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Smuggler’s Cove keeps Cadboro Bay’s heart beating

Neighbourhood haunt excels at the generation game
behindbars-bartender-joe-clarke-and-general-manager-tara-mchugh
Smuggler's Cove bartender Joe Clark and general manager Tara McHugh.

The Cadboro Bay neighbourhood’s Smuggler’s Cove Pub is thriving three decades in, despite the challenges of COVID and road construction in the area.

General Manager Tara McHugh, who was previously at the Cock & Bull Pub before Brian Dunn bought it in 1996 and renamed it the Smuggler’s Cove Pub after the local cove of the same name, said it has been her whole life.

“I love the people and I’ve seen many, many regulars come through this place and people that I served in university that came back and bought houses in the neighbourhood and have children and are now in their 40s. So it’s been quite the ride,” she says.

“While it has changed during the 31 years I’ve been here, it’s still got that, Cheers sort of feel – everyday regulars who, I think, for a lot of people, are a big part of their friend group from the past 30 years. It’s very much what you’d think a neighbourhood pub would be.

“Even during COVID we had people that bought gift certificates before that happened for hundreds of dollars, just to keep us going. There were a lot of dedicated people.”

The pandemic was difficult, and it changed the business – tough already for small businesses, because of the cost of wages, food and liquor costs.

“It’s hard for people to stay in business. But we seem to be managing, which is good.

Having long-term staff through thick and thin has also helped them survive.

“We’ve had some really long-term staff. Upstairs we’ve had lots of people that have worked here for like 20 years that live in the neighbourhood. So it’s pretty tight-knit.

“Two of the owner’s kids have worked here over the years; one of them still does. I think I met the latter when he was six months old and now he’s 30. So he’s currently in the kitchen today, but he also works upstairs on the bar.

“Once people work here they tend to stay. Even if it’s just one shift a week, they want to stay connected.”

When it comes to food and drink, Smugglers has a deep menu.

“We’re really known for our fish and chips. We used to serve halibut, but now we just serve lingcod which is great. And I’ve had people say we have the best fish and chips in town,” McHugh says. “Our pork ribs are also delicious. We cut them here and people have been coming in for ribs for years. In fact I have a couple of people I call the ‘rib table’, as they’ve been coming in for 15 years.

“Another of our most popular food items are our mussels. They come in fresh and are delicious. They sell out really quickly.”

McHugh also tries to support the local breweries.

“We have a tap lineup of 15 beers and I’ve tried to keep a lot of them local. But we have Guinness, which is still one of our biggest sellers, and I still keep Canadian, because everyday drinkers all drink Molson Canadian still. And I do a rotating tap feature, to try and get some small breweries’ names out there.
People are always interested in what the rotating tap is,” she says.

“We pick a brewery and then feature their beer for a month. And then I usually stick with the same people. We’re pretty dedicated to Hoyne, Phillips and Driftwood. They are the three main ones that we keep on tap.

Special events like St Patrick’s Days are always popular – especially with Guinness on tap.

“They’re always fun days to work. We actually won the best Guinness pour four years in a row a few years ago. But apparently you can now put a picture on your Guinness (head). There’s a machine that does that. We don’t have that. But we are known for having the perfect temperature (of Guinness) and the clover on top.”

I sampled Category 12 Brewery’s Juicy Data IPA which slipped down very nicely.

“One of our biggest sellers right now is non-alcoholic beer, such as the Iota Pale Ale from Phillips and we have it on tap. We’ve had it about a year and we go through more of that than most of our other beers, especially in January, as lots of people do a dry January.”

Along with St Paddy’s, Smuggler’s has a few other big celebration days during the year.

“Super Bowl is huge, so I try to do a lot of prizes, and we usually do hot dog specials and lottery gameboards for big giveaways. It’s usually a pretty huge day. Our busiest time is probably the Labour Day weekend, when the students are starting back at UVic.

Smuggler’s Cove is also family-friendly, as long as children are with a legal guardian – ideal for those families visiting the nearby Cadboro-Gyro Park and beach.”

So, what makes a great bartender for the neighbourhood pub?

Someone who can multi-task and keep their cool under pressure is key, McHugh says.

“Being able to talk to the customers while working hard and doing your job, and talking to the customers about things they’re interested in. We have a few bartenders here that are great but we also have a few that are spectacular. They make people feel welcome and like they want to come back.

“I have people that come here once a year from the States just to see certain people. They come in to sit at the bar and see how their life is going. So it’s about the relationships here, for sure. People come back and expect to see the same person they saw 20 years ago. And as you get older that really means something.”

Roadworks and construction on Sinclair Road have thrown a spanner in the works for McHugh and her crew, but they’ll keep their heads held high and weather the storm.

“Things are tough right now due to the road closure on Sinclair. Some of the weekdays are really slow, because people are having trouble getting here. And it’s going to get worse, because they’re going to close Cadboro Bay (Road) too, so you’re going to have to take the really long route via Arbutus and come from the other side,” McHugh says.

It doesn’t seem to affect us in the evening, but the daytime is slow. It’s a 2.5-year project on Sinclair, redoing all the sewage systems and the entire road. They’re also putting a roundabout at the corner here. So it has hurt us a little bit, but we still have dedicated regulars, so that’s good.”

McHugh says owner Dunn has been responsible for the pub’s decor which has quite a rustic feel. And plans are afoot to renovate their outdoor patio.

Otherwise they’ll keep on keeping on with what’s worked for three decades.

“The industry of owners and general managers is a great community and keeps me in the loop. They give us good products to try and help keep our customers happy.”

To learn more, visit smugglerscovepub.com