#koerner's

[ubyssey]

If you're old and like to drink, you probably remember Koerner's Pub. 

[arshy]

Koerner’s turns on the taps

The first pitcher of beer sold at Koerner’s in four months was drunk quietly on the pub’s patio last Wednesday afternoon.

The Graduate Student Society began serving alcohol at the campus pub last week after the university reinstated their liquor license, bringing Koerners’ 133-day dry spell to an end.

However, the GSS’s new Food and Beverage Manager, Gerald Cole, said that some major changes are coming to the bar in the coming months.

“We’re going after an older demographic,” he told The Ubyssey.

Cole, who is a 30-year veteran of the food and beverage industry, said that alongside higher prices and the hiring of private security for busy nights, Koerner’s will be switching from self-service to a table service model.

He hopes that these changes, combined with higher quality food and liquor, will make the pub more attractive to faculty and staff.

“We’re in competition with other facilities here on the campus that pay their employees at a lower rate than we pay, who have larger venues and therefore far larger volumes, which means they can operate at a far smaller profit margin than we can,” said Cole. “It was absolutely incumbent upon us to raise our prices.”

The new regular price for the cheapest drink at Koerner’s, Rocky Mountain Pilsner, is $16.25. However, daily specials range for a pitcher range from $12.25 (on Mondays) to $14.25 (on every other day) .

“If you want to have a cheap drink, you can still get a cheap drink,” said Cole. “But all of the drinks aren’t cheap.”

He also emphasized that his top priority was to ensure that no liquor infractions, such as the two that led to Koerner’s losing its liquor license in March, would occur under his watch.

“I don’t care if you have grey hair; if you don’t have ID, you’re not getting served in Koerner’s Pub,” said Cole.

He also made clear that the pub would not allow more people into the facility than what their liquor license allows.

“We’re licensed to 150 people. So on a night like Monday and a night like Friday, we’re going to be busy with 150 people, not 225 people,” he said.

Regardless of these changes, the pub’s hours will stay the same in September and open mic nights will continue to be a Monday night ritual.

VP Students Brian Sullivan made it clear that these changes were not requested by UBC.

“This was very much decided by the GSS,” said Sullivan. “If they want to go heavier on the food, or change the menu, or change prices, that’s their business.”

However, some students have expressed concerns that the changes that Cole and the GSS are proposing mean that Koerner’s is no longer a student-oriented facility.

“Right now the only place left where people can go for cheap drinks in a student-priced bar setting is essentially the Gallery,” said Elin Tayyar, who serves as VP Finance of the AMS. “Koerner’s was a nice alternative, but now I don’t think that alternative exists.”

Tayyar and VP Academic Ben Cappellacci, neither of whom spoke on behalf of the AMS, believed that not only are the changes negative for students, they’re an impractical business move.

“Koerner’s is trying to bite into an already saturated market now between Mahoney’s and the Point Grill,” said Cappellacci. “All of these bars are catering to a higher-end student experience that may be out of reach for many students.”

GSS President Arvind Saraswat was not able to comment by press time. However, Cole is certain that the pub will continue to appeal to students.

“Koerner’s will very much be a customer driven facility. The things that work, the things that are profitable, the things that are popular with the clientele, we will continue to do.”

(Geoff Lister Photo/The Ubyssey)