Remember the MVP (most valuable place) of last summer, Stillwell Beergarden? The downtown beer bar dreamed up the idea to open a second, outdoor location to make up for the fact that it couldn’t have a patio on Barrington Street, submitting an unsolicited proposal to the Waterfront Development Corporation to do so on the harbourfront. The WDC, of course, was into giving it a whirl.
Serving up local brews and classic beer garden fare like sausages and pretzels from a shipping container at the Summit Amphitheatre turned out to be a wildly successful pilot project (despite complaints/sour grapes that the project didn't go through the tender process) and this fall the WDC put out a public request for proposals to do it all again.
Finally, this week the winner of the highly sought-after tender for the outdoor food and drink space was announced; downtown gathering place, the Stubborn Goat Gastropub (1579 Grafton Street) will be slinging local beer, wine and meals (brunch, even)—and hosting live entertainment—to boardwalk walkers May through October, not just this summer but summers 2017 and 2018 as well.
We expect Stillwell's next sunshine-seeking plan is already brewing.
Editors note: An earlier version of this story's headline stated "Stubborn Goat wins waterfront beer garden tender" but has since been changed for clarity. The tender was for the beer garden site, not a beer garden -AS.
