Bars & Pubs
The Barking Parrot
About The Barking Parrot
A day that starts on the Okanagan Lake beach usually ends within a block or two of it. The north end of Penticton is built for exactly that pattern: sand, the channel entrance where floaters push off for the drift down toward Skaha Lake, and a waterfront strip where people land afterwards, slightly sunburnt and in no hurry. The Barking Parrot occupies 21 Lakeshore Dr, on that waterfront run rather than up in the Main Street grid.
Pubs on a lakefront tend to run two businesses inside one room. Through July and August the crowd is largely visitors, families off the beach and riders who have come down off the benchland roads, and the place works at volume. Through the shoulder seasons and winter it becomes something quieter and more local, which is often when it is at its most comfortable. Anyone driving in from Oliver, Keremeos or the Naramata side should keep that swing in mind, since it shapes wait times far more than the day of the week does.
What a pub actually offers varies more than the word suggests. Some lean on a full kitchen and a family crowd, others on taps, sports and later evenings, and many shift between the two as the night goes on. Patio space is worth asking about given this setting, as is whether minors are welcome in a particular area and how a group of any size is handled. Downtown, the beaches and the channel are all within an easy walk from here, so leaving the car parked for the evening is generally the simplest plan.
Visiting The Barking Parrot
Getting there
In the Downtown Penticton neighbourhood of Penticton.
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