Good Food, Good Times at Winnipeg Bars and Pubs

There’s plenty of variety in Winnipeg Bars and Pubs, whether you’re looking for a quiet drink in a civilized lounge, a pleasant Winnipeg sports bar to watch the game, billiards in an English-style pub, a lovely patio on a hot afternoon or the VIP lounge at party central on a Saturday night.

You should know:

Winnipeg Bars and Pubs
To Suit Your Mood

The Fort Gary

If it’s a venerable Victorian gentleman’s lounge with the look (and the well-broken-in seating) of a bygone era, head to The Palm Room at Hotel Fort Garry.

Take a wing chair, order a sandwich, or the New-York-style pizza, or the Winnipeg-style perogies and something nice to go with it and then look up.

This may be the fanciest lounge ceiling in all of Canada; it is certainly one of the oldest, restored to what it would have looked like when first installed a century ago.

What I like here is that you can have a drink in peace with live music (nightly) that stays discrete, still easily allowing for conversation, along with old-fashioned attentive but not intrusive service.

The Palm Room is always a dependable oasis of calm and civility. Or as British comedian and playwright Ben Elton (he wrote Blackadder) said when he was in town, “very nice bar. Very nice barman.”

The Palm Room, Hotel Fort Gary, 222 Broadway, Winnipeg. 942-8251.

Winnipeg Bars and Pubs -- Lounges

If, on the other hand, you prefer more contemporary surroundings, there are several choices including the sort of lounges you expect to find, and do, at all of the major hotels downtown and near the airport.

The Current at Inn at the Forks - sleek but comfortable decor, interesting Forks views, and live jazz Fridays and Saturdays. The food is exceptional and there’s also a martini bar.

The Current, Inn at the Forks, 75 Forks Market Rd., Winnipeg. 944-2445.

Winnipeg Bars and Pubs for Sports fans

Both of Winnipeg’s casinos have huge sports bars with big screens and table service for drinks plus a bar menu of snacks, wings, etc. and big comfortable chairs.

A fairly quiet and comfortable place for a drink when there isn’t a game on – and large enough that you can still find a seat and join the cheering throng when there is.

Local Heros Sports Bar

Local Heros, a hotel bar with billiards and multiple screens plus a full menu from the Four Points Restaurant.

Four Points Sheraton Hotel at the airport, 1999 Wellington Ave., Winnipeg. 775-5222.

Pembina Draft House

This is the one with the giant football that appears to be crashing through the wall.

Inside there's darts, pool and big screen TVs.

The Pemby attracts a mostly younger-student crowd in an area of town that is OK during the day, but can be rough late at night.

1011 Pembina, Winnipeg. 453-3724.

More about Winnipeg Sports Bars

Irish Winnipeg Bars and Pubs

Shannon’s

Shannon's is about as Irish as any North American fake Irish pub, but it’s conveniently located across from the Convention Centre and there’s good live music most Thursdays to Sundays.

Also darts and billiards. 175 Carleton. Winnipeg. 943-2302.

Dylan O’Connors

Another Irish wannabe, painted mostly green (in case you didn't catch the theme) but worth going because the wings are good. Music Thursdays to Saturdays at the Portage Ave. location.

Yellow Dog Tavern

Best of breed. Cheery downtown pub, some nights with live music.

A mix of good Brit pub grub and classic lunch (or dinner) choices. Basic good food and big portions of it. Beef and Guiness stew with garlic bread, chicken pot pie (offered at dinner only). Sandwich and burger plates include soup or salad (no fries) – we recommend the bison burger, the pulled port sandwich and the sirloin sandwich. They also have wraps, a perogie platter, and hot dogs with bacon.

And it’s open late – till midnight Monday to Wednesday and until 2 a.m. Thursday to Saturday.

386 Donald Street, Winnipeg. 775-6676.

More True Brit at Winnipeg Bars and Pubs

The King’s Head

English as in last days of the Empire, with a large menu of East Indian fare, and a Friday lunch buffet in The Exchange.

There are outdoor performances all summer long at Market Square, right across the street and I think The King’s Head’s patio is the best place to take them in while enjoying better-than-average pub food and your choice from the city’s largest array of beers on tap.

Live music at The King’s Head most nights.

Also darts and pool tables. 120 King Street, Winnipeg. 957-7710.

Tavern United Downtown

Brit pub/sports bar known for its fries and burgers, particularly the sliders. Live music Thursdays to Sundays. Darts, pool tables and TVs throughout. Best patio - it's on the roof at MTS Centre Downtown.

There are also three other locations, all with patios:

5 Fifty-Five Osborne

The Thirsty Lion Tavern

At The Delta - Elephant & Castle

A chain that is more restaurant than pub, known for traditional Brit fare and also North American standards, catering primarily to business people and usually very busy at lunch and dinner. Occassional live music.

Has one of the few downtown sidewalk patios, just renovated (fall 2009) and especially inviting (and in the shade) on summer afternoons.

Close to MTS Centre and steps from Winnipeg Convention Centre at Delta Winnipeg, 350 St. Mary Ave., Winnipeg. 942-5555.

Sawney Beans

The law in Steinbach changed in 2003, but this is the first lounge and pub in that town, which has welcomed hundreds of immigrant families from England, Germany and the Philippines in the past decade, helping to drive the demand for a friendly restaurant and family pub.

This place has everything you’d expect in an authentic pub, including Guiness and Smithwick’s on tap.

More Favourite Winnipeg Bars and Pubs

Rock Hot Spot - Lo Pub

Among Winnipeg Bars and Pubs, this is a favourite for its central downtown location and shabby but cozy stmosphere. In winter, you can sit on couches in front of a wood fire. The food is local, with good vegan choices, from the bistro next door.

Draws a mixed student-downtown office crowd for lunch and a a completely different but equally mixed crowd of downtown hip young urbanites and city visitors evenings.

What’s special here is the owner is a musician and he works his network to draw hot new bands and up-and-coming soloists Thursdays and Fridays. If they're the next Canadian sensation -- think Nathan or The Weakerthans or Feist -- you could hear them here first.

Inside HI Downtowner hostel, 330 Kennedy, Winnipeg. 802-0911.

The Billabong Bar & Bistro

An authentic Aussie bar in Winnipeg's Osborne Village – unlikely, you say?

Why not, mate?

The Billabong’s got the food, beer and wines from Down Under, if you’ve a hankering for alligator pot-stickers, say, or kangaroo stew.

Goes down real smooth with Aussie brew and footy on big screens. And yes – it is authentic. (You see, the Australian owner happened to fall in love with a Winnipeg girl, and… well, the rest is their story, and he tells it well.)

Open Mondays to Saturdays lunch until late, Sundays 4 p.m. till 2 a.m. at 121-D Osborne St. 452-1019.