Gahan House Opening Taproom And Food Truck In Uptown Saint John
SAINT JOHN– Gahan House Port City will be opening “The Barrel Room” and a food truck on Water Street.
The new taproom, which is in the same building as the Gahan restaurant and brewpub that fronts on Prince William Street, is slated to open within the next week.
“The Barrell Room name comes from a brewing process,” says general manager Ben Tsang. “We obviously have a brewery here at Gahan House, and the brewer is going to take the beer and move them into barrels where they are going to age the beer for six to eight months to give it unique and distinct flavours, hence the name, The Barrell Room.”
Tsang says the taproom will focus more on beer, while The Gahan House restaurant upstairs focuses more on food.
“Down here, it’s more of a showcase of the beer. It’s more like a bar,” he says. “It’s a place where you order a pint, hang around, socialize with your friends. It’s really designed for that quick interaction … It’s a little more casual, more beverage-focused versus the food-focus.”
But that doesn’t mean you won’t be able to get a bite at The Barrel Room. Gahan will also have a new food truck for the summer months, which is in the process of getting retrofitted, parked beside the patio.
“We’ll probably have six to eight menu item, different from the Gahan menus upstairs. Totally distinct items will be in the food truck,” says Tsang. “Most guests might recognize a few of them, we did some testing over the winter to see what people would like, such as different kinds of tacos, burritos, maybe a different kind of hamburger. The food will be designed to be a bit quicker.”
When the colder months hit, Gahan will also be renting out The Barrel Room for private events.
“You can book anytime, it’s private, you get your own bar basically and we can serve you all types of food,” says Tsang.
Gahan has several restaurant locations in the Maritimes, but Tsang says the taproom is completely unique to the Saint John location.
“This very distinct to Saint John. Most other Gahan’s have the main restaurant with a bar. They don’t have that secondary space per se. We’re the only one at the moment that has a secondary space like this.”