The Terminal Pub, New West’s long-standing watering hole on the tail end of 12th Street, is open after a two-year hiatus.
The establishment, which served its first beer in 1940, has had a bit of a hiccup in the last two years. COVID restrictions were the key reason the pub was forced to shut in 2020, according to its new operators, Mohsen Mohajer and Dusty Cooper.
But the local favourite, which has stood resilient for eight decades now, reopened to the public in April 2022 flaunting an all-new menu — one with a heavy Mediterranean influence. Which means you can expect to chug your beer with a side of roasted pistachio nuts, or a plate of hummus and pita, while waiting for your Greek-style lamb roast.
Mohajer, the new chef at the pub, specializes in Greek and Italian cuisine and has designed a menu that includes calamari and chicken cooked with Mediterranean spices, and pasta done in traditional Italian style. “We use a lot of fresh mint, basil, oregano, balsamic vinegar, lime juice, smoked paprika, fresh garlic and olive oil,” he said.
If you were a regular at The Terminal Pub pre-COVID, you would know that the menu, which once included beef dip and truffle bacon mac and cheese as crowd favourites, has undergone quite a change.
As far as the interiors are concerned, Mohajer and Cooper have made no changes to the building that once was a beer parlour where workers from the nearby paper mill and the docks would hang out after work. The dim lights, dark woodwork, and the photos of Kettle Valley Steam Railway that make a trademark addition to the pub's walls are intact. Mohajer said all they did was just clean up the place a bit.
“It’s amazing to be in a building that has so much history to it,” added Mohajer. “We were told by a customer who has been coming here for years that this was one of the last pubs in New West where they segregated men and women. Men were on one side, and women were on another. This was one of the last pubs that followed that tradition,” said Cooper.
Mohajer and Cooper are new to New West (Mohajer is from Vancouver, and Cooper from northern British Columbia). However, just the experience of managing the pub has exposed them to what the community is like.
“It’s a little bit different here, people are friendlier, more accommodating … we feel we are welcome here,” Mohajer said.