Thirsty Thursdays: Touring The Pubs of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines

“What’s the matter with you? Sing me something new”- Noel Gallagher.

Just the knowledge that Noel Gallagher was once in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines was enough to inspire my time on these islands. While the epic 1997 Oasis album”Be Here Now” was inspired and written partly on the island of Mustique, 4decades later I finally landed in Saint Vincent. I checked into the quite brilliant Casa De Snagg in Chester Cottage, on the East Coast of Sainty V (Saint Vincent), which itself is part of a country as Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.

“Get on the rollercoaster, the fair’s in town today” – Noel Gallagher.

1.CasaDe Snagg Bar, Chester Cottage

The first beer I had in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines was at Casa De Snagg, and therefore the first bar I was in was my lodging. I stayed up a hill in the village of Chester Cottage, and have written separately about my stay there. Thanks so much to Noddie my host and tour guide! I had a drink here on the 23rd, 24th and 25th December 2021. I drank mostly Carib and Hairouan – Hairouan was my favourite as it’s the local beer here. I also had a locally made Sorrell juice – delicious!

2.Zero Tolerance Bar, New Sandy Bay

On a tour of the east coast, I visited Black Point, Byera, Chester Cottage, George Town, Orange Hill and New Sandy Bay. At New Sandy Bay, we stopped to admire the gorgeous black sandy beaches at New Sandy Bay. It was here that Noddie told me about the sad volcanic eruption that destroyed the island, and affected many other places nearby in April 2021. We saw the top of the volcano and as a souvenir, Noddie gave me a bottle of Ash from it, for good luck. Then we stopped for a cold beer – a Hairoun at the Zero Tolerance Bar, which was white and red painted, similar to the Poland flag!

3.EBs Bar, Georgetown

I toured the sights of Georgetown which is probably the largest settlement on Saint Vincent’s East Coast. I visited two churches, the main street, the distillery and the football stadium. In fact, the football stadium was closed so the only way to see it was from the rooftop balcony of EB’s Bar. In we went!

I had a beer pre sunset overlooking the football stadium here in Georgetown. For dinner, we had chicken and chips (with extra spicy sauce) and of course a Hairouan beer – the local beer of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.

4.Tunnel Bar, Chester Cottage

A bar by a tunnel? Yes please! My Christmas Eve pub crawl started here, at the Tunnel Bar in Chester Cottage. I walked down, as I was staying nearby. My barman was Desmond and I chatted football with the lads before heading through the tunnel to continue the pub crawl into the village of Byera.

5.Knolly’s Bar, Byera

The first bar I spotted in Byera was Knolly’s Bar. I ended up in here twice. I started here, then met a few locals who took me on a mini pub crawl of Byera for Christmas Eve, then I returned to Knolly’s Bar where I drank Rum later on.

Knolly’s Bar had Wi-Fi and it was amusing as I asked for the password for it and the barman said “Buy a beer!”, but I told him I’d already bought two! Then he said “No – the password is ‘buyabeer”!!”.

I drank with Gonsal in here.

6.Gravity Bar, Byera

Gonsal then walked me about 20 steps to the next bar!! This was the quirky gravity bar – again I was welcomed by and loved chatting to the locals.

7.Orlando Bar, Byera

Also on Christmas Eve, on a wet soaking day, I had a chicken dinner and beer here direct from the outdoor barbecue. This was more of a custom made bar called Orlando Bar. Gonsal also took me up here, which was up the hill from Gravity bar and attached to a shop.

I thought that 7 bars in just under 3 days was a decent effort. I would have had a beer at the airport too but the departure lounge had no open bar when I flew out (on Christmas Day), but this was a great pub crawl and later also inspired some writing – since Noel Gallagher was once here.

Here are some videos from my time drinking in the bars of Saint Vincent: