Pop it (‘cause it’s hot)!

This summer Winnipeg’s new (and established) pop-up bars offer you an oasis to sip and snack the day away

In Winnipeg, pop-up bar season is now in session.   

Cargo Bar first started serving drinks out of its shipping container setting all over the city in 2019. Last summer, it scored itself a steady home in Assiniboine Park, where you can once again find it in a primetime location beside the Riley Family Duck Pond. 

Surrounding it, you’ll find seating with plenty of shade from all the park’s trees, while its tiny rooftop patio is a coveted spot perched over the pond. The drinks menu features fun local plays on the classics, like the Toba Collins with Patent 5 Purple Blossom Gin, and The Manitoba Mule, with Baltic Brothers-infused vodka. For food, the Park Café is just steps away, with an easy pickup window that ensures you never have to leave the outdoors.

The Beer Can, last year’s popular downtown pop-up, has moved to the Granite Curling Club on the Assiniboine River, a mighty fine location just across the bridge from Osborne Village. On top of the lineup of local beers, this year The Beer Can has its own cantina overseen by chefs Keith Csabak, Kayla Anderson and Gina Navarro – the latter of whom comes from Zamora, Mexico, where she went to culinary school. The taco varieties change regularly (and are also available for takeout), as does the selection of local craft beers available by the can (the taps are all local too). Perhaps the most impressive thing about this new setting is the huge wood deck/patio and picnic tables that the owners have built. It all makes for a scene that is utterly charming.

The West End also has a pop-up beer garden this summer, aptly named The Garden at 955, located right on Portage Avenue (at, you guessed it, 955). This converted parking lot boasts nearly 10,000 sq. ft. of space and features food vendors, local beer, wine, cocktails and weekly entertainment. 

In the Exchange District, the excellent Bijou Patio is back at it too with wine and local beer just steps from Portage and Main. To service this primetime location, you’ll find QR Codes placed on each table that, when scanned, will reveal all the incredible restaurants in the area that will deliver food right to your table.

A few blocks away on Main Street downtown, the Times Change(d) High and Lonesome Club has teamed up with the fab new café Modern Electric Lunch to create Blue Note Park. Vessel Beer is currently brewing a signature beer for the Blue Note. The area has plenty of spacious seating and Modern Electric’s Electric Snacks will be using plenty of local ingredients for the food menu. As it is led by Times Change(d), great local acts will also be in order once restrictions allow.