30 Sep Restaurant or Bar for a Group Event? What Changes When You Book a Taphouse

Restaurant or Bar for a Group Event? The Case for a Taphouse

For a group of 20 to 125 people, a bar with a private events setup usually beats a restaurant private room on four things: the guests can move around, the food costs less, there is a microphone, and everyone can park.

That is not a criticism of restaurants. A great restaurant is a great place to eat. It is just built for a different job than the one a group event needs done.

We are a craft beer, wine, cocktail and whisky bar in West Bedford, Nova Scotia, and we have been hosting group events for almost five years. This is what we tell people who are weighing the two.

Mingling is the whole point, and a restaurant table prevents it

At a restaurant, a group of forty is seated at one long table or a few round ones. Each guest talks to the four people within reach for two hours and then everyone leaves. The person who organized it never gets to speak to half the room.

In our room, guests move. High tables, booths, sofas, the bar, the patio. People drift between conversations, the host makes a full lap, and the two halves of a family who have never met actually meet. For a birthday, a retirement, a staff party or an engagement party, that is the difference between an event and a dinner.

Your own food, at your own price

A restaurant private room comes with a set menu at a per-plate price. For sixty guests, that is the biggest single cost of the night, and it is fixed whether or not everyone eats.

We do not run a kitchen. That sounds like a drawback until you price it out.

• Order in through our QR system from more than twenty nearby restaurants, and guests choose what they want.
• Bring your own. Platters, pizza, sushi, a taco bar, the cake. We reserve a table for it, we have a large walk-in fridge for anything cold, and we handle the cleanup.
• Use a caterer. Happy to send some suggestions if you would like them.

Most groups spend a third of what the restaurant package would have cost and eat better for it.

No rental fee for most groups

For groups of up to about 80 seated plus standing room, a semi-private booking reserves a section of the room for you while the venue stays open to the public. There is no rental fee and no minimum spend. You pay for what your guests drink and nothing else.

For larger groups, or when you want the doors closed, a fully private booking gives you the whole room for up to 125 guests, from 7:30pm to midnight, on a minimum drink spend rather than a rental fee. Every dollar of that minimum goes toward what your guests actually order.

Groups of fewer than 30 do not need a card on file. Larger groups do, with 14 days to cancel and one clear cancellation figure told to you up front.

A microphone, and music you control

Restaurants are rarely set up for speeches. We are. There is a microphone, and basic audio and video equipment by arrangement, so the toast or the retirement send-off happens where the whole room can hear it. The televisions can run a slideshow.

For music you have three options: bring in live music or a DJ, subject to approval; send us a playlist; or let us handle it. A quiet first hour, speeches, then the volume goes up. That shape works for almost every kind of event.

Adults only

We are 19+ throughout. Bedford’s only adults-only bar. That means a staff party is not seated next to a children’s birthday, and an engagement party is not sharing a wall with a family dinner rush. The room stays grown-up all night.

Free parking, and leave the car

Free parking right outside, with room for the whole group. Cars can stay in our lot overnight. For a group of fifty, that quietly removes a hundred dollars of cab fare per couple and one entire category of stress.

We are central, too. West Bedford is ten to twenty minutes from most of Bedford, Sackville, Hammonds Plains and Halifax, and nobody has to solve downtown parking.

The drinks are better than you expect from a bar

• 36 rotating taps of craft beer, with a super-cooled draught system that few bars in the region have.
• Cocktails made with house-pressed juices and no pre-made mixes, priced under $15.
• Premium spirits including Hendrick’s, Grey Goose, Crown Royal Black and Lagavulin 16.
• A curated wine list served only from the bottle, with a strong showing of Nova Scotia wines.
• Rare whisky on a separate menu, for the guest who cares.
• Non-alcoholic options that are genuinely interesting, one of the largest selections in Atlantic Canada.

What kind of events this works for

The same setup covers adult birthdays and milestone birthdays, staff and corporate holiday parties, engagement parties, retirement parties, anniversaries, fundraisers, book clubs, school council meetings, campaign nights, team socials, and the “we just need a night out” category that never gets a name.

Also on the journal: Venue fell through? Last-minute event space in Bedford and Halifax · Engagement party venues in Halifax and Bedford

Frequently asked questions

Is a bar cheaper than a restaurant for a group event? Usually, yes. Semi-private bookings here have no rental fee and no minimum spend, and you bring or order in your own food rather than paying a per-plate menu price.

How many people can you host? Up to about 80 seated plus standing in a semi-private booking, and up to 125 in a fully private booking.

Can guests move around, or is it assigned seating? Guests move freely. The room is laid out in zones, which is the main reason groups choose it over a restaurant table.

Do you have a microphone? Yes, plus basic audio and video by arrangement.

Is there free parking? Yes, right outside, and cars can stay overnight.

Do you allow children? No. We are a 19+ venue.

Tell us about the group

Send the date, a rough headcount and what the event is. We will come back with the format that fits and what it costs.

The Village Taphouse 11 Bloom Lane, Unit 107, West Bedford, Nova Scotia 902-404-6778 19+ only