Alexander's Pub and Liquor Store

Alexander's pairs the two things a Coldstream errand often wants at the same hour, a pub and a bottle shop. The bar pours drinks and serves straightforward pub food, and the liquor store beside it means one trip can cover dinner and whatever goes with it. It sits on Kalamalka Road, on the stretch that runs out toward the lake, so the trade comes from the surrounding neighbourhood rather than from passing highway traffic.

The two halves of the business tend to keep their own hours, and that is the thing worth sorting out before you set off, because a bottle shop and a kitchen rarely close at the same moment and in a lake town both shift with the season. Phoning ahead is the quickest way to learn which side is open and until when, and it is also the moment to ask whether the kitchen is still taking orders late or whether the patio is holding tables on a busy summer evening. If you are folding the trip in with a swim at Kal Beach, allow for this road being busier than usual through July and August.