The popular PNW owned and operated German bier pubs Prost! have finally opened their long anticipated Bend, Oregon location after 2 years of pandemic related delays. The New School first broke the news in 2019 that the beer halls with locations in Seattle, Portland, and Boise would open Prost! Bend by spring 2020, and the project from Chris Navarra and Dan Hart was worth the wait. Hart is known for not only Prost! Portland but three other well known public houses: Interurban, Stammtisch and Bantam Tavern.

I sat down with Dan Hart to have a chat (and a beer) and find out why he wanted to bring the popular Prost! bars to Bend. It turns out that he had been looking at Bend for 8 or 9 years, just trying to find the right spot. Prost! Bend’s General Manager, Coal, lives in Bend and Hart needed to “put him to work”. He also joked that he needed a reason to come to Bend so he could enjoy a stein of classic imported German bier after a day skiing on the slopes. Bend is already a top Oregon destination for craft beer, but he believes that German beer is still a niche that has not yet been filled. Prost! Bend will have the same difficult to find German Biers that you likely won’t be able to get them anywhere else in town. Jokingly I asked if he would have Boneyard’s RPM on tap. We had a good laugh and he said “no” but added “I love those guys though”. 

We also discussed the history behind Century Center, where Bend’s Prost! location has now set up shop. The building once housed a company called North Pacific Products, a toy manufacturer. It later became a mill specializing in wood doors and wood window products. In fact, as Dan began the process of opening Prost!, the landlord offered him some large planks of old growth fir left behind likely from the 50’s, and that was then reused to make the bar top, tables, wall treatments and more. It’s quite beautiful and I love the history that it holds.

Dan said Prost! Bend brings the best of Prost! Portland and it’s sister bar Stammtisch together for great beer AND great German food. The pub indoors and out has capacity for 130 people with 16 taps of German beer and cider complemented by wine and cocktails. There are multiple roll up garage doors for Bend’s hot summers and an open beer garden pleasantly dog friendly with a view to the neighborhood. The atmosphere is warm, loud with laughter, chatter and fantastic music. The food and beer, phenomenal. Seriously.

I ordered a Bretzel and as I waited, sipped on Fuchshof “Most” German Cider in a .3L pour. A pear and apple cider that is dry, light and delicious. The Bretzel was warm and soft on the inside with a crispy and salty exterior. It came with a trio of dips/spreads of mustard, obatzda (a soft cheese and butter mixture) and schmaltz (rendered chicken fat which was mind blowing). Schmaltz was certainly the most interesting dip. It was so flavorful. Combining all three of those on one Bretzel bit made my tastebuds VERY happy. 

With dinner I had a liter of Hofbrau Original. My eyes got SO BIG when this enormous mug of beer was delivered. YUM – light, quenching, bready goodness that just gets better as it warms. That beer could have been dinner all by itself! I was double fisting, but with one beer. Ha! For actual dinner I had Fleischkase – a pork and bacon meatloaf with pomme pure (read silky smooth, creamy potatoes) with a fried egg on top. The egg was the most perfect fried egg… ever. The pomme pure was velvety deliciousness and the meatloaf… I mean, come on… it’s pork and bacon (I know bacon is pork), the texture was awesome. The seasoning was spot on and the combined flavors made me giddy. This dish may be my new favorite.

After dinner I enjoyed a .3 L pour of Shonramer Pils. The beer was served in a Bitburger glass, however Dan let me know that it was absolutely an oversight that would be rectified. They always serve their beers in the appropriate glass but this was just day 3 of opening and LOTS of new staff and kinks to work out. The Schonramer Pils was new to me and I was pleasantly surprised at how perfectly clean and dry it was. Dan told me stories of a German brewery and it’s owner as I listened tentatively. It was really a great night, and honestly after my third drink I lost some of those details. Sorry! But I can confidently tell you that Dan knows his way around German Bier and I was entranced and enamored with the showcase of culture. Thanks to Dan Hart for a fantastic night!

Prost! Bend is conveniently located adjacent to GoodLife Brewing and The Ale Apothecary at 40 SW Century Dr. #140 Bend, Oregon 97702 and open limited hours from 5-10pm.