Jackson's Corner - Bend Oregon

Jackson's Corner

Jackson's Corner has a great reputation from my friends who have tried it. I wish I had visited them earlier so I could offer my opinion. As we all know, my opinion is the only one (vote for Obama) that matters.

The Source has a nice right up of Jackson's Corner and the history of the owner and chef's blah blah bleep. I don't care about most of that when it comes time to stuff my face for one of my 8 meals a day. I just care about the quality, flavor, and value of the food.

On our first visit to Jackson's Corner we grabbed a seat to look over the menu before walking up to the counter to order. I decided on one of the specials of the day, the turkey sandwich and a cup of soup while the wife selected the Steak sandwich. Our friend went for the Mediterranean Pizza.

Apparently all of the sandwiches are on ciabatta bread. My turkey sandwich ($7) was pretty dry. The bread soaked up the little amount of mustard that was used and the bread was pretty tough.


It was a decent sandwich but when I go back I think I'll ask for some extra dressing no matter what sandwich I get. Some extra mayo and mustard would have gone a long way.

Like I said, the bread was difficult but not nearly as rough as the Village Baker or especially Mother's. One bite of a sandwich on the baguette at Mother's and the meat will squirt out the back and onto your lap.

I also ordered the chicken curry soup which you can sort of see in the photo. That was a great choice. The soup was hot as hell but I couldn't stop eating it and dunking my sandwich in it. If you see chicken curry on the soup board, get it.

The wife's steak sandwich ($9 or $10, I can't remember but that seems right) was heated up in the brick oven which was a great touch but made her bread extra dry. Her steak was excellent and tender. It had melted mozzarella AND blue cheese which was a touch too rich for me but the wife loved it.


Her sandwich came with the cutest little salad ever. A friend of mine told me that her salad was tiny as well. The photo on LJR's review at the source shows a salad easily twice the size of the wife's.

As the wife worked her way through her sandwich she started filling up. Back when we were much younger, we were eating some hamburger somewhere. She was getting full and instead of just stopping when she finally was full, she would open up the burger and eat just the meat. When I asked her what the hell she was doing as she delicately held the patty between her thumb and index finger (pinkie was up like she was sipping on some Earl Grey), she'd explain "I have bread at home. All this crap is the cheap stuff, the meat is the expensive part...you gots to eat the meat!"

So she ditched the bread and finished the meat and cheese so she could spend her carbs on the cinnamon roll that she ordered. Proof:


Our friend enjoyed his rather large Mediterranean Pizza ($12) baked in their brick oven. I was able to get a slice and will most likely order this pizza on my next visit. It can easily feed two people and was awesome. For the sauce they use a tomato, garlic, olive tapenade which is amazing.


Since he wears a skirt on most days, he was unable to finish his entire pizza and grabbed a to-go box. Bravo to Jackson's Corner for using all biodegradable containers and utensils! I have not seen that in a Bend Restaurant yet.

Jackson's Corner is a good spot to grab a quick lunch off the beaten path and I'm looking forward to trying out their dinner. It is the only market on the corner of Broadway and Delaware so you can't miss it, even though they don't have a sign that I could see.

Jackson's Corner
845 NW Delaware
Bend OR
541.647.2198

Bend Burger Company

<rant>The Bend Burger Company is NOT THE BBC. The BBC stands for the Bend Brewing Company. If I tell my friends that I'll meet them at the BBC, I better see them at the Bend Brewing Company with a pint of Outback Ale waiting for me.

If I hear you describe the Bend Burger Company to your friends and you refer to them as the BBC, I get to slap you across the back of your neck. On the other hand, if I hear someone in your group refer to the Bend Burger Company and before I get to slappin, you step up and correct them by describing that the BBC is the Bend Brewing Company, then I'll buy your lunch. I'm dead serious, lunch is on me.

BBC = Bend Brewing Company. The place that specializes in hamburgers is called the Bend Burger Company, Burger Company, or simply BC. Anything but BBC. </rant>

I made it over to the Bend Burger Company with a couple of friends. Both had already tried the burgers but I was able to convince them to give it another try so I could get my photo. Neither were thrilled with their first experience.

I ordered the Deschutes River (Hawaiian Burger) for $8.95. Pepper jack, ham, pineapple, teriyaki sauce, lettuce, and tomato.


The burger was decent. I would have liked it a lot better with about a tenth of the teriyaki sauce. The sauce was really sweet, thick, and with the sweetness of the pineapple, it was overwhelming. The sauce made a mess out of the burger too. I got sauce on my shirt.

My friends told me I should have taken my shirt off just like that tool at Flatbread Community Oven did. I didn't and ended up tossing my shirt into the laundry bin when I got home. I'm a very clean eater too but could not avoid getting the teriyaki splatter. Sucks to be me.

I enjoyed the potato bun and do not agree with LJR at the Source about the poor bun selection being a bad thing. Hamburgers are not supposed to have wheat buns. This is America! If you don't like it, get the hell out.

The fries are good but taste like Ore-Ida Crispers. The fry sauce was really good. Tasted like a jazzed up version of Artic Circle's Special Sauce (ketchup, mayo, and mustard). It had a little bit of heat to it too. Very good fry sauce.

If I may make a suggestion to Bend Burger Company...please make your own fries. You make good burgers but you could also set yourself apart from the other places in downtown Bend that also servers burgers by doing something cool like making your own curly fries. Like have the machine that grinds up the potatoes into long strings of curly fries out near the soda machine so we can see you making them. That would be pretty neat. Just a suggestion.

My friend (owner of the wannabe Elvis Costello glasses on the table which he begged me to get into the shot) got the Bend Burger with cheese and bacon ($7.95) and rather enjoyed it. He said this visit was better than the last time when the BC was serving on paper plates.

Bend Burger Company
718 NW Franklin Ave
Bend, OR 97701

Village Grill $5 Breakfast Buffet

Village Grill

<update for dummies>
Apparently some of my "readers" can't read and have misinterpreted $5 all you can eat as $5 all you can drink. I've heard that there have been a few customers at the Village Grill that thought they could drink all day on Bloody Mary's for only $5.

These aren't free refills like when you were in highschool and you and 10 friends go to Red Robin, order one soda and get 18 refills. People like you are the reason Mexican restaurants have to charge for refills of chips and salsa in order to avoid your cheap asses.

It is $5 all you can EAT - NOT ALL YOU CAN DRINK! The Bloody Mary's are roughly $5 EACH!!</update for dummies>

The Village Grill owns the Best $5 Breakfast in Bend. IS there another restaurant in Bend where you can watch a variety of NFL football games, dine on an all you can eat eggs, bacon, sausage, biscuits and gravy, french toast sticks (all for $5), AND drink hard liquor in a smoke free environment? If there is, I'd like to know about it.

The Village Grill also offers a 'make your own bloody mary' bar where they give you the pint glass filled with ice and vodka and then you add your own style of bloody mix and veggies. So for basically $10 you can have your own take on a Bloody Mary and all you can eat breakfast while watching your favorite NFL team and if you're like me, monitoring your Fantasy Football Team(s) on their free wifi.
I don't like tomato juice so I went with a screwdriver to start my day. For me, I love some OJ with breakfast. Mix in some Vodka and you've got a winner in my book. I wish I liked Bloody Mary's cause they were hella cheap (like $5) and it was a lot of vodka. I'm sad.


My favorite part of the breakfast was the biscuits and gravy. Soft, flaky biscuits smothered with gravy...mmmmmm good. The shoe string hash browns were also very good with gravy. What isn't better with gravy? NOTHING!! Seriously, cover anything with gravy and it's just awesome.

The bacon was super thin but that didn't bother me as there was plenty of it. I grabbed a stack of bacon that was all stuck together so it seemed like one big slice. The sausage seemed similar to the Jimmy Dean variety that you can pick up at any grocery store but they were grubbin as well. The whole meal was well worth the $5 and after one plate, I had my fill.

By 11:30am I already had a good buzz working, I'm still stuffed from breakfast, I'm watching a bunch of NFL games with a friend. Shoot, the only drawback was that the friend I was with was crushing me in Fantasy Football. Lame.

Anyway, if you're a football fan and don't have any plans on Sunday, I recommend you check out the Village Grill this week for the Bloody Bar, Breakfast Buffet, and NFL Sunday Ticket. They open at 9am.

Village Grill
1033 NW Bond
Bend, OR 97701
541-318-8578

Quiznos Sammies

Really? Quiznos Sammies? Are these $2 flatbread sandwiches the answer for a quick, affordable bite in these tough times? God I hope not.

The wife came home with a few Quiznos Sammies and finally I got a taste of all the hype. The wife has been talking about the sammies all the time. When I mention getting some lunch she's always like "I'm totally going to Quiznos tomorrow!!"

I got to try the Sonoma Turkey with pepper jack, lettuce, tomato, and Chipotle mayo. And as I love to do with chain restaurants, here's their photo:


Personally I don't think the Quiznos photo looks much better than my photo here:


The flatbread is thick and doughy and everything else is as you'd expect. Lettuce, cheese, tomatos, and mayo. For $2, what do you really expect?

There is a lot of flavor packed into these little guys but it's mostly from the dressing, in this case, the chipotle mayo. For 270 calories and $2 of your hard earned cash, you can snack on one of these little guys. I think I'd rather get some Arby's 5 for $5.95 instead of three Sammies for the same price. Eh, maybe I'll just get a salad.

Quiznos Sammies
http://www.quiznos.com/subsandwiches/Products.aspx?itemType=sammies

Bend Oregon Quiznos Locations
Cascade Village
63455 N Highway 97 Unit 56
Bend Oregon 97701
541-749-4242

Tuscan Square
My Local Store 2115 NE Highway 20
Bend Oregon 97701
541-749-9099

Reed Market
My Local Store 1180 South Highway 97
Bend Oregon 97702
541-317-8800

Shops at Old Mill
My Local Store 680 SW Powerhouse Dr Ste 1004
Bend Oregon 97702
541-322-1866

La Rosa - Bend Oregon

La Rosa

La Rosa has a new location in NW Crossing near Riley's Market and Paisano's Pizza. I would have visited the new La Rosa and posted about it sooner but I have had one crazy month. Finally a friend and I made it over for lunch recently. The place was pretty full but we were able to get a table right away.

I love the new digs compared to the old, cramped, La Rosa location off College Way where you got blasted by freezing cold air every time the door opened and you scrambled to keep your napkins and menus from flying off the table.

The new location is much more spacious and has a great bar. The menu appears to be different from the last time that I ate at La Rosa in the old spot and the salsa is a bit different as well. I still like El Caporal's chips and salsa but this new recipe is a very, very close second.

Normally I get the enchiladas as my comparison dish when trying out a new Mexican restaurant. But for some reason I let myself get talked into the Tostaditas - crispy corn tortillas topped with refried beans, lettuce, tomatoes, radishes, and your choice of chicken, ground or shredded beef, or carnitas (pork). I selected one chicken, one picadillo (shredded beef) and one carnitas. ($8.95)



Under this mess of a plate were some great, tender, and flavorful meats. I was glad that I got to try the three different meats as they were all very good and juicy. I would not get this dish again though. It was a mess and difficult to eat. The crispy corn tortillas became very soggy very quickly and it basically turned into a salad.

The red cactus margarita did it's duty and ruined my productivity for the rest of the afternoon. After sipping on this tasty, tequila filled mamma jamma I ended up going home and lazily watched some stupid Keanu Reeves movie.

Next time I visit La Rosa, I'm getting the Enchiladas Mexicana which my friend got and he really enjoyed.

La Rosa
Mt Washington Dr & NW Crossing Dr
Bend Oregon
541-647-1624
11am – 10pm Daily

Laurie J. Rice has a good write up of La Rosa from her recent visit at the Source.

Pisano's Pizza vs Cibelli's New York Pizza

Pisano's vs Cibelli's

I remember reading about how the owner of Cibelli's was suing the owners of Pizanno's Pizza in the Bulletin. Recently I saw a new pizza restaurant in NW Crossing called Pisano's Pizza and wondered if this was the same as the Prineville one even though they are spelled different.

I figured that instead of getting into the rumors, I'd just compare slices from each place and see if there are any similarities and find out which is better. I decided that a simple slice of pepperoni wrapped up to-go from each place would be a good comparison.

Getting both slices back to the house I grabbed all my toppings that I use to doctor up my pizza at home and opened up my two brown paper bags of pizza from Pisano's (on the left) and Cibelli's (on the right).


Obvious portion size winner goes to Cibelli's and it only cost $3.25 instead of $4 at Pisano's.

I started off with a couple bites of each slice without any additional seasonings from my spice rack. The better flavor goes to Cibelli's again which could be mainly due to the grease. Grease = good. The slice from Pisano's had a thicker crust and wasn't greasy at all.

Some might like the lack of grease but I think the best slice is when there is a little grease but not enough that it drips off the pizza and thoroughly soaks your plate. That's just nasty.

The crust from Pisano's was thicker as I mentioned and it was a bit on the doughy side. For a slice of NY pizza, I like the Cibelli's huge slice, fold in half style like NY pizza should be. Before you go off on what real NY pizza should be, I've been to NY and have had real NY pizza.

The other factor for me was the slices of pepperoni. I mean, look at the photo and you'll see the difference in size between the pepperoni from Cibelli's and how it completely dwarfs the pepperoni from Pisano's.

For this round of taste testing between the two pizza restaurants, Cibelli's wins hands down. I can't imagine that this Pisano's is the same as the Pizanno's in Prineville that was accused of stealing Cibelli's recipes. The two slices were completely different and personally I don't think Frank Cibelli has anything to worry about here.

Cibelli's New York Pizza
738 NW Columbia St,
Bend Oregon
(541) 318-2800

Pisano's Pizza
NW Crossing
541-312-9349

Pisano's Pizza - Bend Oregon

Pisano's Pizza

Pisano's Pizza has been open for over a month now in NW Crossing next to Riley's Market. I've visited Pisano's on two occasions since it has opened and picked up a slice of pizza each time.

For $3.50 you get a slice of cheese pizza ($3.75 for white pie) and $0.50 each for additional toppings.

On my first visit I was actually heading to Riley's Market and stumbled upon Pisano's. I walked in and grabbed a slice and enjoyed it. I hadn't had a slice of pizza in quite a while and was happy to bump into this new addition to NW Crossing.

Just like any of the 'by the slice' pizza restaurants in Bend, they have already made up pizza and when you pick your slice they toss it in the oven to warm it up.


It wasn't the best slice of pizza that I've had in Bend but it wasn't the worst. I don't live in NW Crossing but I am over in that direction often. For residents in the area, it's a good option for a quick slice of pizza. The next time I'm in the area around lunch time, I'd like to give the Stromboli a try. Rolled pizza crust with pepperoni, sausage, served with marinara for $5.50. Looked good the last time I was in there.

Pisano's Pizza
NW Crossing
541-312-9349