little more down to earth with their prices and add some more lower priced small entrees to the menu. We will return. read more

My wife and I checked out Drake last night intrigued by the decor and the chance to dine from a non-pub food menu. We immediately loved and devoured the complimentary popcorn, but were left uninspired by the limited and expensive menu referencing mostly their nightly specials, one of which our server couldn't remember. I opted for the meatloaf, my wife one of the specials, razor clam with risotto. When the plate arrived the razor clam was so tough it was inedible. This was not just an issue with my wife's meal, but also a fellow patron next to us. Interesting choice to charge $20 for a razor clam on top of risotto, considering razor clams are mostly used for fried clam and chip plates. The meatloaf was ok, but not worth $20 considering it only utilized pork shoulder and lamb. With the limited number of high-end dining options in Bend, I was disappointed that the Drake isn't an option for us in the future. Having experienced high-end dining from a food centric city for the past 20 years I'm not of the opinion you have to charge $20+ to get a good plate of food. I'll continue to support Bend's best dining option, Spork and the food trucks at the Lot. read more

Food is bad drinks are overpriced. $9:00 for a mimosa? The sever brought us a1/2 of a split to share and charged us 9 bucks apiece. My eggs ordered scrambled was an egg cracked in the skillet and stirred, gross!! read more

Overall a fantastic visit. We stopped in early on the weekend afternoon from walking around the area; we brought in our stroller, the staff was nice and let us bring it in without folding it up. The waitstaff was very friendly and speedy with taking our order and providing refills. The prices were fair, not dirt-cheap but certainly what I'd call reasonable. The food was quite delicious; I had the fish tacos which were pretty good, somewhat standard-fare but the fish was cooked perfectly, and my wife had the crab blt, and that was essentially perfection; breading was spot-on and fried to a perfect crisp, a big hunk of crab, perfect half-way crisp on the bacon (not wibly, not overdone), I mean just about perfection. The popcorn to start with instead of chips was also a fun idea. I would definitely stop back in again if I'm in the area. read more

I like DRAKE. It has very good food, nice service, and the location is nice. But the prices are high and the food is not filling enough (at least not for me). I had the crab cake entree and there was one very small crab cake. Granted, it was delicious and mostly crab meat, it still left a lot to be desired as far as fullness is concerned. I did also order the brussel sprouts (which again were amazing) but I would have liked a bit more (shared item). My friend got the turkey confit pasta and it was lovely. It's again on the small side, but at least more filling and could hold you over for a while. Overall, I like this place. But the prices hurt me. I also thought the $9 NZ Sauv Blanc was a little high price-wise. Summary: Food, awesome. Prices, not awesome. read more

Like other reviewers have said, the biggest downfall, I believe, is the size of the menu. It's tiny. I want to go back, but honestly I can't think of what else I would order. I've tried everything on the menu that sounds good to me, and that's about it! Maybe next time I'm craving risotto I'll head there again, but until then that's about it. My risotto was delicious. The portion looked small at first, but by the time I was finished I realized it had been just enough. The $17 lunch price tag was maybe a tad too high, but the presentation and flavor was perfect, and I would probably pay that amount for it again. The marinated steak sandwich with chimichurri sauce was also quite good, though I'd like some side options other than potato chips. I've also tried the beet salad. It was good, but the beet salad at Worthy is much better. Service was excellent the two times I went. It was actually the same lady, and she was perfect. My big judge of service is how long my water glass is empty (because I drink a lot of water when I eat!) and she was back at least 5 or 6 times while I was eating. The owner was also in attendence both times and he seemed slightly aloof, but when some customers started talking to him he was very friendly and open. It is expensive, but the price range is the same as 900 wall, Noi and zydeco. Not sure why Drake is being held to different standards. It is gourmet food, even if the atmosphere is casual. read more

A nice sort of classy place, good cocktails, but the snack menu has become too heavy in fad items. Leave the fried pickles to the beer pubs. No more stars 'til they bring back deep-fried portobello strips!! read more

Sorry to take off a star, but they lost me over the past couple of visits. Update: Another couple of visits and I must say--the staff needs to remember the place is a restaurant, not a playpen. Particularly later at night when it's not busy, I've had them twice have buddies sitting at the bar, and they are bellowing with laughter, the music goes way up, and they forget their table. Also, have had to send different food back TWICE for being cold and way undercooked. Do better! I love this place and have high expectations! read more

All I can say is, "WOW! I want more!" Portobello fries with beer cheese and pickled shallots! Also, they make a dynamite French 75! read more

Drake Downtown Bend - New American Near Me - Bend, Oregon

Too loud and very slow!!!! We have been sitting here for 90 minutes with no dinner yet! The food was awful. They took off desserts for us from the bill which was nice.! The service was very friendly but We won't come back. read more

Drake Downtown Bend - Potato leek soup. Tasty but tastes like beef gravy. - New American Near Me - Bend, Oregon

My friend, Michele R., rules the Yelp review roost but, here, I have to differ. It has been one year since my last visit to Drake and, sadly, the meal was consistently disappointing (yet the decor! Superb! Incredibly and thoughtfully well done...). My Gripes: The wine list is lackluster. With so many regional wines from which to choose, the selection was a let down. Our server recommended the Seven Falls which was so so. I asked, afterwards, for the Savignola Paolina Chianti Classico (yes, from Italy), which was fair, but pricey at (what!) $11/glass. For starters, we sampled the fried pickles (a Southern 'delicacy') but whole spears in a benign batter left an unsatisfying pickle-to-flavorless batter ratio. Our most delightful server, Lori/Laurie, swapped out pickles for the "portobello fries with 'beer cheese sauce'"; a plethora of salt made the beer cheese sauce (just say "welsh rarebit without salt") more palatable. For my entree, I had the shrimp & grits. The "heat" from the peppers did not compensate for the lack of flavor in the dish overall; the shrimp was chewy and the grits mealy. Dave had the wagyu with mashed potatoes and it was - I hesitate ever to use this word in a food review - awful: a seemingly A1 flavored sauce, soul-less and unpalatable. But, the popcorn appetizer was pretty good. I'm freaking serious about my food, people. Drake, after a year's respite, disappointed me with all but the popcorn, the decor, and the service. I don't write this review lightly. Our bill was $75.00. That's a lot of money for a meal of which we ate no more than half (if that) of all but the popcorn. My take is that it's all about impressions and a "look at me!" menu more than seriously down-to-earth good food... If I haven't said it before, Dave is from New Orleans and makes better food on the fly in our paltry kitchen than the professional staff at Drake made tonight... The acronym to live by? KISS (Keep it Simple Silly). I won't be back. I'll settle for the more refined Zydeco or Dave's grits n' eggs...and that's quite a range right there... any night of the week. read more

I had their supposed best - steak. Very tough. It was on a bed of all kinds of stuff. Nothing like the picture on this Yelp. Nobody checked if this conglomeration of "stuff" even went well with steak. Not good at all. Also. The staff was a bit cold. read more

Despite the classy atmosphere and great servers, the food is bad. It is basically regular dishes disguised as something gourmet. Not worth the money. I ordered a Caesar salad, hoping that I would indeed get a Caesar salad. Instead I got two large pieces of lettuce with some strange dressing, a fried egg on top and some whole anchovies. Later that night I proceeded to get food poisoning from it. I will not be returning. Definitely not recommended. read more

Drake Downtown Bend - New American Near Me - Bend, Oregon

Look you might be thinking I have been fasting all day and this was my big weekly cheat meal....... Well your right, but this place is everything and more. I got the butter milk marinated fried chicken and you could cut through the chicken with your fork. They added some homemade hot sauce to hot with it whoaaaaaaaa stop playing Drake. Just come to this place. read more

Drake is a very nice looking spot, upscale and on a busy corner, and walking in you think "yes,this will be good". We sat at the bar and the new bartender was very nice, and I could see he knew what he was doing, mixing two drinks at a time. Perfect Manhattan and a Salty Dog. We had a special off the chalk board with no price listed (why do they do that?). It included 2 room temperature small lamb loin or shoulder chops (3 bites each) with a good chimichurri, cool polenta, cold grilled chunks of white and red onions. I love grilled onions but these were big quarter chunks with just a bit of char and the red onions were almost as large. Very unappetizing! We returned it so they could heat it all up. But big chunks of semi-grilled onion do not make a side dish. It's lazy cooking. (The price was around the low $30s). I had their open-face Bendie burger. It is a fine burger with good fries. But I could not understand the vessel of au jus on the plate and the little 2 inch dollop of some dressing with two gherkins residing in it. What? Do I pour the au jus on the burger sitting on the already wet 3/4 inch bread? Oh yeah, and the burger was topped off with a semi-grilled chunk of onion--not an edible slice. Methinks the kitchen needs to rethink things. Seriously. read more

Drake is my new favorite restaurant. It has a sexy diner vibe and the people who work there are super friendly. one of my favorite things on the menu is the calamari, which is so tasty, that honestly, there could be rubber bands inside, instead of squid, and it would still be amazing. not that i have ever eaten calamari for the squid. the chicken confit is yummy and healthy--a good chunk of chicken in that dish! i'm still trying out the different sides, but from my experience so far, they do a great job with vegetables, including brussel sprouts with bacon, peas in some decadent sauce, and so on. the popcorn that is brought to the table while you're waiting for your food is a flavorful, old-fashioned treat. they have BOTH diet coke and pepsi. interesting. fun. i just like being there. the people who come in have a good vibe, and in general, it seems to be a great place to see and be seen. it's kind of like a more elegant brother john's. one thing DRAKE could improve on is adding one or more hearty vegetarian dishes to the menu in the main dish section. perhaps something with eggplant, cheese, and marinara? and something vegan. that doesn't have the word chicken in it. but other than that, thumbs up all around. cheers. read more

I went here for the first time this friday night and I had a great time. Quaint atmosphere with a good crowd. I had the fish and chips, and it was so fresh, flaky, and cooked to perfection which I can't say for most other restaurants in bend. Service was neither here nor there, but definitely a non issue. Side note: I can't help but add how sexy the dishwasher was though. Great hair, and wow, what a smile. Too bad you couldn't see him like you can the rest of the kitchen... he was only visible when he put the clean plates away *sigh* read more

This place is amazing for quality, classy food. Fairly priced and swoon worthy. Try the beet salad!!! My server was delightful after a long workday. Love this place. read more

Drake Downtown Bend - Burger of the day. Blue cheese sauce and an onion ring. With au jus (herby and yumm), and house made aoili (so good). - New American Near Me - Bend, Oregon

Went here for brunch and it was amazing! Great service!! Would highly recommend this place if you are visiting Bend!!

I love the grilled kale salad! OK, so there is more than just the kale salad, oh, and the crispy skinned trout, but those are the first things that come to mind. I love the nightly specials; Monday-steak and frites, Tuesday-2forTuesaday (any antre, soup or salad with a glass of wine or beer on tap for $22 except for the barber steak which is $5 more but Holy Smokes what a deal! I haven't made it past Tuesday yet but I'll get there. read more

Stopped for lunch and Cocktails on a rainy windy dreary afternoon in Bend! Highly recommend the Spanish Coffee!

The food is great has good quality ingredients. The service is nice they make sure you are treated every well. They even give you house popcorn but I think they can have a better item to much on for that scale of the restaurant. Over all great food, great environment. read more

I've been on the hunt for the best fish and chips in town and I finally found them!! Yum! read more

Drake Downtown Bend - New American Near Me - Bend, Oregon

"It is the best place on Earth", says my son Jack! Love the food! Love the service! Love the people! read more

The bartender at Drake is the best in Bend. We had a variation of an espresso martini that was so much better than the milky kind you normally have. Go here and sit at the bar, you won't be disappointed! read more

I actually feel this place deserves 3.5 stars but we can only give whole star ratings. The food are above average for sure. The fried 5 spice pork belly with cold noodle salad was excellent, this dish deserves 5 stars on its one in my opinion. My husband thinks the mustard seeds in the dish was bitter but I did not think so. Mac and cheese was nice, the crispy top was pretty good. The crab cake was ok. The roasted cauliflower was pretty good too. Service was super slow though, it took forever even for the milkshake my daughter ordered to arrive. read more

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Got the burger and really wasn't very impressed. Doesn't have that visceral, charred taste. BUT you know what does? The kale salad! iT blew my mind! I don't even like salad! It's actually grilled, making all the greens have this smoked, hearty taste. The mac and cheese is also extraordinary - slightly al dente with breadcrumbs on top and oh so creamy. Also, the caramel candied pecans shake is totally worth it. There's a little too much homemade whipped cream, but is that really a problem. The bottom is flooded with caramel and ice cream. These three dishes made my meal here! read more

Beef tartare is the best tartare I had so far, and the portion size pretty much a lot .........and the employees very nice and friendly I'll come back here again soon read more

Drake Downtown Bend - New American Near Me - Bend, Oregon