God knows that we love Parallel 49 (1950 Trimph Street) here at the Georgia Straight, to the point where, in the past, we spent more than one gorgeous summer afternoon holed up in the brewery’s old tasting room, working our way through pints of Tricycle Grapefruit Radler, Apricotopus Apricrot Sour Saison, and Salty Scot Scotch Ale.

The only small complaint made over the years was that Parallel 49 wasn’t exactly the grandest locale in the city, that point becoming glaringly obvious every time an Andina Brewing Company, or a Strange Fellows Brewing, or a Strathcona Beer Company opened their doors to Vancouver. The old tasting room had sort of a cafeteria-vibe to it, which was funny because the only food available on-site tended to be of the pepperoni sticks and glorified cheese-bread variety.

You can imagine how thrilled we are then by the news that a five-month renovation of the spot has culminated in the opening of a new Parallel 49 beer store, tasting room, and street-kitchen restaurant.

The street kitchen features an on-site food truck (literally parked right inside the premises in all its graffiti-art covered glory) with a menu overseen by chef Jason Harper. A veteran of the Cactus Club Cafe chain, Harper has assembled a menu that puts a spin on traditional food-truck fare using fresh and seasonal ingredients sourced in the Pacific Northwest.

Think corn dogs made with braised duck, beer mustard, Japanese mayo, and popcorn. Or mac ’n' cheese made with four different kinds of cheddar. Or fish tacos with cabbage, corn tortilla chips, pickled shallots, and chipotle-sriracha sauce.

Expect 40 different beers on tap on any given visit. Offerings will range from Parallel 49 staples like Craft Lager and Ruby Tears Northwest Red Ale to specialties such as Mystic Skull No. 5 (a dark lager brewed with chocolate mole spices) and Gong Show (a Belgian spiced quadruple aged in Jack Daniels barrels with fresh habanero peppers).

As for the beer store and tasting room, in addition to selling cans and bottles, it has 20 varities on tap for growler fills. 

Open daily from 11 a.m. to midnight, the street kitchen features both indoor and outdoor seating which—let’s face it—is pretty much mandatory in Vancouver every month not named July or August. Starting this Saturday (June 10), brunch will be served weekends between 11 a.m. and 3 p.m.

The tasting room and beer store are open from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m.

As for what you really want to know about—namely how the room looks—well Parallel's 49's newly remodelled space has a completely cool industrial-chic vibe, right down to the chain curtains, exposed metal support beams, and cinder-block walls. Goodbye old cafeteria.