Victoria residents who still don’t feel comfortable visiting the pub during COVID-19 are in luck. Now the pub will come to you.
According to its founders, the Wild Rover is Canada’s first mobile Irish pub.
The 5 metre-by-2.5 metre rolling bar was created by Warren Crolly and Danny Hamilton, a pair of Irish expatriates living in the capital region.
Inside, it features a full bar with four taps and enough space to seat six good friends. Outside, the ’70s trailer has been lovingly restored, including some materials reclaimed from renovations at Victoria’s iconic Fairmont Empress hotel.
“Not everybody is comfortable going out to the pub, to the restaurant to have their celebration, their party, so the idea is we can bring that party to you,” Hamilton told Global News on Wednesday.
“You can still have that celebration in the comfort of your own home with the people you’re most comfortable in your own bubble.”
Hamilton and Crolly dreamed the mobile pub idea up several years ago over pints. But it took a strong jolt of homesickness amid the COVID-19 pandemic to translate the dream into reality.
“We started because we wanted our own little piece of Ireland,” explained Hamilton.
“Not only do we get to sit in it and enjoy it but we get to share our Irishness with everyone else.”
The Wild Rover only formally launched on Friday, and Hamilton said its already received about 150 inquiries from would-be customers.
“We are blown away with the interest people have shown in this, and it just makes us so happy that we’ve already started working on the second Wild Rover,” he said.
— With files from Kylie Stanton