Pono Farm
Thanks to local meat maven Olympic Provisions for tipping us off about this new north Bend spot. Tucked into a nondescript strip mall a couple miles from downtown, Pono Farm is part butcher shop, part casual counter service restaurant … and entirely delicious. You might have seen their locally raised, largely grass-fed cuts of Wagyu and Red Angus beef or “heritage breed” pork at the Portland Farmers Market, but you’ve got to hit up this Bend brick-and-mortar shop to tuck into Wagyu cheesesteak, meatloaf, or braised oxtail gnocchi.

Image: Pono Farm

Bend’s real estate market might still be a bit of a bust (whose isn’t?), but that hasn’t stopped the Central Oregon gem from quietly compiling a host of new eating, drinking, and playing spots: Pono Farm, Brother Jon’s, Brasada Ranch, an expanded Deschutes Brewery, a bigger 10 Barrel Brewery, Meissner Nordic’s new shuttle service, to name a few. Plus nearby Redmond and Sunriver have both received major facelifts (a new outdoor ice rink and a $19 million community center, respectively). Should we go on? OK, fine, we will, but we’ll let the pictures do part of the talking. View our slideshow to learn more about what’s new in sunny Central Oregon.