Beers Brothers

author: shelbi glover | a&c writer

Some of the drinks at Beer Bros/Courtesy of Beer Bros

Dining at one of Regina’s best gastropubs

When I was told to review Beer Bros, I was anticipating something different. Not in a bad way, but in a “this is probably a place I’d go piss drunk at 2 a.m.” kind of way. Mind you, I haven’t lived here long, and Regina hasn’t even been my home for a year yet, so I’m a little behind on the restaurant scene. I was surprised upon walking in; what I expected to be a very crowded, tavern-esque environment was actually quite fancy. Not fancy in a traditional sense, but fancy for a broke college student who rarely splurges for food that isn’t McDonald’s or Subway.

The waiter handed us two menus: one regular, and one temporary, with fresh meals that are only available through the beginning of March. The temporary menu was fairly unimpressive but you should probably take that with a grain of salt, since I’m a fairly unadventurous eater. The regular menu was also pretty lackluster, and eventually I settled. My girlfriend ordered the rainbow trout, my best friend ordered the veggie burger, and I ordered the all-day breakfast burger.

If you don’t know this about me already, I’m from the deep southern United States. We invented breakfast there. With this in mind, I didn’t have my hopes extremely high; when it comes to most Canadian breakfast dishes, I find that it’s usually best to expect the worst. No offense, y’all.

Beer Bros, however, exceeded my expectations and more. The burger, which I might have preferred a bit more blackened, but I can’t complain, was topped with thick bacon, cheese mushrooms, a smooth aioli, sliced pickles, and a fried egg. One bite was all it took, and I was immediately sold; everything I have come to fear about Canadian breakfast was erased in an instant. The bacon was fried to perfection, and the aioli complimented every part of the burger. The fries that came as a side were also great, which is pretty high praise, considering I’m not usually a fan of fries.

My girlfriend had no complaints about her meal, and my best friend had only one, which he urged me to include for all of his fellow vegans. “The burger tastes great, but the texture needs work. Expect it to be almost paste-y.”

When it comes down to the bill, though, I can say that I don’t think it’s worth any hype. Despite the quality of the food, I am, like many of us, just a broke college student at my base, so price is a huge factor when I’m deciding where to eat. For my girlfriend and I to eat with two drinks, it cost $65, and we didn’t even order appetizers.

So, there you go. Beer Bros, while not the frat-boy hangout I’d expected it to be, totally exceeded my expectations with their breakfast burger, but is ultimately not worth the high price. There are plenty of places around town with better prices for the same (if not even higher) quality, and we all just have to keep looking.