The Spare Room at the Alley — Restaurant in Powell River

I am rating the food and not the establishment. With that out of the way, my wife, Dea and I have been coming to Powell River (henceforth referred to as PR) regularly for 11 years now and we had yet to visit Strikers. We aren't bowlers and the look of the place from the street didn't advertise as a fabulous eating experience to us. We figured, we're we to tromp up the short steep hill and steps to check it out, that we'd find a well used 5 pin bowling alley that might have been built in the 60s or 70s joined with a sports bar from the same era populated with regulars of a mostly old timer vintage playing pull tabs or KENO, maybe both, and catching up on the day's events with friends or the staff. So, imagine our surprise when reading this year's Best of PR edition of the Powell River Living magazine, where the magazine comes up with dozens of categories for the community to vote on, ranging from Cleanest Public Washroom to nicest Real Estate Agent to Grumpiest PRian (apparently this was a contentious category and was excluded this time around due to the 3 winners not likely to take it as a compliment. I bet they know who they are.) From best BlackBerry patch (yup, they take their blackberries very seriously in PR) to Best Home Cook (congrats Orion Lenis and Vickie Forward! I want to test your wares.) It's an amazing publication which Dea and I enjoy greatly, but back to the point. Imagine our surprise when Strikers won the Best Burger category and placed 3rd in the Best Local Cocktail category with its Caesar! Dea knows how much I love burgers and we both love caesars. We decided we now had to try this place out. So, on our anniversary, part of which we spend hopping among our favourite establishments along Marine, eating or favourite dishes and drinking our favourite drinks, we decided to add Strikers to our trundle. Amazingly or maybe not so amazingly, it was exactly as we envisioned. It seemed to us that this was where joy and wonder went to die. We almost left, but the pub area, which was separated from the bowling lanes and pool tables, was clad in 1970s wood veneer, had a u-shaped bar backing against the kitchen door and contained enough square footage to be tended by 4 comfortably. Say what you want about 70s wood panelling, it is warm and with the couple handful of regulars it gave off a bit of an English pub vibe. It was a 70s pub in good nick. Initially, we were just going to try the caesar, but when that turned out to be soooooo good we decided to look at the menu. The menu was entertainingly designed and you could start to see where the soul of Strikers lives. While Dea ordered her staple Mac and Cheese, I grabbed the Classic Burger. We waited, chatted with the guy next to us at the bar. He was old(er) and commented on how he'd yet to try the burger. Given he and the server were on a first name basis, like she seemed to be with most everyone there, that wasn't terribly heartening. I want to take a quick moment to spotlight our server. She was "boss". Look it up in Urban Dictionary. We loved her and she told us people only bought the caesar if she was going to make it. I can't fault that thinking at all. She was fabulous. The burger arrived with a knife sticking out of it, a display I've seen at a few joints and one I enjoy. The burger looked good. Juicey and patty to bun ratio was satisfactory. I picked it up and bit. I was silent the whole way through. I had no time to mince words. I was in heaven. I now knew the truth - Joy and Wonder didn't die in the bowling lanes or on the pool tables at Strikers, they are sucked into the kitchen and reduced down into their purest form then lovingly crafted into this burger. Incredible. The patty could stand on it's own. It requires no toppings. I've run in to this 3 times in my burger eating career. But the sum of its parts was fantastic. Juicy, smoky, and the bun did not fall apart at any point. I hate it when the bun fails and you end up with burger stew on the plate. This is why you go to Strikers. I rate this...

Well their food and service was quite friendly. Except for their cook Adam who seems to enjoy serving people far undercooked wings that leave them in the hospital. I liked the bar enough to actually come back, asked for hot wings, specify only franks I do not handle spice well. I get served my wings. They look off orange and have peppers coated to them. I didn't think much if it at first other than I need a knife and fork to check if their fully cooked or not. To strikers credit. Yes they were cooked but the ask for franks redhot was exchanged for their hottest possible multi million Scoville wings. As they were served the cook walked out smirking(weird) looked disappointed when I asked for a knife and fork and then the entire staff kicked me out and tried to pretend they just served me frabks red hot. (Cooking since I was a child and I put franks on everything.) The absolute disrespect and the unbelievable health concerns are apparent. I'm so curious what hes done to other things I order from there. Go anywhere else in powell for food. They should be fired. P.s it was heavily coated with scorpion sauce....

In town to view are new retirement home that we are hoping to buy and return to my home town stoped in for lunch but the doors are no Not unlocked although there was patterns in the restaurant drinking we were not very happy to see others walking around with no mask nor was the waitress cleaning the tables people coming in with no mask we sat down watching others come in a few minutes after us getting served first we had not been given a menu yet more people came in no mask getting served before us needless to say we will never return this is are second attempt to go try it out with no service only one time we visited the restaurant the lady that was there that also works with the local radio was the nicest waitress and was on her game thanks not sure ware she’s at now but she’s the reason we cam back but now never will i go...