Beer Bars – Luxalune Gastropub in Winnipeg, Manitoba

My initial impression as I walked into this bar was one of slight concern.  I was welcomed by a three foot stack of cardboard six-pack holders, a couple of beat up pool tables, a giant “Spin the Wheel”, two dozen abused booths, and a life-sized cut out of the Most Interesting Man in the World.  The interior was painted in black and punctuated with a handful of television screens featuring hockey.  The furniture was pretty worn and the bathroom was beat absolutely to hell.  I was not travelling with beer people and I was worried that I may lose some credibility here.  My colleagues and I apprehensively took a seat and began to thumb through a menu.

The owners of Luxalune apparently brew their own beer under the banner Farmery Estate.  The beer is an all-malt lager, and to add a twist to this story, they even grow their own barley in the fields of Manitoba.  So this is what I started with.

I was a bit surprised when this beer came to me in a 12 ounce bottle with an empty Mason jar.  I’m at the source and it doesn’t come in draft?  Farmery Premium Lager is sweet, corny, and easy to drink.  I guess the beer is decent attempt at what it was trying to be even if it’s not generally my cup of tea.  And I wasn’t impressed with the empty jar, but I guess there are worse offenses to be made in a beer bar.

When the beer came we ordered food, and this is when Luxalune started to shine.  Almost everything was presented in “tapas” format, so we ordered a bunch of different items for the table.  Out came pub fries, several vegetarian pizzas, and an incredible beer-blueberry-Brie cheese combination.  The food was fantastic.  All of it.  We ordered food, and then ordered a second round.  I can’t speak highly enough of their menu.  Absolutely wonderful.   

Luxalune indicates that they have 150 beers available, but to me it looked like only eight of these are on draft handles (and two of them were blank on this particular evening).  Their international selection was mildly uninspiring, but the list of Canadian bottles was brilliant.  There was Russell Brewery, Driftwood, Phillips Brewery, Granville Island, and Parallel 49 from British Columbia.  They had Big Rock from Alberta and Unibroue from Quebec.  Waterloo, Muskoka, Double Trouble, and Mill Street represented Ontario.  Yukon was there from Yukon, as was Pumphouse from New Brunswick.  And of course Manitoba was there with Half Pints and Fort Garry.

In a nutshell… Luxalune looks a little questionable, but they’ve got a great Canadian beer list and amazing food.  I would go back in a heartbeat and recommend it to anyone looking for a local pint.

734 Osborne Street
Winnipeg, MB R3L 2C2
204-453-0222
http://www.luxalune.com

-Matt