Garrick's Head | Victoria | Bastion Square at Langley St.

[Sanjeet]

Had terrible service last night. Some girl in a red shirt was just awful. We ordered 2 beers and it took 40 minutes before we got both. We ordered one and then she went and put the order in. Took someone elses order in the process brought them their beers and finally brought one of the 2 beers we had ordered out. She told us that the grapefruit ale had run dry but they had some more in back so we waited. And waited some more. She stood there helping everyone else. Only to come back and say they didnt have more. Finally ordered another beer and it eventually arrived. We drank as fast as possible paid and left. She was very rude and also FREAKING SLOW. The place wasnt even full. Only half of the tables had customers

[OSJ]

sorry for your experiance, i will look into it. I was away in mexico at the time!

[VicHockeyFan]

The TC today says Garrick's Head has applied to amend its liquor licence to accommodate 168 patrons, up from the current 80.

That's the move into Breeze.

I wonder what council will do here. 7 years ago they said "no more liquor-primary seats". But that was then. Since then they approved Moon Under Water, allowed a change to liquor-primary at the Events Centre, and gave themselves expanded licensing at the Royal.

[OSJ]

Its just a waiting game right now, dont forget to add Bard and Banker to your list, as well as Darcy's increased there seats as well.
I'm just hoping it all goes well and we can open the new side come late summer.
I will have to hire a bunch of front of the house staff as well as kitchen staff, i mostly sell local brews, so all is helping the local economy as well.

[VicHockeyFan]

Originally Posted by OSJ

Its just a waiting game right now, dont forget to add Bard and Banker to your list, as well as Darcy's increased there seats as well.
I'm just hoping it all goes well and we can open the new side come late summer.
I will have to hire a bunch of front of the house staff as well as kitchen staff, i mostly sell local brews, so all is helping the local economy as well.

B & B used an existing liquor license I think. From Merlin's? I did not know about an increase at Darcy's. Was that all external seating?

Four years ago I was working with a business that simply wanted to shift its operating hours forward one hour each day. From 11am-1am to 12noon to 2am. No increase in hours, no increase in capacity. Council turned it down. Again, that was then.

[Bob Fugger]

Originally Posted by OSJ

Its just a waiting game right now, dont forget to add Bard and Banker to your list, as well as Darcy's increased there seats as well.
I'm just hoping it all goes well and we can open the new side come late summer.
I will have to hire a bunch of front of the house staff as well as kitchen staff, i mostly sell local brews, so all is helping the local economy as well.

OSJ - or anyone else, for that matter: may I ask, how is it that downtown establishments (both liquor primary and food primary) are not required to provide off-street parking to their patrons? If you look at a neighbourhood pub or restaurant, liquor licence seating is based on the number of parking spots that you can provide. Don't get me started on the illogic of this metric...

[VicHockeyFan]

Originally Posted by Bob Fugger

OSJ - or anyone else, for that matter: may I ask, how is it that downtown establishments (both liquor primary and food primary) are not required to provide off-street parking to their patrons? If you look at a neighbourhood pub or restaurant, liquor licence seating is based on the number of parking spots that you can provide. Don't get me started on the illogic of this metric...

That's a Victoria city regulation though, isn't it? Liquor authorities do not care about parking. So the city might have different rules/ratios for downtown.

[Bob Fugger]

Originally Posted by VicHockeyFan

That's a Victoria city regulation though, isn't it? Liquor authorities do not care about parking. So the city might have different rules/ratios for downtown.

It is - it's a bit of a convoluted bureaucratic relationship between city and LDB. LDB grants the liquor licence, provided it meets its and whatever rules it has delegated to municipal governments.

How parking is tied to seating is mind bottling.

[OSJ]

its kind of funny in the end that to sell more beer you have to have extra parking? you would think that the less people driving to the pubs the better.

[pontcanna]

Originally Posted by Bob Fugger

How parking is tied to seating is mind bottling.

I like this

[VicHockeyFan]

Originally Posted by OSJ

its kind of funny in the end that to sell more beer you have to have extra parking? you would think that the less people driving to the pubs the better.

I think it's just easy for the muni to say, "hey, you have 122 seats, so we know the demand on area parking will be xxx". Harder to do that with other types of business. So you provide some nice low-hanging fruit for their regulations, taxes, fees.

[sdwright.vic]

What's funny is they are only wanting to expand back to their original footprint.

[Hotel Mike]

Now, if Government Street were pedestrian only for most of the day, can you just imagine if seating for the pubs and restaurants could spill out a bit more? What a lively plaza that would be...Government Street/Bastion Square.

[OSJ]

A little update on everything, the 30 days the neighbours had to make a comment is now up, now a report goes to council.
we got all of our building permits from the city on wed. just waiting on the liquor license expansion news now. The space is pretty big and the final product will be a great addition to the city. we plan to expand our kitchen and there will be a new 30 foot bar in the new space with the addition of 20 new beer lines. Just hope everything goes as planned. this is the first time i have taken on a job this big.
would love to hear from everybody what they think would make great addition to make Garrick's Head a better spot as we move forward.
thanks
Jay.

[Benezet]

Rooftop patio! Someone was trying out the idea just today, I heard......

[Sparky]

^^ Free beer for VV members would be a nice touch.

[jklymak]

I've always liked the Garricks Head as a down-to-earth alternative to the B&B and IT, or even the Sticky Wicket. I hope the reno keeps that vibe.

[gumgum]

^Totally agree. It's the most authentic pub in the core i would say.

[Bob Fugger]

Originally Posted by jklymak

I've always liked the Garricks Head as a down-to-earth alternative to the B&B and IT, or even the Sticky Wicket. I hope the reno keeps that vibe.

This.

Originally Posted by gumgum

^Totally agree. It's the most authentic pub in the core i would say.

This.

Originally Posted by Sparky

^^ Free beer for VV members would be a nice touch.

And especially THAT!

[VicHockeyFan]

I need someone to try out this idea of mine. You are my best hope.

Don't put art on the walls, put up a bunch of 40 or 50-inch TVs.

But have them each display very cool images on a slide show, that only turns them every 15 minutes per picture at most. So every time you go, you see different "art" on the walls. It doesn't change quick enough to be distracting, but each does change enough to keep visitors captivated.

That's WAY more interesting than a bunch of TVs showing TSN poker tournaments during the day. You can always use them as TVs when necessary, or when a guest in a certain section requests their event.

BTW, you must get a lot of US visitors asking for NCAA stuff, I know how frustrating it is to have to tell them that our government forbids us from watching US TV much.

[Nparker]

Originally Posted by VicHockeyFan

Don't put art on the walls, put up a bunch of 40 or 50-inch TVs. But have them each display very cool images on a slide show, that only turns them every 15 minutes per picture at most. So every time you go, you see different "art" on the walls. It doesn't change quick enough to be distracting, but each does change enough to keep visitors captivated.

I like it!

[VicHockeyFan]

Originally Posted by Nparker

I like it!

A nice piece of art costs a few hundred bucks, so does a 40" TV, and is WAY more versatile. And the internet provide you with enough really amazing picture content to keep it running with no repeats for eternity.

Also, OSJ, I'd like to request comedy in the bathrooms. Just hook up an ipod type device with constant AC power supply, and an amp, some flush-mount speakers in the ceiling, and loop it with some stand-up comedy audio. Cost is maybe $200. Everyone likes a joke while they are taking a pee. Seriously. And you are a 19+ place, you can use any comedian really. And then when people come back from the washrooms, I guarantee you that's the first bit of conversation upon their return to their table of friends. Guaranteed. And the best catch-line is "I just heard something funny in the bathroom".

[gumgum]

Originally Posted by VicHockeyFan

I need someone to try out this idea of mine. You are my best hope.

Don't put art on the walls, put up a bunch of 40 or 50-inch TVs.

But have them each display very cool images on a slide show, that only turns them every 15 minutes per picture at most. So every time you go, you see different "art" on the walls. It doesn't change quick enough to be distracting, but each does change enough to keep visitors captivated.

That's WAY more interesting than a bunch of TVs showing TSN poker tournaments during the day. You can always use them as TVs when necessary, or when a guest in a certain section requests their event.

BTW, you must get a lot of US visitors asking for NCAA stuff, I know how frustrating it is to have to tell them that our government forbids us from watching US TV much.

Naw I saw keep the TVs to a minimum and please don't replace them as art pieces! The real deal is way more interesting and better for the community.

Local artists and patrons prefer local art for the most part - and original art. You televise art you're likely ending up with the Ikea art you see at a retail outlet at the mall. Otherwise you'd have to find someone to digitize art for you..another cost right there.
Installing all those TVs would cost a lot more that just the tvs. I would guess you'd have to double the cost of the TVs when you add wiring for the video and sound. (Maybe I'm way off on that calculation.)
And speaking of cost: original art would cost you less than nothing. Yes, you could make money on the art.
The artist installs it, agrees to pay a percentage of sales to the pub - sorted. The pub gets cudos for supporting the local arts community and receives a little financial incentive as well. Everyone wins.

Art makes a space look waaayyy better IMO. A TV's just a boring TV, regardless of what it's displaying.

[ZGsta]

Originally Posted by gumgum

Installing all those TVs would cost a lot more that just the tvs. I would guess you'd have to double the cost of the TVs when you add wiring for the video and sound. (Maybe I'm way off on that calculation.)

If you're JUST using the TVs for art then you can just plug in a USB stick (or even a lot of TV's have on-board memory now) with the pictures loaded. So it's just the cost of the TV and the mounting.
Using them optionally for programming would then require video/sound wiring as well.

[Mike K.]

Originally Posted by OSJ

A little update on everything, the 30 days the neighbours had to make a comment is now up, now a report goes to council.
we got all of our building permits from the city on wed. just waiting on the liquor license expansion news now. The space is pretty big and the final product will be a great addition to the city. we plan to expand our kitchen and there will be a new 30 foot bar in the new space with the addition of 20 new beer lines. Just hope everything goes as planned. this is the first time i have taken on a job this big.
would love to hear from everybody what they think would make great addition to make Garrick's Head a better spot as we move forward.
thanks
Jay.

Just to bring everyone up to speed without having to scroll down this thread, OSJ is referring to Garrick's Head expanding into the former Breeze clothing store space on Government. The pub will now extend from Langley through to Government.