Little Beer Quarter

**What makes your venue the Best Gastropub in New Zealand?**

Little Beer Quarter is one of Wellington's OG craft beer bars, tucked away in the Edward St Precinct. We opened our doors on July 23rd 2011, and have been a significant fixture of the Wellington gastropub scene ever since. With 13 rotating taps, two hand pulls, one nitro tap and 100+ beers in the fridge, we pour the best of New Zealand’s craft beer, cider, and wine scenes, topped with a curated international wine selection.

To match our interesting drink range, we also have a top-notch gastropub food offering to match. Our kitchen distinguishes itself by participating in plenty of local and national food and drink festivals and competitions, such as Wellington on a Plate, the Toastie Takeover, Burger Nation and Hopdogs, as well as putting on our own exclusive food and beer pairing events. Creating a connection between our food offerings and local brewers is a big part of our unique gastropub experience and has always been something that makes LBQ special.

We try to incorporate food into special beer events and festivals as much as possible. Unlike many of our competitors, we supply food tie-ins to several beverage or entertainment-focused events such as Hopstock, our regular tap takeovers, the Urban Wine Walk, Eat Drink Play, the Wellington Jazz Fest, etc. We put on a highly regarded brewery-led multi-course ‘long lunch’ or brewer's table event each season. Such events never fail to sell out and are a rare experience for our customers to get close and personal with the brewers themselves while enjoying a thoughtfully designed menu to match.

Little Beer Quarter (or LBQ) is not just a craft beer bar; we are also a very unique urban gastropub or 'local' with a long list of regulars that feel really at home at 6 Edward St. Our environment and people come from all walks of life; our staff are welcoming, knowledgeable, committed and are an essential part of the LBQ family. At our core, we are about as far from a generic chain 'gastropub' as you can get.

Describe the experience your customers have at your establishment – what is your food and beverage offering and why do people come back for more?

We describe ourselves as Wellington’s craft beer and food and drink heaven, with a carefully curated seasonal selection of local craft offerings. Our experience is intimate and cosy, with very knowledgeable staff offering a welcoming and bespoke experience. Our tap beer selection is thoughtfully constructed and ever-changing; perusing the fresh pours on our tap lineup is the first destination for many of our customers. We are one of Wellington's only remaining free houses; with no tied taps, we have the freedom to provide customers with a huge variety of exciting new releases.

LBQ is a go-to for local and national breweries to launch their newest beer releases to the Wellington market. We try to have something new/fresh out every week, with each Thursday night being a frequent night for a beer launch or new release. In addition to Thursdays, we maintain a well-established weekly lineup of food and drink offerings: Monday Double Vision Pizza Night, Nick Fone's cult-followed 100% original Tuesday Quiz Nights, Wednesday Parrotdog Burger Night and $15 Wednesday/Thursday Lunches (with Saturday Hoppy Hour and Sunday Night Roasts coming in Autumn/winter).

With our constantly changing craft beverage offering, our food menu changes regularly to complement the season and match our beverage selection. In spring/summer, our menu is lighter, with lots of fresh spring/summer produce brought in. In autumn/winter, the focus is on comfort food—something to warm the soul next to our fireplace with a pint in hand.

Tell us how you showcase NZ produce / offerings? Does your menu change with the season and how is it locally influenced. How do you accommodate allergy and dietary requirements?

All our menus change seasonally to take advantage of the food and drink available in each season and people's preferences at different times of the year. In spring and summer, we have a menu with a lighter focus, taking advantage of summer produce, asparagus, stonefruit, lagers, pale ales, and custom-blended summer beer cocktails. In autumn and winter, our food menu focuses on comfort foods with stouts, red ales and brown ales to match. Mac 'n' cheese, gravy and roasted/braised meats become a bigger part of the offering in the colder months.

Our menus are carefully labelled with allergy and dietary requirements, and we ensure that we cater to everyone. Staff are well-trained on common allergies and requirements, and we make sure our menu design keeps this in mind. We have a lot of vegan and gluten-free dishes on offer, as these are really important parts of the Wellington dining scene. Our tofu nuggets have been a staple on the menu for more than four years.

What are your key points of difference and how have you managed to deliver them?

A curated selection of beer, wine and spirits. A true free-house—We have a curated list showcasing an array of boutique local spirits. We are a true free house, so we are able to provide the variety that many Wellington bars cannot.

Bespoke beer and food events—Long lunches, brewer's tables, tasting trays, beer launches, new releases, collaboration/exclusive LBQ brews and house-blended beer cocktails on tap.

Fun/interesting local and national events/festivals—We get involved with what's going on in the city. We frequently participate in a lot of major local events such as the Urban Wine Walk, Eat Drink Play, The Wellington Jazz Festival, and Wellington on a Plate and try to support local performers and artists whenever possible. Entertainment tie-ins to our events always add another unique dimension to the event. We pride ourselves on variety, from Metal Bands to DJs and Jazz trios to drag shows.

Knowledgeable staff—We put a lot of effort into training our staff on the brewing/distilling/wine-making processes and styles as well as offering extensive tastings, so our staff know exactly what they are offering to our customers.

Cosy/quirky/eclectic/unique environment—The LBQ environment, like the food and drink offerings, is ever-evolving. The walls are adorned with meaningful/unique reminders of past customers, beers and brewers. The ‘Great Wall of Beer Coasters’ is constantly added to when our regulars return from beer pilgrimages abroad. We additionally have many framed photos and posters on the walls to remember customers past and present, and our beloved staff. LBQ is a million miles away from your run-of-the-mill gastropub environment.

Loved and embraced by the craft beverage community—LBQ is the go-to for many brewers, distillers, cider-makers and breweries to launch beers into the Wellington market. We have become the 'semi-official' hub for the craft beverage industry during big industry events like Beervana and the National Beer Awards trade shows, to name a few. Our close ties with the industry allow us to offer our customers exclusive and memorable experiences.

Tell us about your commitments to Customer Service and Host Responsibility

Our customer service style is warm/laid back and a huge asset for us. Our staff's knowledge of craft beer and the New Zealand craft beverage industry, and their willingness to have conversations about it, is one of the things that sets us apart from other gastropubs.

Our team is fully committed to hospitality and host responsibility. We have very low staff turnover, so our team of bar managers and bartenders know how to provide customers with a welcoming experience and ensure our customers are safe, having a good time, and drinking responsibly.

Good food is a focus at LBQ, so we always have a quality menu running. The ‘Late Night Snax’ menu has a strong following, with people coming to us after other events for something to have a bite with a tasty drink.

Please describe your commitment to sustainability

LBQ is fully committed to sustainability. We compost, recycle, and we sell the majority of our beer from kegs. We follow a low-waste ethos for our food menu, all parts of the vegetable or animal are used in stocks and sauces to ensure food waste is kept to a minimum.

We always try to make more sustainable and ethical choices, from the food, drink and paper/cleaning products we order to our waste management.

Have you won any awards in the recent past? Tell us about them.

Felix Awards Best Beer Experience: 2023, 2020, 2019, 2018, finalists almost every year we have been open. Capital Awards Best Bar 2019 and 2013. Wellington on a Plate - Festival Dish Finalist 2017. Wellington on a Plate Burger Wellington Finalist 2016.

Please describe how you create ambience.

We create ambience through music, lighting and decor. Our environment is often described as 'quirky-cosy', filled with unique pieces loosely or closely related to beer. You won't find bright/glaring lights in LBQ; we embrace the moody lighting/atmosphere of our heritage building and its European-esque black shutters. Our customers and suppliers have become part of the decor over the years in a way. The wall of beer coasters from around the world continues to grow, added to by regulars/industry people returning from their travels. We have many posters and framed photos on the wall of past and present customers and events throughout the years.

Adjoining the main bar is our Green Room—a break-out space for semi-private functions or customers wanting a quieter space. Our outdoor area in little old Edward St is a sun trap and an interesting place for people to watch in one of Wellington's hidden lanes or backstreets. Our music genre is like our environment and ambient offering: quirky, eclectic, and constantly changing.

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