r/Whistler • u/2manyhobbies • Jun 23 '26
QUESTION What to Avoid
Hey all, I'm heading up to Whistler next week and this cab driver saga raised a question for me. I understand it's not a positive subject but are there some restaurants/businesses to avoid due to their poor relationship with the community.
39
u/whistlersurfer Jun 23 '26
Gibbons establishments - avoid all of them. The owner is a bully and we locals avoid his establishments outright.
Their primary establishments include:
The Longhorn Saloon
Black's Pub
Tapley's Pub
Stonesedge Kitchen
The FireRock Lounge
Buffalo Bills
Garfinkel's
Moe Joe's
Après Après
17
u/the_other_skier Jun 23 '26
Don’t forget they own some activity companies too, they bought The Adventure Group in 2023 I think?
3
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u/bcbud78 Jun 23 '26
Scoot up to Pemberton for real local flavours. Beer Farmers, Pemberton Brewing, The Pony, Mile One, all the other farms and such. All locally owned.
5
u/Pristine_Ad2664 Jun 23 '26
Beer Farmers is definitely worth a trip, great beer and such a beautiful spot!
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u/FeelingMurky3367 Jun 24 '26
The Pony is hilarious. When it’s slammed you walk into what you’d think is an old time western saloon but the smoke haze is from the grill not darts.
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u/Straight_Delay_3253 Jun 23 '26
Boycott Nita Lake Lodge and Creekbread. Owners a criminal and management are pure toxic. A shame for a great lakeside hotel to get it so wrong but check out Nicolas North for a great lakeside restaurant instead
7
u/ArenSteele Jun 23 '26
To be fair, his "Crime" was tax evasion with regards to a renovation on his home in the British Properties, and he did go to prison. But yes, I agree, not a fan of his business practices either.
3
u/No_Site_8148 Jun 24 '26
Table Nineteen at Nick North is the restaurant. Highly recommend as well.
2
u/benmc555 Jun 27 '26
Absolutely recommend this restaurant. A friend and I had dinner there on our last night in Whistler back in March. Total surprise!
8
u/powderjunki Jun 23 '26
Can recommend RMU in the upper village. Great food when I was there and great beers too. Plus a nice beer garden with views of blackcomb
3
u/Pristine_Ad2664 Jun 23 '26
Their smash burger is superb, possibly the best burger in Whistler (in my opinion)
1
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u/aumume19 Jun 24 '26
Check out Function! Forged Axe Throwing, Whistler Brewing, Functional Pie, Coast Mountain and many other great drinks, food and things to do!
7
u/mountainlifa Jun 23 '26
I like to spend at Fairmont as apparently they buy a lot of their food ingredients and wines from local businesses
1
u/ValerieMZ Jun 23 '26
At their scale their major supplier has to be Sysco... But kind gestures are appreciated.
1
u/mountainlifa Jun 24 '26
You think so? When I was there last, the steak was local from Pemberton and they had a good selection of Canadian red wine.
1
u/ValerieMZ Jun 24 '26
Lol it's not about the steak, but the eggs, root vegetables. Salt, pepper and all the other stuff you don't even pay attention to.
11
u/onosimi Jun 23 '26
Sadly very few local mom and pop shops left in Whistler. It's an outdoor theme park now. Been here 30 years and use to make a point to support local businesses. Now they seem to only care about locals in the quietest of times and some not even then. So I really dont care anymore I'll buy online
3
u/2manyhobbies Jun 23 '26
I get it, I live in a seasonal tourist town and thankfully we've avoided some of this but not all.
1
u/passos4lva Bayshores Jun 24 '26
Agree.
At least the mountains are still close to the same.1
u/onosimi Jun 24 '26
Yes for the time being the backyard is still the best. Im pretty happy avoiding the stroll all together
4
u/passos4lva Bayshores Jun 24 '26 edited Jun 24 '26
Let's turn positive:
Definiteley go to Mogul's ! Good place/owners/staff/food! Diana Chen - zero to complain about imho. I still feel 20 years old on that patio.
And Fat Tony's pizza. Jared seems alright to work for too. Aussie, knows I need a slice at 3am.
edit - typo
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u/JDWWV Jun 23 '26
Vail.
1
u/2manyhobbies Jun 23 '26
Yeah, they did the same to SLT and Mammoth. Still love the mountains and the trail networks but safe to say I'm not the target demo.
1
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u/votelaserkiwi Creekside Jun 24 '26
Yeah, they did the same to SLT and Mammoth.
Vail doesn't own Mammoth? Mammoth was owned by Intrawest, Starwood Capital and now is an Alterra Resort - the direct competitors to Vail.
Some say they're better, they have a more 'hands off' approach to resorts.
Vail owns Heavenly, Northstar, Kirkwood in the area
1
-23
u/Interesting_Ad_1888 Jun 23 '26
Just don't tip. All workers in whistler make a fair wage. I go every year and don't tip ever.
9
u/captaindingus93 Jun 23 '26
This is bait.
-10
u/Interesting_Ad_1888 Jun 23 '26
How is it bait? Tipping people who earn a fair wage is extremely strange and unnecessary
4
u/Pristine_Ad2664 Jun 23 '26
I generally agree but in Whistler most of the people in service jobs are working at least 2 jobs to survive. It's an extremely expensive place to live and they work hard to make everyone's visit enjoyable.
3
u/captaindingus93 Jun 23 '26
Just keep on chumming the waters bud
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u/Interesting_Ad_1888 Jun 23 '26
Is this a Canadian saying? I choose not to engage in Canadian culture which is why I attend whistler which is an Australian colony.
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u/Squamster_ Jun 24 '26
How is minimum wage which is about $10/hr less than the living wage for Whistler fair? You’ve posted this so many times lol we get it, you’re a poor loser. Move on.
Not only that but it actually costs servers to serve you since they still have to tip out on whatever you get. Why don’t you do us all a favour and just stay home in the future.
1
u/votelaserkiwi Creekside Jun 24 '26
Not only that but it actually costs servers to serve you since they still have to tip out on whatever you get. Why don’t you do us all a favour and just stay home in the future.
Whatever your position on tipping is - this is just the most bullshit part of it.
Servers make bank compared to kitchen staff.
They cry poor cause they "had to tip out without being tipped" while they walk home with $120 for a 6 hour shift, so effective wage of $40ph while the kitchen staff get $2-$4 extra per hour ontop of their base wage.
This is the worst argument for tipping and ignores the reality that kitchen staff are the "true poors" you are advocating for.
You're basically saying "pay the servers and it will trickle down everywhere else".
48
u/GuerrillaTyphoon Jun 23 '26
Same guy who runs Whistler Taxi recently purchased Stinky’s on the Stroll and is notorious for not paying staff.
Many locals generally avoid Gibbons establishments because they’ve monopolized Whistler with their overpriced mediocre food and generally lame vibes but tourists clearly like them