Sorry, Dix is now closed permanently.

On January 29, I published an article about brewpubs in Vancouver, and said that I would try to visit all the ones on my list within the next 2 weeks. Well, I’m making pretty good progress so far, having already visited Dockside Restaurant, Granville Island Brewing, and Yaletown Brewing Company.

Today, a friend and I walked all the way down to Beatty Street, almost as far as BC Place, to go to DIX BBQ & Brewery, which is located on Beatty between Smithe and Robson (but closer to Smithe).

Since I work at home and can usually go out whenever I want, I am usually able to relax in an uncrowded atmosphere wherever I go. Today, however, there was a rehearsal going on for the Olympics Opening Ceremonies, and there were people all over the place. There was quite a crowd in the restaurant, too. Luckily, we were still able to get a seat.

DIX BBQ & Brewery - 871 Beatty Street

I’ve been here many times before, and their food menu is quite good with bigger than average portions. They specialize in BBQ and smoked items. Everything I’ve ever had was pretty good, especially the Smoke Stack Club which is huge and loaded with smoked chicken, beef, and bacon. I recommend opting for the fries with any plate that you decide to order because I think their fries are much better than average, with a light crispy texture on the outside and soft in the middle.

So, I did what I usually do when I go to a brewpub, and I ordered the tasters.

The DIX tasters

Dix has 6 beers available for tasting, usually, but today I was told that they didn’t have any of their Game Day Pilsner available. They said it was because they wanted to brew some extra lager for the Olympics, since that is their biggest seller and they didn’t want to run out of it. So I got an extra lager in place of the pilsner.

The DIX beer menu

The beers they usually have available, according to the menu I saw today, are as follows:

The beer was quite good, as usual, but I would have liked this taster set more if all their beers had been available. Also, I wasn’t too crazy about the “barley wine” seasonal beer. My favorite two this time were the Crosstown Lager and Red Truck Ale.

I should mention that they also have a cask night on Thursday nights beginning at 5:00 pm. That is when they tap a cask of beer and keep serving it until it’s empty. Supposedly, they have a different kind of beer every week.

There are two different seating areas in this restaurant. There is the restaurant section where I was sitting today, and where you can see the brewery, and the pub section all the way across on the other side past the bar. In the pub section, you will see something that is quite rare in the Vancouver area: they have an unlimited supply of free peanuts in the shell that you can eat, and they don’t mind if you throw your shells on the floor.

Where they make their beer, right next to the restaurant section

Well, that was it for my visit to DIX BBQ & Brewery. I’ll be sure to go again within the next month or two, and next time, I’ll probably make it a Thursday so I can try out the cask. I’ll be heading out to visit another brewpub within the next few days, so stay tuned for my next article about brewpubs in Vancouver.