Restaurants
The Bench Market
About The Bench Market
Somewhere between a counter you order from and a table you settle into sits a kind of place that manages both, and it suits a town where the day is regularly broken up by a swim or a drive. The Bench Market can be found at 368 Vancouver Ave, a short remove from the Main Street corridor that carries most of the foot traffic in downtown Penticton.
Kitchens in this city work against a calendar that swings hard. Summer brings beach crowds at both ends of town, visitors drifting the channel between the lakes, wine traffic coming down off the benches, and the Peach Festival in mid August. The winter months belong to residents and to the steady regional business that keeps Penticton going as the service centre of the South Okanagan, with people arriving from Oliver, Osoyoos, Keremeos and the smaller communities in every direction. A room in February is a different room from the same room in July, and most operators plan for that.
Habits differ from one kitchen to the next in ways that are easy to check and awkward to guess at. Some take reservations and some do not, some are built around the early part of the day, some will hold a table for a group and some will not. If you are driving in rather than walking over from a nearby block, a quick call ahead saves the trip. Parking around here is easier than it would be in a larger centre, and the beaches at either end of the city are close enough that a meal and a swim fit comfortably into the same afternoon.
Visiting The Bench Market
Getting there
In the Downtown Penticton neighbourhood of Penticton.
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Penticton's Labour Day weekend is the fullest calendar in the valley, beaches included
Two markets Saturday morning, a winery music circuit all weekend, a beach concert Saturday night, a benefit show worth crossing town for, and no triathlon this year.
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