When Andrew Harris and co-owner Gillian Nixon opened the suds stop Portland on Vancouver’s Main Street, Oregon was regarded as the epicentre of craft beer, at least on the West Coast. Read More
Restaurants and bars with American names want people to know they’re Canadian — and they’re using their menus to prove it
Restaurants and bars with American names want people to know they’re Canadian — and they’re using their menus to prove it
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When Andrew Harris and co-owner Gillian Nixon opened the suds stop Portland on Vancouver’s Main Street, Oregon was regarded as the epicentre of craft beer, at least on the West Coast.
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Cut to 15 years later: Canada is in a tariff war with our southern neighbour, and anything that hints of America is a potential albatross for a small business.
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“Business is down, and I’m not sure how much of that is directly a result of this backlash anymore,” Harris said.
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“But we’ve received some really positive emails from around Canada telling us not to change our name, that everything will blow over. Someone even pointed out how many Portlands there are, even one in Ontario.” A small village named Portland is located in eastern Ontario.
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Rather than change the bar’s name, Harris and Nixon are fighting back by leaning Canadian.
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“We’ve removed all U.S. craft beer from our portfolio and moved to uber-local,” said Harris.
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“In terms of our bourbon, we’re selling through what we have. It’s difficult to replace overnight because of the costs, but we’re moving to Japanese and to European whiskey, and our Canadian whisky selection is growing leaps and bounds.”
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If there’s a silver lining, it’s that more customers are asking questions and pushing for Canadian products.
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“It’s fantastic, and about time,” Harris said.
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He is hopeful that the renewed attention to homegrown products will lead to more interprovincial trade. As the owner of Craftside Beverages, a company that includes local breweries Fuggles and Container, he is also a manufacturer who is frustrated by current barriers.
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“Where I really feel that Canada needs to wake up is interprovincial tariffs. Why do I have a tariff to sell to Ontario when I don’t have one to Washington State? What I hope comes out of this is that we break down tariff barriers between provinces and move to a single-economy system, which is what we should be in.”
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George Siu, who opened his first Memphis Blues BBQ on Vancouver’s Broadway Street 25 years ago with co-founder Park Heffelfinger, says that the local chain has always sourced its meat from Canadian producers.
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“We’re talking about two East End guys that decided, ‘Hey, we should do barbecue in this city,’ because nobody really was doing it.”