Tuesday, January 11, 2011

Biercraft Tap and Tapas Bar (aka Stella's on Commercial)

Biercraft Tap and Tapas Bar used to be Stella's. I find it strange when a restaurant changes names. Especially one that has been around for such a long time- and to a much longer name. Why? Trying to find to the answer on their website is no help. They talk about opening the first "Biercraft" in 2005. Well, it was true but it was Stella's. They never mention the name "Stella's" in the website. Why work on a brand for so long just to ignore it with a name change?

We have been going to Stella's for years (and to Santo's before that, to lay down some old school Commercial Drive, yo). Great beer selection, nice room and good food. Great luck if you are able to get a seat on the patio in the summer.

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Photo by Knightbefore_99 on Flickr.

The lovely Yvette arranged a post Xmas get together at now Biercraft for about 8 of us. We have these get togethers at Biercraft every couple of months as we like the beer selection and the food. I like that they have Lambics because I am a girly beer drinker.

Yvette has made the proclamation that 2011 will be the year of the Risotto Ball. She sees balls everywhere now. While waiting for Liza and Nick to come in from the far reaches of the suburbs, we ordered some balls.

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Fancy! I really liked the presentation and the sauces were all nice, but I found that the balls just tasted like deep fryer. Not my favorite balls.

Big M and I decided to share some mussels.- Mariner// garlic, shallots, white wine, fresh herbs, monte au beurre $14.00 for 1 pound plus $4.00 for Belgian Frites.

This is how they were served:
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The mussels were huge! I really liked the sauce which even tasted great as a dipping sauce for the fries. Some of my favorite mussels and you just can't go wrong with Frites.

Yvette went with her favorite of Fish Tacos: Fish Tacos // achiote & citrus marinated fish, white cabbage, salsa & crema, corn tortillas, chimichurri, fresh cilantro - $11

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She really likes these tacos. I am not a fish taco fan so I have never tried them. Why don't they tell you what type of fish you are eating?

Liza and Nick went for another favorite, taquitos. Taquitos // beer and chili braised beef brisket, flour tortillas, guacamole & chimichuri - $12

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These I have tried and they are really good. They are nice and spicy and the guacamole is super tasty.

Dillon ordered the fish and chips- Fish and Chips // ale battered seasonal fish, Belgian frites, house made tartar - $13

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Again, no mention of what type of fish you are eating but the batter is really good. Crispy and not overly thick. I really enjoy their tatar sauce.

Nothing seems to have changed at Biercraft except for the name. The food and drinks are still awesome. Sustainability in fishing is something that I am trying to pay more attention to in 2011 and it is hard to tell if they are Oceanwise as they don't list where they get their fish and mussels from. (although neither Stella's nor Biercraft are listed as Oceanwise restaurants on the Oceanwise website...)

The bathroom has also has my current favorite graffiti- Yay Ninja.  My thoughts exactly.


BierCraft Tap and Tapas Bar (formerly Stella's) on Urbanspoon

2 comments:

  1. The manager there told us that someone in Winnipeg has opened a Stella's and has trademarked the name. They brought a legal fight to 'our' Stella's and after a bit of a scuffle, 'ours' decided it would be cheaper just to re-brand. They were planning to use the name Biercraft for their next restaurant anyhow so it worked out well.

    Also in Biercraft news; they're adding to the beer selection and intend to bring in lots of micro-brews from the US and beyond. We tried one from Oregon called 'Mirror Pond' which is a bit IPA-like and very good.

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  2. ironically, our party was told the "other" stellas was in San fran. Another member in our party was told the winnepeg story. Nice bierlore

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