Thirsty Moose Pub

Joe Luong is a server there and he's a top class bartender. I would know because my friends and I helped him practice his drink menu memorization and he vigorously studied for nights until he perfected it. That's an example of the great servers and service they provide at the Thirsty Moose.

Prince Gastronome. I'm feeling like the guy that attends a masquerade ball dressed as an oversized chicken. Believing myself an outsider is not the fault of a restaurant; it’s completely self-inflicted. It’s not helped being unexpectedly dropped into a group of people I don’t know. The location in question is the Thirsty Moose Pub located in UNBC. I don’t attend UNBC, with the College of New Caledonia my current location of higher learning. Even there, I feel like an interloper, probably a side effect of not being terribly comfortable in large groups of strangers. But here I was sitting among eight people, most of which I didn't know. Even when a few introduced themselves, I didn’t feel particularly comfortable, perhaps because I hadn't shaved.



Well, that’s me out of the way, a hundred or so words of padding. This will still be short. A review of the Thirsty Moose is as pointless as many of the degrees one could acquire at this University (oh, them fightin' words). For those unaware, let me enlighten you on the situation. UNBC has atrocious parking and is so far out of town, no one would ever frequent it unless they were just exiting class. It doesn’t help that UNBC is a maze and the pub is located at the far end. So no would enter the Thirsty Moose unless they were already here...thus the pointless nature of this review.



I expected the ground to be grooved from the numerous tables slid about to accommodate the large gatherings which remained coalesced from their respective classes, just like the one I found myself at. As such, I was unable to break out the laptop, and given my incapacity to focus on distant conversation, was forced to nod and smile to statements I couldn't comprehend. So it was unexpected when I encountered the assistant manager to a restaurant I'd previously reviewed. Thankfully, I remembered raining it significant praise, unlike the places she ended up criticizing, another common point for conversation.



I'm still padding.



Yes, the Thirsty Mouse is not a location you prefer over competition, because unless you want cafeteria food or Tim Hortons, this is your only option over driving ten minutes back into town. So you pray you have enough in your meter and you sit with a dozen of your friends, drinking and ordering cheap food. And was it cheap. A plate of pita and tzatziki for $3.50? A $5 burger? What gives? Thirsty Moose has a market cornered, so why be so reasonable? They are half the price of other pubs, with sizable portions and decent quality. I’m not saying they should increase their prices. I believe it the result of a wise economical strategy. Like the Kodiaks (sounds weird saying it that way), they're paying little to no rent. And given many of the people here are full-time students lacking full-time jobs, the pub understood the limited amount of disposable income and have adjusted their prices accordingly. This makes the Thirsty Moose one of the best values for a meal at lunchtime.



No one reading this will care or follow my advice. People attending UNBC don't have an option and don’t require my reassurance that they’re eating at a decent place, and anyone not attending the University won’t drive up a hill for five minutes, pay a fifty cents for parking, walk across two football fields in -12 weather and navigate a University just to save four dollars on a burger, or in my case, five on a taco pizza.



By 1:00 pm, my table had cleared of strangers and friends. Nothing is more uncomfortable than sitting alone at a ten-foot long table. At least it gave me the opportunity to examine the location. Unlike Kodiaks, I'm fully aware I'm sitting in a University. The decor is utterly basic, taken from the first five pages of the pub playbook. At least the service is passable.



The one side effect to reviewing pubs, explained numerous times, is the utter triviality of the words I type. Like now. No one will read my review and change their mind about the Thirsty Moose. It’s not like I’ll ever be back... until some strange unforeseen future occurs when I’m actually attending classes here. But at least the students can rest easy. They're not being screwed by high prices or substandard food. They don’t need to feel bad about settling for the Thirsty Moose, because they're not loosing anything not driving into town to Boston Pizza. In fact The Thirsty Moose may be UNBC’s greatest secret, pissing off the students reading this. How dare I expose it to the public? Now all sorts of unthoughtful, uneducated patrons will flood their doors. Don’t worry, it’s not like anyone reads these reviews anyway.



Food: 3/5

Service: 4/5

Presentation: 2.5/5

Value: 5/5

Recommendation: 3.6/5