Photo courtesy of The Blarney Stone
Lamplighter Pub
Lamplighter Pub is one of the city’s busiest watering holes serving a selection of craft beer and local pub fare in a sleek, newly renovated space. The menu offers something for everyone like classic brunch entrees, New York-style sandwiches, Italian pizzas, and more. There’s plenty to keep you entertained including flatscreen TVs, a jukebox, pinball machine, and pool table. Lamplighter has proven to have some serious grilling skills competing in the annual Gastown chicken fight last May. You’ll definitely want to stop by and sample their prize-worthy barbecued wings and coleslaw.
Hasting’s Warehouse
Hasting’s Warehouse welcomes people from all walks of life to enjoy great food, cold draft beers, and fun 80’s tunes. This is one spot to get your moneys worth. Everything on their casual food menu is below $5, from Baja fish tacos to mushroom Swiss burgers. Get ready for Hasting’s Warehouse will show off their cooking chops with chicken wings, and sides of coleslaw potato salad.
Chill Winston
If you’re looking for prime al fresco dining and creative cocktails, Chill Winston is your place. The popular local gastrolounge offers more than the average, serving conscious comfort food. Chef Derek Bothwell creates a seasonal menu focusing on farm-to-table offerings, organic produce and locally sourced meats. This year, Chill Winston will bring the heat with beef brisket submission, corn on the cob, and potato salad.
Railtown Café
Railtown Café is not your typical café. There’s a great array of fresh baked goods and healthy made-to-order sandwiches, salads and lunch specials using local meats and greens. This isn’t Railtown Café’s first time partaking in a cooking showdown! Chef Dan Olson and Chef Matt Koyanagi competed in the Golden Dumpling Cook Off, so you can expect their culinary team to serve some of the best beef brisket and cornbread at this year’s festival.
The Charles Bar
The Charles Bar is a popular venue to catch your favourite sports game and munch on some well-crafted food. Delicious plates like the BBQ onion burger and 5 spice pork sliders prove that the establishment has the chops for pulling off prize-worthy barbecued ribs. Make sure to stop by their booth and try their pork ribs, coleslaw, and corn on the cob.
Peckinpah
Peckinpah is no stranger to barbecued meats and set to be a stiff competitor for the best chicken wings. The Gastown eatery offers a taste of the south serving up North Carolina style barbecue, locally grown smoked meats and ample amount of bourbon. Their Southern approach to barbecuing is quite traditional and very hard to come across in this city. Meats are moistened with vinegar, dry-rubbed with flavouring, and slowly cooked for up to 18 hours. With Chef Bryan Gileo’s expert skills in Southern barbequing, Peckinpah might have a leg up on the competition at this year’s cookout.
Who will serve the best? You can be the judge of that and taste what each eatery has to offer at the Gastown BBQ & Chili Festival next Saturday August 30th and Sunday August 31st. See here for a list of more participating restaurants.
