Restaurants

Chef-driven restaurants serving anything beyond traditional pub fare and hearty steaks are rare on the eastern Oregon range, but it’s not hard to find a tasty, authentic meal if you know where to look. Restaurants around the Wallowas, in particular, have a burgeoning locavore-organic ethos: locally grown produce abounds, farmers’ markets are a big draw, and the rural county even has its own Slow Food chapter. A few noteworthy brewpubs have also cropped up around Pendleton, the Wallowas, and Baker City.

Elsewhere in the high desert, an entrenched ranching culture means big eating: farm-boy breakfasts and steak house after spur-jangling steak house. Generations of braceros (Hispanic laborers) have left their mark on the region’s culinary scene as well, and excellent taquerias can be found in even the dustiest ranch towns. Pack a lunch if you're touring more remote areas, where traveler services are few and far between.