Bar Rio
Nearly a year after its opening, downtown Bend's Bar Rio stands out as a great choice for those looking to enjoy delicious drinks, great atmosphere and endless happy hour specials. Bar Rio is a 21-and-up cocktail and tapas bar from the creators of Barrio and Shimshon. Located on Wall Street, the bar offers an aesthetic atmosphere accompanied by two separate daily happy hours; 3-5pm and 9pm-close.
On top of its regular happy hour, Bar Rio offers a numbers of weekday specials from 3-10pm, including a $10 Wine Wednesday, $10 Sangria Sunday and a Tequila and Taco Tuesday, advertising three tacos and a margarita for $20.
We arrived at the bar on a Thursday around 5pm, which happened to be Ladies' Night. The Thursday special has $8 limoncello-spiked bubbles and $2 off all menu cocktails from 3-11pm. We decided to order the specialty prosecco and the classic margarita. The limoncello beverage was a tasty take on a classic glass of prosecco and the margarita extremely light and refreshing, especially outside on a hot sunny day.
In addition to its house margarita, Bar Rio has several creative flavors, including Jalapeño, Hibiscus, Mango, Tamarind, Guava, Passionfruit, Prickly Pear and Fresca.
Our drinks certainly did not disappoint, and the food didn't either. The robust tapas menu offers a number of tasty options that could certainly satisfy any customer, with dishes such as Patatas Bravas, which customers can order as a small or large, Cuban Sliders and a shareable Paella, which comes with choices like chicken, shrimp and chorizo.
The menu also has four dessert items, all for $13, with favorites including a classic Flan and churros with chocolate.
After a few sips of our drink, and a long day of work, we decided to go with the chips, salsa and guacamole. The house-made chips were crispy and salty and paired well with the yummy dips.
Also check out these options for a fun ladies' night:
