Watershed Pub & Kitchen

Watershed opened in 2014 because Ben Curran noticed that Northgate was turning residential and had no neighbourhood pub. His decision then still shapes the place: he ditched the idea of a dark bar with greasy fried food and went for family-friendly, fresh and local instead. "When we opened," he has said, "we were pretty committed to having a greater sense of purpose." It shows in the details more than the slogans. The room has more than twenty taps, an outdoor pavilion with hanging lights and heaters, and dark-wood dividers between tables. The kitchen's best-known thing is an award-winning grilled cheese at $19 — Beecher's Flagship and Appel Farms gouda with caramelised onions — alongside a BLT pie fold at $18, a spicy reuben at $21, burrata at $24, and pão de queijo at $10.

What makes it genuinely valuable is the combination of a real non-alcoholic list and the best accessibility statement of any venue in this city guide. On the drinks: The Honey Pot at $14 is built on Empress 1908's 0.0 indigo with lemon and honey — the colour-changing one — and Best Day's kölsch and west coast IPA are $7 each at under 0.5% ABV. There are house soft drinks made with some thought too, including a quinine cold brew at $9 and a peach, rosemary and thyme lemonade at $8. Two things to order around if you are avoiding all intoxicants. The Kava Kalada at $8 contains real kava — Goldfinch's ginger kava — and the same kava drink is sold neat at $10, while an Ablis CBD drink is $9. All three are age-gated at 21 and sit under the non-alcoholic heading, and none carries a printed dose. On accessibility, the pub publishes what most do not: it is an ADA-accessible facility with limited-mobility drop-off directly from 3rd Ave NE, highchairs and booster seats, guide and service animals always welcome and a dog-friendly patio, free time-limited street parking plus garage and transit-centre parking, and plant-based, gluten-free and alcohol-free options named as standard rather than as an afterthought. For anyone bringing family, that list is the reason to come here.