Mike's Beach Bar — Restaurant in Manitou Beach

It's a beautiful, warm Monday a week before the long weekend in May and we decide to drive the hour and 20 minutes to go soak in the mineral spa at Manitou Beach. The spa is always open (except for a maintenance period in November). But, man, oh, man just try to find anything else that's open on a Monday in rural Saskatchewan! Well, often you can count on the local bar or tavern, except that anytime in the past when we tried outside the dates of Saskatchewan's all-too-short "official" tourism season that has never been the case at Manitou Beach.

But, holy cow! Mike's Beach Bar was open when we looked in. And the place was hopping! We had not visited since last summer, spending a wonderful afternoon on the outdoor patio, sipping beer and coolers on the patio overlooking the lake, as the sun arched overhead then faded into the rich colours of a Saskatchewan sunset. They board the place up and secure it for winter, and we really weren't expecting it to be open.

But open it was, on a hot day. The smoke from northern Alberta's wildfires, making Saskatoon smell like the British Columbia sawmill towns near where we grew up, was nowhere to be found in Manitou Beach. We had clear blue skies, and the sun warmed the patio like a July day.

As we sat down, the server - who turned out to be the youngest of the owners (Mike's is operated by three generations of one family) - handed us a couple of menus. Menus! Up until our last visit, the rule was that if you wanted something to eat, you were welcome to head on over to Burger Buoy and order a hamburger to bring back to the bar. Sure, there were pizza subs in the freezer, but Mike's just wasn't the place to go to eat. So, seeing a menu today was a surprise. There's some great fare on there and, had we not choked down a couple of dried-out burgers from the place across the street earlier, I would dearly loved to have tried something off of Mike's menu.

Our server/owner told us that they had renovated the establishment late last summer to add a fully modern kitchen, all shiny stainless steel, a joy to work in. She was super-excited to explain how much they loved being able to prepare meals for their guests now. I couldn't agree more.

Next weekend is the long weekend, Saskatchewan's unofficial kick-off to summer and our all-too-short tourism season. I think we'll head back to Mike's, either before or after (or both) a soak in the mineral spa, and try out something on the menu. There really aren't a lot of places to eat in Manitou Beach, so finding something new is really welcome. If the food tastes half as good as the aromas would hint as they drifted across the patio today from the kitchen, and if other guests' plates were any indication, I'm sure we won't be disappointed. I'll write an update after...

July 28, 2025

Me and my son's girlfriend had planned to have lunch here today. I have an ESA. I have all the documentation for her on my phone. I have been here before with her and it's never been a problem. However today was the first time I ran into Mike himself, at least that's who I'm assuming it was. I've never seen any other gentlemen around the bar. Always dealt with the ladies before and had great service. His approach was kind of rude and wanting to see proof of me having my dog and being able to have my dog come in. I have absolutely no problem in showing proof to validate that she is mine and I can have her come in with me. I didn't even get a chance to explain what type of service she does for me because I do know that an ESA does not have all the same legal rights as a full service dog. if I would have even been allowed to say that she was an emotional support animal and he said sorry we do not allow them here totally fine because that is his right and he does have a legal right to refuse service to anyone. He would not accept proof on my phone he wanted physical copies. he spelled that off before even knowing what type of service she provides for me. "In Canada, businesses can ask if an animal is a service animal and what tasks it performs for a person with a disability, but they cannot ask for proof of the animal's status. Therefore, showing proof from a phone, such as an ESA letter, is not a requirement and businesses cannot demand it. However, it's not against the rules to show the proof if you choose to." That's legal. Right from the Saskatchewan Human Rights Commission. So what he did was illegal!!! I was like fine turn around and left. I have had my dog at both provincial and federal courthouses, hospitals anywhere you can think of and have never ever had a problem they have always accepted proof of my phone. Until today. Part of me can understand where they're coming from but his attitude about it was something to be desired. It was really sad to see because I have been in there before with her. But because of my interaction today I don't think I'll be going back and I will be missing out on other events and not that I was willing to pay to go to and...

we were one of a few Bachelorette parties present on Saturday evening this past weekend. The servers were AMAZING (cannot stress this enough!). The demographic was mainly 20-35 and the playlist seemed to be catered to an older generation, even though there were few present. The owner refused to read them room regarding the playlist as multiple Bach parties clearly wanted to dance and/or to take song requests and/or play a playlist more suited to the demographic. When we finally did get a song request in, when the song was over, the owner promptly made his way to the dance floor and literally verbally accosted everyone present saying he would “Do last call if I have to play another song like that”, to which our group promptly left. We would have stayed and spent another 300$ easy on food, vlts and drinks, (his loss!) but verbally accosting your customers is not...