I don’t get out much, so I am not the best guide to Edmonton’s restaurant scene. Like many, I have a handful of places I enjoy and stick to them. However, walking down Whyte Avenue the other day, I saw a window display for Continental Treat Bistro that had dozens of great import beer. Intrigued I met with the owner to see what was up. Apparently Continental Treat has long had a long beer menu (maybe many of you already knew this – I didn’t). They have two tap lines – both Warsteiners – and about 62 beer in the bottle. The list is heavy on European lagers and Belgian ales. The Trappist selection is quite good.

The food menu emphasizes continental European cuisine, especially of German and eastern European accent. There is no question this is a fine dining room, and not a pub. It also explains the beer choices.

But what I learned is that it seems Continental Treat wants to become more beer-focused. They are planning a beer-themed dinner later in the summer (to celebrate a new arrival on tap), are re-working the beer menu to make it more diverse and more presentable, and plan on educating their servers on appropriate beer pairings to go with their dishes. I am particularly encouraged by the desire to construct a sense of food and beer pairing at their restaurant.

For the moment things are in flux, but over the next few month I suspect beer fans in Edmonton will be hearing some good things from this local Whyte Avenue mainstay.