It’s not a pretty building, but it has a nice sign, flush mounted against a flat, grey wall. The door is the one to the right of the church, which leads up a narrow staircase to, perhaps, the most unpretentious, most classic, good-time drinking hole in the CRD. The kind of place I used to go when I was just of age.
There’s the pair of pool tables on my immediate left. At centre right, soft-seat stools front a classic wooden bar backed by a full selection of bottles set under wooden arches. Two wooden satellite drinking rails stand parallel with the bar, each accompanied by more stools.
To the left are standard tables with red upholstered chairs stretching toward a wall of glass leading out to a sunny, on this day, outside patio where several more tables offer a forest view best enjoyed from inside where the parking lots before the trees are not to be seen. Inside is bright, on account of that single expanse of glass.
A few small TVs offer sports, Keno and Blackjack in competition with lighted advertisements for various beers and an assortment of bric-à-brac among posters for coming live performances: mostly punk and metal bands. Two dart boards grace the wall just left of the front door, which is also where performances happen. A large yellow sign warns patrons to enter the mosh pit at their own risk. It’s serious. There is evidence of a dance floor, but not near the sign.
It’s just after 1 p.m. when Dennis and I enter. Classic rock on the heavier side plays over the speakers. There are few customers, most older than me. I’m seeing ball caps, jeans and work-shirts. We ask for menus and I order a Hoyne Dark Matter, on tap.
A chalkboard above the bar warns that “…this bar may contain nuts!” If “nuts” means friendly, then the sign accurately describes the bartender and waitress. And now that I’m looking up, I see suspended from the red painted ceiling above large chalk renditions of famous sports photos. Dennis and I take a table under Mohammad Ali flexing aggressively over Sonny Liston prone on the mat.
The menu is mostly finger food: popcorn shrimp, pork bites, onion rings, chicken wings, a couple of wraps, salads, sliders, and poutine, and such.
Dennis, wanting only a snack, orders the House Cut Kennebecs with Aioli ($10). A tall waxed-paper lined wire flute filled with crispy-soft fries, hot and fresh from, we believe, clean oil. Nice.
I am hungrier and opt for the $18 Build-a-Burger: 1/4-pound beef, veggie, crispy chicken or, my choice, grilled chicken breast and “slather(ed)-on sauce.” Choose as many as you like, but be prepared for a mess. I opt for the blue cheese and mayo. In hindsight, the mayo undercut the blue cheese flavour and made for an even bigger mess, but that was my fault. The burger is delicious and the salad is very fresh.
All burgers come served on a bun with lettuce, tomato, onion and accompanied with kennebec fries, onion rings or a salad. Additional toppings and sides are available at additional cost. My burger and salad arrives with the news that, as it's a Monday, it is Burger and a Beer Day, so my Dark Matter is, happily, essentially free.
By now, the crowd has thickened. But this is still not the raucous evening crowd. Phoenix’s evenings are among the ever-fewer remaining options in Victoria’s dwindling performance scene, with Fridays and Saturdays making good use of that mosh pit, Thursdays featuring live DJs, and Wednesdays offering open mic/comedy nights which can be just about anything. Pick your classic experience.
Phoenix Bar and Grill
3944 Quadra St., Saanich
250-479-9760
