THE FOOD
A gathering space for family and friends to enjoy quality comfort food and drink - pub meets bar meets restaurant meets lounge. We serve the food you love and crave with the quality of presentation and ingredients you can expect from Taste Hospitality Group. Try something new and find a new favourite, or stick with a classic you know and crave – either way you’ll be surprised and delighted with the home-cooked flavours.
Our menu is simple and honest, with items you can recognize and pronounce. Our entire menu - our starters, salads, our selection of burgers, plates and desserts – is hand crafted with local ingredients whenever possible. It’s Feel Good Food that allows you to feel good about your food.
THE DRINK
Cohen’s Beer Republic: we approach beer like it’s a political institution. Whether you are a craft beer connoisseur or a purveyor of easy drinking classic lagers, we have the beer(s) for you. With 22 beers on draught and 50+ bottles, we celebrate the beers from Saskatchewan, Canada, and around the world. For liquid grains of a different type, we have an extensive whisk(e)y program, including a handful classic whiskey based classic cocktails.
While beer and whiskey are our main hustle, we’ve got something for everyone to enjoy with our selection of wines, spirits, and signature cocktails.
THE ROOM
Our guests describe the space as “fun, social, and bright”. Award winning design by FRANK Architecture creates a vibrant and approachable space with a bit of urban grit to match the character and charm of the Riversdale neighborhood. With panoramic views of the City Centre, there’s no shortage of people watching on the bustling corner of 20th and Idylwyld. Seating is for 80 and varied between low tables, high tops, bartop, chef’s bar, and a 12 seat private dining room. An overhead door opens to our 50 seat patio, with an awning that allows outdoor seating even in inclement weather.
Story of Morris Cohen:
The legendary Morris Cohen accumulated many titles over his lifetime: Adventurer, Gangster, Protector, Soldier of fortune, Card Shark, Con man, General, and "Charlatan-with-a-heart". Born in England in 1887, a youthful Cohen was constantly making trouble on the streets of East End London (the same years and in the same neighbourhood that Jack the Ripper was terrorizing London). At 18, in 1905, he was sent to Western Canada by his family for a fresh start and hopefully reform. For a short time, he settled in Riversdale. Here, he frequented "The Alberta Café", a Chinese restaurant located at the corner of our property.
One day he came to the aid of the owner, Mah Sam, who was being robbed. Cohen's training in the alleyways of London came in handy, and he knocked out the thief and tossed him out into the street. Such an act was unheard of at the time, as few white men ever came to the aid of the Chinese. As a result, the Chinese welcomed Cohen into their fold and eventually invited him to China where he joined Sun Yat-sen's anti-Manchu organization. As Sun Yat-sen's bodyguard, Cohen helped establish the first Republic of China, upsetting almost 300 years of rule by the Qing Dynasty.
After being nicked by a bullet on his shooting arm during a battle in China, Cohen started carrying two guns and became proficient shooting with both hands, eventually earning the nickname, "Two-Gun Cohen". He used his training as a soldier with the "Canadian Railway Troops" in WWI to train Sun's army, and rose to the rank of General. He went on to fight for the Chinese against Japan in WWII. Later in life he became an ambassador between China and the UK, Canada, and United States. He died in 1970.