Westwind Pub - Port Alberni, British Columbia

Jackie Kenzie

So glad to have our local pub back❤️ it has been too long. The service was great, our server was attentive and professional, she tempted us with a new purple shimmery gin, yum. The food was great. The bathrooms are gorgeous. There is a cozy couch area by the fireplace now. A new look and feel with some of the old flavour too.

vancouverislandbass

Cool atmosphere! Ordered Twin City beer, cauliflower wings and fries. Fries were great. Beer was great. Cauliflower wings were frozen and full of raw batter. Server checked on us only once after 30-35 minutes. Super nice lady. It’s alright but they really need to step up their game if they want to succeed, considering all the good restaurants we have in town.

David Lush

Came to Port Albernie for a weekend getaway as I normally do as I pass through on the way to Tofino and came across this gem of a pub! Being from newfoundland I am accustomed to a good pub and this one is rather well put together. The decor is fresh and rustic in a new age modern way. It was bustling with a good group of patrons all laughing, smiling and appeared as though everyone was enjoying their time.

I was alone but the staff made me feel so welcomed and put in an amazing effort to strike up a conversation. I enjoyed a few amazing pints from their vast selection which were some of the coldest beers that I have had from a pub in a while especially during this summer heat. Although I never had anything to eat the menu looked amazing and I will definitely be coming back to try some of their fine fair. Everything looked reasonable priced and for those who were eating seemed to be enjoying what they did order.

Shout out to Erica (the amazing bartender) who was pulling my pints and on her game with making sure my glass was full and her amazing conversations, which is worth so much to a lonely traveler. As well as to the GM Reaha who was on her game and who struck up some good conversations and made me feel at home.

Wendy Falkenberg

Clubhouse was very small but wasn't terrible. Soup was initially cold but brought me a new one and was delish. Husband got the Greek chicken bowl and quite enjoyed it. Service was good

Denis Francoeur

As I begin this, I want to say that I want the new Westwind pub to be successful. We need more great pubs/restaurants in Port Alberni and I was very excited to see the Westwind reopen. That said, there is a lot of work needed to get there.

I've been twice since reopening 6-ish weeks ago, and this review is representative of my two experiences.

The servers are also the hosts and always seem to be scrambling to find folks seats (good on them for their hard work!) -- they should have a dedicated host for busy evenings/weekends to make things smoother.

The service, while pleasant, is very slow. We were not advised of out of stock (OOS) items upon being seated, but only found out once we tried to order and found out that 3 of the 5 'served after 5pm' mains were OOS.

There were a number of taps either run out and not replenished (my first drink choice was OOS) or 'not good' as I heard one server describe a cider tap to a nearby family. I ordered a New England hazy IPA and got something ' hazy belgian'. The banana flavor was unmistakable from the Belgian yeast.

Since my first food choice was OOS, I ended up ordering the steak sandwich, which is listed as a NY 6oz (implying a NY strip)... But was more akin to a skirt or flank cut. It had a strong iron taste, and was unfortunately overcooked -- but after waiting over an hour for food, I did not dare send it back. The crispy onions that accompied the sandwich were stale, hard and inedible, but the sauteed mushrooms were nice.

On the positive side, my wife LOVED her taco salad bowl - she raved about the corn ribs, and my son enjoyed his chili cheese waffle fries.
On a previous visit, I had the wings for Wing night. The wings were crispy and delicious -- my only (small) complaint was I ordered 2 flavours and couldn't tell them apart.

Luke M

A shadow of its former self. The reopening could have been great, but every corner was cut and it shows. Food, labor, decor, service, everything is the minimum.
Check dates on reviews - most are for previous ownership that closed years ago before covid.
Inattentive service. Not advised of unavailable items or long food wait times when we sat. We had to call over our server for the basics (water, cutlery, refills).
Bland and uninspiring food, lacking seasoning, with no love or interest on the plate. Two menu pages devoted to wings with 20 sauce options and a dozen versions of dressed up fries. Other items scattered around the menu. Two mains took an hour in a mostly empty dining room.
Atmosphere was a cold room on a cold day, no one knew how to change the AC temperature, free-tier Spotify playlist including ads, patio solarium ceiling leaking during rain, fireplace not lit.
Ironically owners have jingle pot pub in Nanaimo, which is decent. So they SHOULD be able to do better, but it's not happening here.

Trip Sons

One of the worst experiences pub wise I've ever had, all the servers were obviously under the influence, spending more time drinking at the bar then tending their customers, once we finally got our food it was a let down to say the least, poor quality and underwhelming too match the service. Would rate less then 1 Star if I could, in other words find somewhere else to eat if you're passing thru

Susan Barnett

Cozy pub, lots of wood . I had a Shrimp and Avocado salad. It was a generous serving of shrimp and half an avocado on top. All served on a fancy lettuce base.