Every new urban restaurant has to have a few craft beer taps to ensure relevance of any kind. And this is excellent news for the craft beer community, especially in Vancouver, where the restaurant scene is tremendously crowded already.
But which restaurants have the best tap lists?
Where does one go if one wants not only an exceptional meal but also an exceptional beer to go with said meal? Huh?
Here, we list out the best food-focused restaurants that also happen to have an excellent beer selection. We nixed breweries and brewpubs, along with “bars” and “pubs”, even thought they might have really good food. Would you take your date to just some bar for a meal on a third date? YOU WOULD? Well, that’s on you, friend.
BESTIE • Chinatown
This cool, very small currywurst joint in the heart of Chinatown offers a small and rotating tap list of local brews served in eight-, 12- and 24-ounce glasses.
BIERCRAFT • Commercial / Cambie / UBC
The ideal spot to get acquainted with the complicated world of Belgian beers and cozy up further with some local favourites.
CHAMBAR • Crosstown
Ditto above, plus some of the finest meals you’ll ever eat in Vancouver.
DON’T ARGUE! PIZZERIA • Main Street
Yes, the wood oven, by-the-slice pizza is excellent for any occasion (family dinners, hangover breakfast, snack between meals, etc.) but the small and local taplist is, ahem, arguably even better.
MERCHANTS • Commercial Drive
A beer geek’s paradise, featuring regular beer dinners and varied selection of local craft beers for a wide range of tastes. Also? A selection of weird, wild beers from all over the world, and apparently, a beer cellar so vast it reels the mind (says the rumour mill).
POURHOUSE • Gastown
Yeah, this place is half-bar, half-restaurant, but the craft beer selection is one of the best in Gastown, and the food is top notch as well. It’s a dependable date-night spot.
WILDEBEEST • Gastown
Take everything we said about everything above (minus the barbeque stuff ) and it’s all true for Wildebeest. Just go there, if you can get a reservation. Good beer.
HOG SHACK • Steveston
Hog Shack makes up for the dearth of barbeque joints in the Lower Mainland, first by the sheer size, scope and flavour of some of its dishes, but also its beer selection, which includes a local rotating taplist and an international bottle selection.
THE CURIOUS CAFE • Kelowna
The first beer-focused bar of its kind in Kelowna is similar in spirit to Vancouver’s Alibi Room, if the Alibi Room had wood-fired pizza and 13 expertly curated taps from BC and Oregon.
OK everyone – we’ll take those free meals now.
The Growler Issue 3 is out now and available somewhere around you, I’m sure. Check TheGrowler.ca for distribution spots.
