Del Taco - Bend Oregon

Del Taco

A friend of mine was raving over the Del Taco Combo #6. I love cheap tacos. I'm not talking about real tacos with two corn tortillas and some carnitas, onion/cilantro mix and some cojita with a twist of lime. I'm talking about hard shell, ground beef, iceberg lettuce, and shredded cheddar. Quite a few years ago in another state I saw a sign that read "5 tacos for $1". I dropped a five spot on the counter and said load me up. About an hour and a half later I had polished all 25 tacos off.

The Wife was out of town which means I get to binge on fast food that she'd never allow. Yup, that's right, BOR is not allowed to eat fast food when the Wife is around. So with her temporarily out of the way, I thought I'd give Del Taco a shot. Until that point, I had never been into a Del Taco in my life.

I looked over the menu and decided to go with my friend's recommendation of the Combo #6 - two tacos, cheese quesadilla, and a drink for $4.29. He actually said "get the number #6 with an extra taco or two" so I asked for an extra taco off the dollar menu. The cashier said that if I upgraded to the medium meal for only $0.49 it comes with another taco and bigger drink. Done.




The taco was everything I want out of a cheap ass taco and I was actually surprised that it tasted decent. Much better than Taco Bell. I tried the three different sauces available on the tacos, the mild, hot, and Del Inferno. Del Inferno was definitely my favorite and lots of it. Two packets per taco at least.

Now the cheese quesadilla was sad. It was super thin and oily not to mention the burnt bits of god knows what stuck to it. I make better cheese quesadillas in my microwave after an evening of drinking and watching Real Chance of Love with the Wife. She loves that shit!


After finishing my taco I contemplated getting a burger mainly out of curiosity. Why do they have hamburgers? I ended up deciding against it and just stared out the window at this little girl playing in a huge puddle in the parking lot. She was just sitting in it, fully dressed in jeans and a tshirt. No other friends or adults around and she was around 10 - 13 yrs old. Very odd. I think even the homeless people just outside my window chowing down on their Del Taco french fries were a little confused by the scene as well. Ahh SE Bend, keep on keepin it classy.

Del Taco
http://www.deltaco.com/

612 SE 3rd St
Bend, OR 97702-1755
(541) 322-8702

The Source Weekly's Best of Bend 2009

The Source Weekly's Best of Bend 2009

I got a text the other night that said "congrats on the mention" and I had no idea what they meant. After a few more texts I was told that this little restaurant blog got an honorable mention in The Source Weekly's Best of Bend 2009 for Best Local Blog. I have to say, I'm very honored by this. I didn't even know the polls were open and didn't try to get votes. Thank you for voting for me!

Hack Bend won the Best Local Blog and congrats to him, he's a great blogger who scoops my stories regularly and I read his blog on a regular basis.

I havent updated my personal "Best" list in a while and would hope that one will have to come out soon. Since, that is likely to not happen, here is who I would have voted for in the last poll:

Best Breakfast - Jake's Diner with The Breakfast Club a close second. Breakfast for me is more about speed and the basics for a fair price. Both of the above mentioned will have you in and out in a jiffy and you won't pay a ton for eggs and bacon.

Best Coffee House - hahaha you know I don't give a shit.

Best Drive-Thru Coffee - hehehe still dont give a shit.

Best Place for Tea - Really, this is a category? Earl Grey in the box that the Wife got in some gift basket like 4 years ago still works.

Best Bakery - Sparrow Bakery does make that phenomenal ocean roll...they win.

Best Lunch - Brother Jon's better win next year but since they are so new, over the coarse of the year, I'd probably go with Toomies. I love that lunch special for like $6.50.

Best Salad - NEXT

Best Sandwich - Again, Brother Jon's would be my vote but they are new. The Downtowner is so solid if you get the lunch to-go since you can't find a damn place to sit. Speedshop Deli would have won hands down if they were still here. Port of Subs is my quick sandwich on the go...#1 or #10 on wheat.

Best Deli - stupid category

Best Casual Dining - All restaurants in Bend are casual dining.

Best Family Dining - El Caporal. Chips and salsa immediately on the table along with a trough of refried beans that keep the kids entertained. Plus the food comes out ubber fast.

Best Fine Dining - Zydeco is solid and with their new location and plenty of staff on hand would get my vote. Blacksmith and Ariana would tie for second in my mind.

Best Service - I'd give this one to Zydeco again. Every time I've been there they have had plenty of staff to handle the always packed restaurant.

Best Vegetari

Best Grocery Store - Whole foods, never shopped there once but I know one of the managers and he's cool. Does Costco count? I don't shop for food. I go out to eat. Actually I'd vote for Rays since they have the liquor store. Now that's convenient.

Best Place to Buy Fresh Produce - I buy corn on the cob from Richards on 14th all the time....thats my vote.

Best Cheap Eats - Super Burrito or the new Rigoberto's - Taco Salsa. Why is the cheap eats always Mexican? Non Mexican cheap eats - I got to go with Toomies.

Best BBQ - hahaha Baldy's every time. No contest.

Best Pizza - Cibellis Pizza. I used to vote for Pizza Mondo but man has shit changed over there. I've received and have had emails about their recent poor service and quality issues.

Best Sushi - The only sushi worth anything in Bend is Mio Sushi. Kanpai is insane with their pricing and on a slightly smaller scale so is everyone else.

Best Mexican - My personal fav is El Caporal for the price, quantity, and the best salsa in Bend. If I'm forgetting price then I'd say Hola! if it counts even though its Peruvian and a close second is La Rosa.

Best Burrito - Super Burrito and Parilla close behind.

Best Thai - A Taste of Thailand, those ladies can sell a ketchup Popsicle to a woman in white gloves. "you want spring roll, you wife will like", "you buy one more, you have lunch for tomorrow." Oh they are awesome. I havent had dinner in a Thai restaurant in a while so I don't know which I'd take.

Best Chinese - Hong Kong Restaurant I guess.

Best Italian - hahaha apparently the best Italian is the Olive Garden that is coming to Bend soon according to the drones on Facebook. Staccato is NOT Italian. My vote is for Pastini Pastaria.

Best Steak - Blacksmith and a very close second is Jackalope Grill.

Best Seafood - Mio Sushi, raw fish is the best you get in Bend.

Best Dessert - Le Cakery or Hurricane's, its a toss up for me cause I don't eat sweets...that's the Wife's dept.

Best Place to get a Sugar High - dur, now thats a creative category. How about "Best Middle Eastern Restaurant." Seriously, how many options are there? 7-11 for the $0.10 Charleston Chews? Fred Meyers for some 3 for $1 kit kats?

Best Bagel - Big O Bagel is pretty damn good.

Best Burger - GOD DAMNIT! It's DANDY'S!!! Why oh why does Pilot Butte win every year? Next post I work on will be a comparison between the two. Dandy's is the better burger and half the price.

Best Ethnic - ugh, still sad that any ethnicity is lumped into one category. Joolz would win in my opinion. This category seems to have been created for Kebaba but I've had some bum experiences the last few times.

Best Patio Dining - This is another one that makes me laugh. People seem to forget the DINING part. You still need good food and the Pine Tavern aint it. The small patio at the Bend Brewing Company is the tops followed by Anthony's.

Best Caterer - shouldn't be a category since no one has more than one per year. I've never had one. I know many and would vote for them as a friend but no...this is dumb.

Best Sports Bar - Would say Brother Jon's if they would get their shit together and get local channels. They better get the damn NFL package working this year AND WIFI! The other sports bars all blow chunks for food and drinks. I'd vote for the Summit if I had to.

Best Hangover Grub - I dont know.

Best Chow Cart - Personally I think they all are scary, where do they wash their hands? I did get a pizza from the Recession Pies cart and loved it....I'd vote for them.

River Mill Grill

The River Mill Grill has taken over the old Fireside Red location and I've been excited to get over there to sample the goods. The Wife and I got the opportunity to go on a beautiful day and sitting on that famous deck was the best part of our evening.

The deck was just under half full and only one table occupied inside the restaurant. We sat down and only had one set of silverware and nothing else on the table. We waited for our server to arrive and when she did we ordered a couple of drinks. Water glasses were on all the other tables except ours and we waited and waited. After about 10 minutes our drinks arrived and she put them down and bolted before we could order our meals or ask for water.

Another 10 minutes goes by before she returns and we finally order. After about another 5 minutes we asked the bus boy, (is that still the term? That doesn't sound very PC) who was refilling the water glasses at the table next to ours, for some glasses. He came back within a minute or two. I know this might sound like a minor complaint but it was pretty hot out there.

We ordered an appetizer of Baked Brie - baked brie wedges encrusted and served golden brown garnished with green apple slices. Apples and cheese for $6.50. The Wife hopped up and grabbed the napkin/knife/fork from an empty table next to us since we never got a second set. The flavors were just fine but it needed something else like a sauce or spread. For 6.50 I'd like to have a little more than just three small slices of breaded brie and a few slivers of apples. I wish I had a photo but we were quite hungry when it finally arrived that we dove right in.

After the appetizer our salad and soup (you get a choice of one with your main dish) arrived. The Wife went for the soup which they called Mississippi Mud. I got the caesar salad.


The Wife rather enjoyed her soup, she described it like a jambalaya without the fish. I took a taste and it was pretty good. If you go to the River Mill Grill, I'd say get the soup. The salad was as basic as you can get with a caesar.

Then we waited for 15 minutes easy for anything to happen. No one came by the table at all and we got to watch the other tables cycle through and new patrons come in. I'm pretty sure our waitress was just worthless. So your experience might be better, it couldn't get much worse.

Finally our entrees arrived. The Wife ordered the Pork Schnitzel - breaded pork grilled in butter with a squeeze of lemon for $13.95 and ordered a side of veggies for a $2 more. OK, why $2 for veg? Everything else was using the lame .95 Applebees pricing, why not keep it up? Seriously, how about you keep your mini-bucket of rice or your cabbage and just sub in the veg?


We actually chuckled at the rice pilaf sand castle and parsley sprinkles that took us back to 1987 and we were listening to Bon Jovi's "Livin on a Prayer".

Whoa we're half way there!
Livin on a prayer!

Her pork lacked anything resembling flavor. But, since we didnt have any salt and pepper on the table and no chance of anyone coming soon, the Wife went looking for some and made it to the other end of the deck to find an unclaimed pair. Between our two entrees I think we emptied half of each container of salt and pepper.

I ordered the Tournedos of Beef Bordelaise - three beef medallions that were supposed to be "laced" with Bordelaise sauce for $16.95 and ordered them medium rare.


As you can see, "laced" means a soup ladle full of mushroom gravy and served with wrinkled, heat lamp potatoes. Cutting into my first medallion I discovered that medium rare also translates into rare. Do I sent it back and wait another decade for medium rare, or do I eat it since I'm not anti rare meat. I chose to eat is since we were 1.5 hours into dinner already.

Would you like dessert? No thanks, I give up my card and wait another 15 minutes to get it back. Seriously, dinner took 2 hours and we didnt have any weird orders, many drinks or a huge group. It sucked. The food was way outdated and bland.

I don't want to go back but the Wife wants to go for happy hour and see if things are different with a different server. I do not want.

River Mill Grill
803 Sw Industrial Way Suite 202
Bend Oregon 97702
(541) 678-5666
http://www.rivermillgrill.com/

My Twitter Coffee Mug

@bendeats Coffee Mug

The infamous @Mugmkr has created the best coffee mug of all time. My mug rocks so hard that T-Pain carries my mug on stage. Michael drank what he thought was wine (even though he was told it was blood) out of my mug in Lost Boys. Neo washed down the red pill from the tap water in my mug. My mug is so awesome that it was cup the evil Nazi dude mistakenly drank from at the end of Indiana Jones The Last Crusade. A gap toothed Sandra Bullock drank Love Potion #9 out of my mug and in doing so, she made my list that day (and is still on it btw tmi eta omg wtf bbq ps). My mug is so cool, it used the Dude's forehead like a backboard.

That's how awesome my handmade twitter coffee mug from MugRevolution.com is. Suck on that. I have a personalize coffee mug with my twitter name on it, and you don't. I think of Mug Revolution's Twitter Mugs like buying domain names. I have the one and ONLY @bendeats coffee mug. You better get yours while you can. Think about that dorky nephew or shut-in uncle that you have the sits on the couch, laptop in place, and watching the Ghost Hunters marathon while blogging about his take on the latest Harry Potter 3D movie. What do you get him for Christmas (or whatever holiday)? Get him/her a Mug Revolution Twitter Mug.

Thanks for the coffee mug Mr. Mugmkr! I love it!


I like to drink my Starbucks coffee out of my coffee mug cause Starbucks is the best.

The BOR-pprentice

Raz Lactic

I have an apprentice, or rather a BOR-pprentice as Raz Lactic calls himself. He even started a fan page called The BOR-pprentice which I sent invites to all my Facebook Friends. Raz is starting with the basics while he gets his literary skills fine tuned and is eating his way through his pantry, under his car seats, in old jacket pockets, and writing about it. Funny shit. You should check it out. Maybe he wont offend you sensitive types like I tend to.

He's just getting started and shows great promise. I love that someone enjoyed my blog enough to start up their own (even though its only available via Facebook) and call themselves my BOR-pprentice.

I swear to everyone, Raz is not me. I barely have the time to write for myself let alone start up another profile.

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Stealing my ideas

And changing topics again, I received a cool email from the mother of the co-owner of Brother Jon's. In it she says
"After finding your review of my son's new place, Brother Jon's Public House (favorable, thank you and thank God). I read on in your blog and quite admired it. I think your idea of donating the proceeds of a restaurant review blog to a local charity, especially one that feeds people, is wonderful. So I stole it.

I have just begin my own blog (I heard my children groaning from thousands of miles away) and one of my first entries is an homage to BOR. You can see it at
http://beebalmgal.blogspot.com/2009/07/stealing-good-idea-plus-hearty-eats-in.html#links "

I love it! I take pride in my "out of the box" thinking and feel that I'm ahead of my time in many cases. I don't mind that people take my ideas or steal my content (assuming they give me credit or a link). I've seen my photos on a bunch of other sites. Imitation is a form of flattery and I like it. Plus this one is for the greater good!


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Friday Fun wasn't fun for all

I give and give and get slammed by a couple of folks that can't get when I'm joking. Like I'm really going to run a cyclist off the road. This is why I don't write for you, I write for me. If you don't like it, don't read it, don't bookmark me, don't be my Facebook friend, and don't follow me on Twitter.

I safely pass many cyclists every day but there are a few bad apples that spoil the bunch. Hence, my rant which was really directed at the recent race organizers as well as the idiots that don't know the rules of the road or think they are superior to automobile drivers. Read your DMV manual and stay in your damn lane.

Lighten up or move along.

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