The Flamingo Room

The Flamingo Room sits in the Century Center complex on Century Drive, the road that runs west out of Bend toward Mount Bachelor and the Cascade Lakes. It is a dark, candlelit room designed for staying put — the opposite of Bend's bright, communal brewery taprooms — and it is one of the few bars in town where a non-drinker can settle in for a long evening without the drink in front of them being an afterthought.

Two zero-proof builds are documented. Three Men in a Tub is the summer one: a watermelon shrub with lime, the shrub's vinegar sharpness stopping the melon from turning cloying and giving the drink enough acid to last more than a few sips. The other, whose name the local press renders as Calm the F**k Down, is built on lavender, chamomile and ginger with CBD, and does roughly what the name promises.

That second drink needs a plain flag rather than a euphemism: it contains CBD. CBD is not alcohol and will not produce intoxication in the way alcohol does, but it is an added active compound rather than simply a botanical, and anyone in recovery who avoids all mood-altering substances should know that before ordering. The watermelon build contains none, and the bar's wider list includes plenty that does not.

Bend's zero-proof scene has a noticeable hemp and CBD streak running through it — several bars and breweries in town offer CBD or THC drinks alongside their alcohol-free options, which is a product of Oregon's regulatory environment more than anything else. It is worth reading the menu carefully here if that is a line you do not want to cross.