The Grove Pub & Restaurant

Great place to go for casual drinks after work. Has a great atmosphere and a good setup. Beer selection is good and the servers/​bartenders always look like they are having a good time. Its a good neighbourhood bar.

Their burgers are fantastic, for starters. We’ve gone a number of times and haven’t been disappointed. Great beer selection, too

A casual spot in Winnipeg, The Grove offers up traditional pub food. I ordered the burger with the egg and wasn’t impressed. The egg was overcooked and thus didn’t add much value to the meal. Not sure if their other dishes are better, but I can’t recommend their burger. Good luck in Winnipeg.

Gotta love a place that has a menu, but it is a surprise each month about which variations are being offered. For example there is always a lamb dish, but it may be the English lamb stew or as it was this nite, the lamb shank. Great menu with an excellent selection (lobster poutine? Really)
The side salads (great that they offer ½ portions) were okay. The green salad had a bunch of stuff, even things like carrots which are rumoured not to be green! Crisp, flavourful and a good size portion. The Quinoa salad had lots of flavour. The pistachios and sour cherry made for some great flavours.
The butter chicken poutine exploded with flavour (not unlike what might be happening in the arteries but it was worth the risk). A good sized portion that is made for sharing.
The lamb dish nicely plated with one big lamb shank. Nice sides of broccoli and carrots. The Korma sauce? Was a nice idea butt could have used a bit more seasoning. Having said that, the lamb was awesome.
There was even room for some dessert. The sticky toffee pudding with caramel sauce was nice to try but wouldn’t order it again. Caramel sauce was more of a clear sugar sauce than a creamy one. Okay, but as stated, will try something else next time. And there will definitely be a return visit.
Last but not least, from the moment you walk in you are treated to excellent service!

Great pub/​restaurant with a good selection of beers and great burgers they have some other tasty looking items on the menu however I have not tried them yet. My only regret is it is not on any of my usual routes. Have been here a couple of time, and plan to make it back.

Nice casual sit-​down service restaurant with a good vibe and great food.
Pros:
–two areas to dine: either the louder bar area which is fun and friendly, or the quiet dining room with nice large windows and cozy tables. there is also a back room with a couple of slot machines to play.
–nice location in a fun area of town to explore
–huge beer menu as well as a decent wine and cocktail menu
–good food with a simple, basic but innovative menu that seems to change seasonally (the ingredients, not necessarily the basics/​concept) and good quality ingredients
–Mixed Greens: Artisan lettuce and micro greens topped with carrot, cucumber, red pepper and onion; fresh, generous portion with perfectly thin sliced onions and a lot of veggies not just lettuce
–Cucumber-​tomato salsa: I got this on my salad instead of the vinaigrette and it was delicious. fresh, crunchy and well balanced acidly… more of a salsa fresca
–Spicy Chicken added to salad; amazingly delicious! strips of chicken pan seared to make a spicy (not hot sauce, but peppery type spice) crispy glaze on edges. mostly dark meat and a little rich (plus, some of the pieces were really tiny) but so delicious.
–Harvard Burger with Fries: my friend got this and really enjoyed it. The jalapeño relish was not too spicy and the pineapple well grilled he stated. It was very generous, but not too «heavy or greasy» he also commented.
–good value for the money (see below)
–open late!
Cons:
–while the value was good, when I asked just for the scallops (from the appetizer) or duck (from an entrée) to add to my salad instead of the spicy chicken, I was told those items would be the same price as the original plate… which doesn’t seem fair, since I’m not getting the «extra» items. they were unwilling to give me a ½ portion of the protein either.
–parking is a pain in this area.
–the service was not great. while the waiter was very nice and willing to check on my questions/​requests, he was definitely not attentive in any way. he did not chen on us once after we got our meals (which someone else brought) to see if we needed anything else and did not refill our water once during the whole meal (I had to get up and ask for pepper and water).
–I didn’t try the desserts since the options are very limited and lack anything chocolate.
Overall, while the service was a miss, the food and atmosphere were great! I will definitely go back to try one of the other many offerings that looked good, especially the duck entrée and Dorchester open-​faced burger.

BEST burgers (and fries) in town! Love the Harvard burger and my bf loves the Stafford burger. Always good service and food. This is our go to restaurant!

This place is a great place to hang out with friends. I can’t say how much I enjoyed the atmosphere here — it was laid back and had a cool vibe without trying. The demographics on a Thursday was diverse — most were in the 25 – 40 age range and yet there were quite a few older people just enjoying a pint or two. There were familes, yuppies, hipsters etc I know it sounds bizarre but it all worked. There was a wait to get a table even though we were there at 6 pm but it wasn’t a long wait. The lounge side had lots of TVs with sports on, the music was on but enough as background noise without having to shout to your friends at the table.
I am impressed by the alcohol offerings as this place has a good selection of beer AND wine… many pubs lack in the wine dept. It’s not a super extensive list but you can definitely find something you like at a decent price. The food is another surprise here for a pub. This place is more gastropub than old school pub as there are lots of interesting non-​pub like dishes along with some modern updates on some pub classics. I had super yum pizza called the «Kristel» for $ 13. It’s a thin crust pizza with spicy eggplant, mushrooms, bacon, olives and creamy chevre. I would order this pizza again in a heart beat. The pan seared scallops at $ 15 with saffron parsnip purée, apple and onion jam, black garlic purée and crispy parsnip was kinda disappointing. The scallops weren’t cooked properly and the flavours did not really highlight the scallops. I would skip this appy.
After 2 glasses of wine, the pizza and splitting the scallops with my friend, I paid a total of $ 55. Not bad at all for a great night. Service is friendly and waters were always filled up and we never felt rushed.

Situated at the corner of Stafford and Lilac, The grove is almost everything I’ve dreamed of in a pub. I have been trying to get there for a few months, but whenever I go there is a long wait time and I am starving. This time I was able to handle 45 minutes sitting in their somewhat narrow entrance and I don’t regret a minute of that time.
We ordered:
— Veggie Burger
— Danielle Pizza
— fries
— Sticky Toffee Pudding
— 1 Pimms
— A few pints
Unlike everywhere else I’ve gone in the last few months, the cocktails are 7 $ not 10 $; that in and of itself is worth noting. Domestics are 4.25, which is a decent price. They also do a sampler for 7.00 and imports for 6.50. They have a good range of beers and cocktails, including the Stafford Street Lager, which I stupidly didn’t order.
Their veggie burger might be the best in the city! It is extremely tasty, slightly crisp and the bun is everything I hope for in a bun: tasty and capable of holding everything inside it. It blew my mind. The pizza was also really good. It didn’t have tomato sauce, which usually means I will strongly dislike it, but this one was the exception to the rule. The crust was good, the toppings were perfect, and despite having a fair amount of oil it didn’t taste greasy. I was amazed. The sticky toffee pudding was good, but my bother has an unbeatable recipe, and that means I was slightly disappointed. The fries were nothing special, but still tasty.
Pretty much everyone I know loves this place and I see why. If it was just a little bit cheaper, or just a little bit less crowded, I would never go anywhere else to eat, drink, and be merry.

The Grove is located in a bit of a historic-​looking area. However, as with most of Winnipeg, the streets were pretty much deserted.
The venue is split into 2 sections as you enter. Go right for the restaurant, and left for the bar. Once you go inside though, it’s really just one big room, with the bar area in the middle.
Maybe it was a Monday night, but the place was deathly quiet. There was some background music, but NOBODY in the bar was talking.
There were a couple of TVs showing NFL. But they were muted, so the place was still deathly quiet. As for the rest of the interior, there was definitely a homely British feel to it.
I had a chance to drink their Strongbow beer ($ 7). Seemed like a much better deal than their bottles.
As an appy, I had Chevre & Pequillo Pepper Croquettes. These were nice and gooey, and were quite enjoyable.
For dinner I had the steak and mushroom pie. As a side I had the mixed green salad (the other options were Caesar salad, fries, or cabbage and sausage soup). The pie was really just a bowl of cooked steak and mushroom bits, with a baked «top» crust that you could literally pick right up in one piece. The filling was a bit too salty, but was other pretty good. The mixed greens were a bit on the bland side, but this is healthier as well.
The owner definitely has the right idea. Too bad the population of the city is so spread out.

I love nearly everything about this place — the food, the potables and the room itself.
First let’s talk about that room: The owners have wisely avoided that cheesy «faux Brit pub» decorating style, typified by lots of heavy dark wood and fake stone. Instead, they have created a bright and welcoming space, with enough dark wood to evoke memories of a British pub, but not so much to be oppressive.
The layout of the room is equally smart, balancing an open flow with a number of distinct zones that bring a cozy feeling to the space. The horseshoe-​shaped bar right in the center is downright brilliant, and everyone remarks on it when they visit for the first time. This restaurant would be a wonderful space for a private party, if they do that sort of thing.
The diner demographics shift as the evening progresses. On a Friday, you’ll find all ages of hipsters enjoying an after-​work dinner. By 9 or 10, it’s as if someone called out «shift change!» The older crowd starts to head home and the neighborhood 20-​somethings descend.
And now, the food!
I have one word for you — PIE! I’ve had the «pie of the day» half a dozen times, and it has always been stupendous. This is true comfort food, with savory ingredients beneath a wonderful puff pastry crust. I’m not a salad fan, but the one accompanying this dish is pleasant and fresh with a nice, unobtrusive dressing.
Also good are the coronation chicken sandwich, curried lamb shank and daily soups. These guys have a nice touch with the flavoursome.
Disappointments for me were, ironically, some of the most iconic British dishes on the menu.
The Welsh rarebit was too modernized for my tastes. Just give me a few pieces of toast smothered in a super-​cheesy and savory sauce, please. No need to mess with that recipe for success.
And, horror of all horrors, I was not wild about the fish and chips. Perhaps the kitchen was too busy when I ordered it on a packed Friday night, but I found my fish overcooked (although the portion was certainly generous). The curry sauce on the side was also a mistake — I should have stuck with the tartar.
Much better are the panko breaded fish bites on the nibblies menu. And on that note, kudos to The Grove for offering a few appetizer options that have some protein and nutritional value. Most drinks-​and-​nibblies spots have nothing but various forms of deep-​fried carbohydrates covered in cheese.
As for potables — The Grove offers a nice selection of wines and beers. In the summer months, be sure to try the grapefruit and strawberry beers — much better than a cloying cooler.