There’s nothing quite like watching your favourite sports team in person, but if you can’t get to a game in person, The Canadian Brewhouse may just offer you the next best thing.
Started in west Edmonton, Alta., in 2001, The Canadian Brewhouse has grown to include three brands and 70 locations, including their new brew pub at Park Place in Barrie's south end.
Jim Martyn, the company’s vice-president of human resources, told BarrieToday 2021 was the start of the company’s expansion into Ontario, which also includes a brewhouse in Oshawa and plans to open a third location in London.
“One of the things about Barrie that stood out to us as a great market is there’s a large student base, as well as a large blue-collar working base. That’s largely what Alberta is — school and blue collar — so (The Canadian Brewhouse) has translated to Barrie well.”
The Park Place location is the company’s second foray into the Ontario market and they consider themselves a “true Canadian-themed sport bar."
“Our walls are decorated with famous Canadian athletes, we have trophies from all the major sports, we give tickets to local sports, whether that’s the Barrie Colts, Toronto Maple Leafs or Raptors games. We have a giant score clock in the middle of our bar," Martyn said. "And if a home team scores there are red lights that look like goal lights behind the net at a hockey game and a giant air horn.
“We really like to give our guests that can’t make it out to a game the feel of being at the game.”
Along with staples such as burgers, nachos, wings and pizza, being a true “Canadian” place, Martyn admitted they’d be remiss if they didn’t also offer a variety of poutine.
“We have a big menu, so there’s something for everyone,” he said. “We also have a great kids' menu, which is why my daughter loves to go to the brewhouse.
"That was one of the best changes for our company back when we started to expand,” Martyn added. “We used to be a minors prohibited bar… then we opened in Leduc, Alta., which is a big family community and ever since then we’ve allowed minors and it’s been such a great decision. We have custom, hockey stick highchairs that make us stand out even to the kids.”
The Canadian Brewhouse also has a draught list that includes 30 different types of brews, he noted, adding you can get imports like Stella Artois and Guinness, as well as popular Canadian beers such as Mill Street and Creemore Springs, as well as the standard Coors, Molson Canadian, and Budweiser.
Martyn travelled to Barrie earlier this month to help open the new location, which took place Oct. 19, and said he was quite taken aback by the response.
“I have personally opened 30 out of our 40 restaurants and the welcome in Barrie was astounding. Everyone was very grateful and I feel like our teams executed things really well,” he said.
They also managed to raise $5,000 for local charity Furry Friends.
“All in all, people are seeing really quickly who we are and what we do differently as a brand. It’s hard to integrate yourself into a community, but that’s something we try to do as aggressively as we can," Martyn added.
