Beacon Ale House

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Although they’ve been open less for than a year, the Beacon Ale House has managed to build an incredible following by engraving themselves within the community.

Owners Nick Nedin, Jon Palmer and Sara Palmer opened the contemporary restaurant on Dalhousie Street at the end of July just last year. The bar and restaurant focuses on local ingredients with an innovative take on bar food. Nedin said while nothing will absolutely blow your mind when it comes to the core concept, they like to put their own twists on things.

“Conceptionally my partners and I got together and they came to me with the idea for a bar and restaurant in Amherstburg,” said Nedin. “Amherstburg already has an English Pub, we have the grill, we have a Roadhouse so we wanted to do something that was a little bit more contemporary but also with a throwback feel to it as well … We’ve found a great synergy to get people not only really excited about our brand, but also about all the businesses we work with. There’s so many great providers that we work so closely with that we want to highlight as well because if their businesses do well, then our business does well.”

For spring and summer, Nedin has walked out a variety of new dishes such as their chipotle braised chicken taco which includes house made adobo sauce and a corn tortilla, making it gluten free. They’ve also added a beet salad, which includes roasted whole beets, marinated in balsamic vinegar, which is later used in the dressing creating a rich beet flavor throughout the salad.

Nedin also noted they will be releasing a Caesar menu which he is very excited about.

“A lot of people think of Caesars as a vodka drink, I lived in Calgary for five years and that’s where the Caesar was born so we want to highlight everything that can go into a Caesar,” said Nedin. “We will have a tequila based Caesar, we’re going to have a whiskey based Caesar, a gin based Caesar and then a bacon based Caesar. We’re going to be doing some different stuff with the Caesar because we as a group feel that it’s a truly Canadian thing and nobody in the region is really doing super innovative things with it so we want to walk out an actual full Caesar menu.”

In addition to making great food, the Beacon Ale House has also been working with area groups and assisting with fundraising. Recently, The Beacon Ale House donated a portion of their burger proceeds to the General Amherst Football team so they could update their Fieldhouse. Of course, they haven’t been working alone in their fundraising efforts, and in this particular fundraiser acquired help from Wolfhead Distillery, The Cellar and Bright Child Montessori. In total, $300 was donated to the football team to help with their Reno.

“There’s the altruistic component that everybody wants to make their community better and that’s great, but when it comes to building a following and building a following within a community, it’s really important to integrate with what’s going on,” said Nedin. “I played football for Amherst, it’s something that’s near and dear to my heart … it was kind of a natural fit and something that we knew was needed, a hole that needed to be filled.”

Nedin said it’s been a lot of work opening up a new business, a lot of 80 hour work weeks and just being in site is the biggest thing. He said they’ve recently turned a corner where his staff is really starting to step up to the plate and he doesn’t have to run himself quite as ragged as he was. As Nedin explained, a business is only as strong as the team behind it and he feels he and his business partners have a fantastic team.

“If you haven’t been out before, come out and give us a try,” said Nedin. “We are confident in what we can do and once you get in here and enjoy the patio and enjoy the ambiance of the place, you’re going to want to come back.”

The Beacon Ale House is located at 239 Dalhousie Street in Amherstburg.