BEECH TREE: AWESOME BEERS AND GREAT FALAFEL

Tucked away between Shotover Street and Beach Street, Beech Tree Queenstown is a place I regularly visit in Queenstown.

If you aren’t aware of where it is and miss the signs on the street (easily done), you’d never know it exists. But that makes it cool…so far it has managed to attract a local crowd who make regular appearances.

If you’re visiting Queenstown in winter, the roaring fireplace makes Beech Tree one of the best places to drink craft beer. Other reasons I love Beech Tree are:

• Weekly pub quiz
• Friendly Staff
• Best falafel in Queenstown
• Growlers can be purchased for takeaway

And while I’m not a fan of dogs, they’re welcomed with open arms.

In summer you’ll want to be outside in the sun which Beech Tree doesn’t really offer. On the bright side, it’s a good way to get away from the summer crowds.

Here’s a little about what you can expect visiting Beech Tree.

THE EARLY DAYS OF BEECH TREE QUEENSTOWN

Opening in late 2019, there was no reason why Beech Tree couldn’t be a success in the tourist have…that’s until we found our world changed a few months into 2020.

You couldn’t blame Beech Tree if they decided to close things down…but that wasn’t the case. They made it through the toughest time. With the local crowd drinking a few pints on a regular basis.

Now they’ve come out the other side and I can feel the place getting a crowd beyond the locals already, I think they’ve got word of mouth working in their favour.

THE BEERS

They’ve got 23 taps on the go, and they do a great job at rotating through the beers so there’s always something new for me to try.

There’ll be some beers from the brewers around Queenstown, and a good chunk from the lower half of the South Island. But they also have some from the rest of the country, including some from North Beach Brewery from my hometown Waikanae. Yay!

You can check the beers they have on offer here.

And if you’ve got a new favourite beer…you can purchase a growler to take home. That’s awesome!

THE FOOD

Beech Tree definitely didn’t just leave food as an afterthought to the beers they have on offer.

They wanted to get food that would get people coming into Beechtree, not just to have while they’re drinking beer.

I’d heard big things about the Falafel before finally trying it one day for lunch in Queenstown. The owner is Israeli so you can understand why he wants to get it right. It’s on the menu described as:

FALAFEL (Vegan) $14 or $18 with fries

made in house from ground and spiced chickpeas with green salad, onion, spiced Moroccan carrots, and tahini

And WOW. It’s really good. I’m no falafel expert but have had my fair share over the years.

The texture of the falafel is amazing, and there was a great flavour to it. I was stoked as.

I haven’t had anything else on the menu, but have only heard good things from others.

You can check out the full Beech Tree menu here

THE ATMOSPHERE

Beech Tree has a super friendly vibe where friends get together and hang out. It’s not a place where you go to get rowdy. There’s plenty of seating at the bar so if you fancy a beer alone, that works too (the staff are great).

When the fire is roaring, it has quite the home-like feel…that’s definitely assisted when there are some groups playing board games and if there are a couple of dogs running about.

Beech Tree is at 11/13 Beach Street, Queenstown 9300. Phone: 03-442 8240.

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I’m a massive fan of Beech Tree Queenstown and highly recommend you visit while you’re having fun in Queenstown.

If you’ve got any questions/comments about Beech Tree, leave a comment below or email jub@churnewzealand.com.