Best Bar 2013 | Velvet | Local Life | Bend

Best Of Central Oregon

Best Bar

Velvet

The shoulder-to-shoulder ordering at the short upstairs bar on Fridays and Saturdays is a testament to the quality cocktails, wide selection and warm ambience of the wood-siding-clad bar at the corner of Franklin and Wall—and it gives Velvet a distinctly urban ski-lodge feel. The servers are friendly and the bar has drinks for everyone—more than 20 specialty cocktails that range from sweet to spicy, tart to citrusy, top to bottom shelf liquors, dozens of canned beers and a handful of on-tap craft beers, including a mean pair of mate cocktails made with blueberries or hibiscus. Velvet is perfect for groups (hence runner-up for Best Girls and Guys Night Out). With nightly specials and new hours—open at 12 pm on Saturday and Sunday with cheap morning cocktails, $4 mimosas and Bloody Marys that can be perfectly paired with an order of BLT sliders slathered in honey aioli—Velvet is this year's voters' choice for best bar. (BB)