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Irish Independent
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- Irish Independent
In Portrush for The Open? Here's where to eat, drink and have great craic
Where to eat Ramore Restaurant Complex — This is made up of six restaurants, all of which will offer live entertainment every night during The Open week. Amici — Located between Portrush and Portstewart, this Italian restaurant uses local ingredients and homemade dough. Shanty — Offering lunches, dinners and signature cocktails where the old boathouse used to be, Shanty has become a popular destination for locals and tourists alike. The Elephant Rock Hotel — The hotel's Eldon Bar and Restaurant boasts stunning sea views, bold interiors, fantastic cocktails and delicious food. It featured in the Irish Independent's Fab 50 in 2023. Where to drink The Harbour Bar — One of the oldest bars on the north coast with one of Northern Ireland's longest-serving barmen, Willie Gregg, you're guaranteed to receive a warm welcome from locals. Celebrities such as Jamie Dornan and Jimmy Nesbitt are known to pop in for a drink. The Quays Gastropub — As well as an extensive selection of beers, wines and cocktails, this pub on Eglinton Street provides a variety of classics as well as fresh, locally-sourced seafood and seasonal specials. Guests can eat in either the indoor dining area or there is a spacious covered outdoor atrium where visitors can enjoy the fresh sea air. Kiwi's Brew Bar — Located on Main Street where the town's famous cinema used to stand. The venue has much to offer including great food and drinks, live music, comedy nights and takes pride in its largest Irish whiskey collection on the north coast. The Station Bar — The station building, designed by architect and engineer Berkeley Deane Wise, was opened in 1893 and now houses a bar with regular live entertainment. Portrush Icons The White House — Founded in 1891, the department store remains an institution and is as loved locally as by the many people who visit the north coast each year. It boasts brands such as Barbour, Joules, White Stuff, Gant and has a toy shop as well. Kellys Complex — For over 50 years, Kellys has been a well-known fixture for entertainment. With The Barn, The Deerstalker, The Library Bar, Kon Tiki Boat Bar, Golflinks Hotel, The White Pheasant, Kellys Kitchen as well as its holiday homes, there is something for families, partygoers and foodies alike. ADVERTISEMENT T-Shirt City — This famous shop has been printing garments for over 50 years. Based on Main Street, Phyllis Niblock is now preparing to sell her business, but if you want to visit this emporium, be sure to grab a printed T-shirt. The Dolphin — A traditional fish and chip shop on Causeway Street, if you want to sample their famous takeaways, be prepared to queue. Curry's Fun Park — Still referred to as its former name, Barry's, by many, this small amusement park is packed full of fun for the family. Attractions include the waltzer, Aqua Valley water flume, dodgem cars, a rollercoaster and mini attractions for the wee ones. Phil's Family Amusements and Bingo Hall — One of the island's finest ticket and prize shops with easy-to-play machines and weekend bingo, it's not surprising people have kept returning to Phil's over the years. What's new? The Marcus — Last month, Hilton opened its first venue on the north coast in an old Victorian-era hotel on Main Street in a €13m renovation. The Marcus hosts 80 rooms and has restored original elements of the building, telling the story of the locality through interior features and artwork. Topblade Steakhouse — The third restaurant for its directors Aaron Taggart and John Crawford following their success in Portadown and Belfast, opening in the former KoKo location beside Curry's. Urban — Only a stone's throw from Portrush's sea front, Urban offers an impressive menu. Smash N Bird — Smashed burgers, ribs and wings, buttermilk chicken, thickshakes and buffalo fries are all on the agenda in a visit to this street food bar on Eglinton Street. Alan Simpson's five Top Things to do in Portmagic Portrush resident Alan Simpson runs the Portmagic Facebook page with almost 55,000 members. The popular media personality says 'Portmagic' is the feeling and sensation people get when they visit the town. The long-term promoter of the area gives us a rundown of his top five things to do: West Strand and East Strand beaches in Portrush: Alan adds: 'West is best and East is for the rest!' There are surf and paddle boards lessons with Portrush, Troggs or Alive surf schools. Curry's Fun Park: One of Northern Ireland's largest tourist attractions, the fun park has everything for little and big kids alike from the traditional ghost train to the euphoric Beast. A 99 at Morelli's: With outlets in Portrush and Portstewart, no visit to the area is complete without an ice-cream from the Italian family run parlour. Chat to the locals: They're a friendly bunch!
Belfast Telegraph
14-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Belfast Telegraph
In Portrush for The Open? Here's where to eat, drink and have great craic
Where to eat Ramore Restaurant Complex — This is made up of six restaurants, all of which will offer live entertainment every night during The Open week. Amici — Located between Portrush and Portstewart, this Italian restaurant uses local ingredients and homemade dough. Shanty — Offering lunches, dinners and signature cocktails where the old boathouse used to be, Shanty has become a popular destination for locals and tourists alike. The Elephant Rock Hotel — The hotel's Eldon Bar and Restaurant boasts stunning sea views, bold interiors, fantastic cocktails and delicious food. Where to drink The Harbour Bar — One of the oldest bars on the north coast with one of Northern Ireland's longest-serving barmen, Willie Gregg, you're guaranteed to receive a warm welcome from locals. Celebrities such as Jamie Dornan and Jimmy Nesbitt are known to pop in for a drink. The Quays Gastropub — As well as an extensive selection of beers, wines and cocktails, this pub on Eglinton Street provides a variety of classics as well as fresh, locally-sourced seafood and seasonal specials. Guests can eat in either the indoor dining area or there is a spacious covered outdoor atrium where visitors can enjoy the fresh sea air. Kiwi's Brew Bar — Located on Main Street where the town's famous cinema used to stand. The venue has much to offer including great food and drinks, live music, comedy nights and takes pride in its largest Irish whiskey collection on the north coast. The Station Bar — The station building, designed by architect and engineer Berkeley Deane Wise, was opened in 1893 and now houses a bar with regular live entertainment. Portrush Icons The White House — Founded in 1891, the department store remains an institution and is as loved locally as by the many people who visit the north coast each year. It boasts brands such as Barbour, Joules, White Stuff, Gant and has a toy shop as well. Kellys Complex — For over 50 years, Kellys has been a well-known fixture for entertainment. With The Barn, The Deerstalker, The Library Bar, Kon Tiki Boat Bar, Golflinks Hotel, The White Pheasant, Kellys Kitchen as well as its holiday homes, there is something for families, partygoers and foodies alike. T-Shirt City — This famous shop has been printing garments for over 50 years. Based on Main Street, Phyllis Niblock is now preparing to sell her business, but if you want to visit this emporium, be sure to grab a printed T-shirt. The Dolphin — A traditional fish and chip shop on Causeway Street, if you want to sample their famous takeaways, be prepared to queue. Curry's Fun Park — Still referred to as its former name, Barry's, by many, this small amusement park is packed full of fun for the family. Attractions include the waltzer, Aqua Valley water flume, dodgem cars, a rollercoaster and mini attractions for the wee ones. Phil's Family Amusements and Bingo Hall — One of the island's finest ticket and prize shops with easy-to-play machines and weekend bingo, it's not surprising people have kept returning to Phil's over the years. What's new? The Marcus — Last month, Hilton opened its first venue on the north coast in an old Victorian-era hotel on Main Street in a £11m renovation. The Marcus hosts 80 rooms and has restored original elements of the building, telling the story of the locality through interior features and artwork. Topblade Steakhouse — The third restaurant for its directors Aaron Taggart and John Crawford following their success in Portadown and Belfast, opening in the former KoKo location beside Curry's. Urban — Only a stone's throw from Portrush's sea front, Urban offers an impressive menu. Smash N Bird — Smashed burgers, ribs and wings, buttermilk chicken, thickshakes and buffalo fries are all on the agenda in a visit to this street food bar on Eglinton Street. Alan Simpson's five Top Things to do in Portmagic Portrush resident Alan Simpson runs the Portmagic Facebook page with almost 55,000 members. The popular media personality says 'Portmagic' is the feeling and sensation people get when they visit the town. The longt-erm promoter of the area gives us a rundown of his top five things to do: West Strand and East Strand beaches in Portrush. Alan adds: 'West is best and East is for the rest!' There are surf and paddle boards lessons with Portrush, Troggs or Alive surf schools. Curry's Fun Park – One of Northern Ireland's largest tourist attractions, the fun park has everything for little and big kids alike from the traditional ghost train to the euphoric Beast. 99 at Morelli's. With outlets in Portrush and Portstewart, no visit to the area is complete without an ice-cream from the Italian family run parlour. Chat to the locals – they're a friendly bunch! Shop local. 100% of the businesses in Portrush are family owned so you'll get a friendly welcome plus there's something to suit everyone.
Yahoo
30-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Family fun to be had at Upton House Food & Music Festival
Families from near and far are gearing up for tasty weekend treat in June to get them in the mood for festival season just a few days before Glastonbury coverage explodes online and on air. The best food, drink and live music festival in the south, Upton House Food & Music Festival promises a more-ish mix of great tunes and top tastes in a three-day bonanza of live music and mouth-watering food that won't break the bank. From Friday afternoon to Sunday evening, 20-22 June, the gardens and grounds of the award-winning Upton Country Park will be alive with a bill of top UK tributes, the cream of our local bands and the finest fare from the region's food and drink producers. (Image: Upton House Food & Music Festival) 'What better way to spend a weekend than with brilliant music, fantastic family company and great food?' says festival organiser Serena Wren. 'Upton House Food & Music Festival was started to bring the flavour of much bigger events to the beautiful surroundings of Upton Country Park so that families can come and experience a fantastic summer festival atmosphere on their doorstep – it's the best of everything!' Friday's music bill features tributes to Arctic Monkeys and Kasabian with local rocker Chris Pyan opening. They're followed on Saturday by incredible tributes to Red Hot Chilli Peppers, Kings of Leon and U2, with ace rockers Saints Of Sin, powerhouse vocalist Jordan Watts, cover masters Wonky Donkey and red hot All Funked Up. (Image: Upton House Food & Music Festival) Sunday's line up is topped by Police Academy's acclaimed tribute to The Police with banjo-wielding good time merchants Sixteen String Jack, Chris Payn and the Mother Ukers earlier in the day. Taste buds will be tempted with flavours from around the world that range from fresh local seafood to The Bao Bao Beast's traditional Asian cuisine with a western twist and regular festival favourites from Bournemouth Ice Cream. To drink there's a variety of local craft beers and ciders and the distinctive flavours of Shanty, Poole's very own seaside vodka distilled using five types of hand-foraged organic seaweed. (Image: Upton House Food & Music Festival) Why not save some pennies and pick up 'Early Bird' tickets, which start from just £16 for families, £6 for adults and only £3 for kids; with full three-day weekend tickets from £45 for families, £18 adults and £8 children. The site opens from 5pm on Friday and 11am on Saturday and Sunday with pre-paid on-site parking available and well-behaved dogs on leads welcome. Full details and to book your Early Bird tickets visit
Boston Globe
28-04-2025
- Business
- Boston Globe
As Canadian tourism plummets, Vermont braces for slow summer season on Lake Champlain
'That would be detrimental to not just us but the whole waterfront region — the shops, the restaurants — which is a shame,' he said. 'They are key to our summer tourism here.' Advertisement General Manager and Deputy Harbor Master Rob Peterson put out Adirondack chairs for the season on the Community Boathouse Marina's dock on April 18. Paul Heintz for The Boston Globe Canadians represent about 5 percent of Vermont's visitors, and close to 30 percent in northern parts, making them a key part of the state's $4 billion tourism economy, according to Heather Pelham, commissioner of the Vermont Department of Tourism and Marketing. But since President Donald Trump took office this year with threats to make Canada 'the 51st state' — and imposed tough tariffs and new border security measures — Canadian tourism to the US has plummeted. 'It's a complete reversal of a trend,' Pelham said. 'We were seeing Canadian travel recover more and more post-pandemic. So not only are we not continuing that upward trajectory, but we're in negative territory.' Advertisement The reasons go beyond tariffs. The US government has spooked Canadian tourists by requiring them to register if they're in the country for 30 or more days — and by searching electronic devices at the border. The Canadian dollar remains weak compared to the US dollar, making southerly shopping trips expensive. Both governments have scaled back hours at many border crossings. 'But I think the number one reason is the rhetoric around the 51st state,' Pelham said. 'That's what we hear from Canadians who reach out to us. They feel hurt and frustrated.' Pelham's department has heard from hoteliers, event promoters and state parks that reservations and ticket sales are down. Major tourist attractions close to the northern border, such as Jay Peak Resort and Kingdom Trails, a mountain biking mecca in the Northeast Kingdom, have expressed alarm at the decline. It's too soon to say how the international conflict may play out on Burlington's waterfront, where French is as common as English from Canada Day on July 1 through Québec's two-week Construction Holiday in late July and early August, when many in the province vacation. Diners sat before Lake Champlain in Burlington, Vt on June 28, 2021. ED JONES/AFP via Getty Images 'There's nights where half the tables at the Shanty are French speakers that are struggling to order in English,' said Al Gobeille, who owns the Shanty On The Shore seafood restaurant as well as the nearby Burlington Bay Market and Café. Gobeille used to be able to track his Canadian business when, in the 1990s, northerly customers would settle tabs with Canadian loonies. But now that most pay with credit cards, he resorts to less conventional metrics, such as how much muscadet — a French white wine popular in Québec — is imbibed at the Shanty. Advertisement 'If we don't sell a ton of it this year, that's going to be my indicator,' he said. Though most Québecois tourists traveling to Burlington come by car — the trip from Montreal is only 95 miles — boaters prefer a more scenic route. They sail or motor from Montreal or Québec City along the St. Lawrence River and then south along the Richelieu River until they reach Lake Champlain and cross the border by water into New York or Vermont. Some Canadians haul their boats by trailer to boat launches in either state or even store them at US marinas for weekend outings. Josée Côté, who lives near Montreal, is among those who love to ply Champlain's waters. Last summer, her family spent 20 days on the lake on their 29-foot powerboat, dropping anchor near islands and visiting marinas in Burlington and Plattsburgh, N.Y. 'We love the area. It's beautiful,' she said. 'But this year we prefer to orient our travels somewhere else, closer to home, because of the tensions between the United States and Canada.' As general manager of Nautisme Québec, an association representing boaters and maritime business owners in the province, Côté has heard from others who plan to avoid the US this summer due to 'the general disrespect' the country has displayed toward Canada. 'It's changed the way we feel about going to the United States right now,' she said. That could prove problematic to Rob Peterson, who manages the city-owned Community Boathouse Marina and serves as Burlington's deputy harbormaster. The red-roofed structure is a hive of activity in the summer, perched just offshore of? ECHO, a family maritime museum, and the Spirit of Ethan Allen, a popular tour boat. Advertisement Mister Chris and Friends performed a kid's concert for kids and parents on the shores of Lake Champlain at the ECHO Center in Burlington, Vt. Caleb Kenna for The Boston Globe Visiting mariners tie up to enjoy sunset views of the Adirondacks at the dockside restaurant Splash at the Boathouse, or to shop up the hill at the pedestrian-friendly Church Street Marketplace. Some rent slips for the night or the season. At summer's peak, Peterson said, most of the marina's 52 moorings are occupied by Canadian vessels. 'The boaters here are spending money in the city, and that impacts tax revenue for the state and for the city,' Peterson said. 'Maybe they're staying on a mooring, spending $40 with us, but they may be spending hundreds of dollars on Church Street and at restaurants and buying wine and food and soft goods.' Peterson recently opened the marina's annual lottery for slips during the city's Independence Day fireworks display and was dismayed to find a significant drop in Canadian requests. 'We've always been their neighbors,' the marina manager said as city workers labored to install seasonal docks. 'No matter what is being said nationally right now, it's just not the way we feel. We welcome them with open arms and will be smiling when we see them.' Rob Peterson, Jared Bazarian and Tyler Walton transported a dock finger from winter storage to the Community Boathouse Marina on April 18. Paul Heintz for The Boston Globe All around the waterfront, boaters and business owners vividly recall the dark period when the pandemic shut down the Canadian border to nonessential travel. 'We could go to the nicest moorings and anchorages throughout the lake on the busiest weekends and have them to ourselves,' said Marc Sherman, who keeps a sailboat on nearby Shelburne Bay. It may have been good for local recreation, but it was lousy for business. And Sherman, the founder and president of Outdoor Gear Exchange, an anchor retailer on Church Street, fears a repeat. He's already facing major price hikes on the goods he sells, due to the new tariff regime, and he's convinced high-spending Canadians will stay home. Advertisement 'I just don't think we're going to see a lot of them this year,' Sherman said. 'And I think that translates to all of Burlington.' The toughest thing is that there's nothing locals can do to solve the problem, said Jeff Lawson, vice president of tourism and marketing for the Lake Champlain Chamber. Though Montreal is the city's third largest source of tourists, after New York City and Boston, the chamber has paused its tourism advertising there. 'We feel it's a little bit tone-deaf,' he said. Between the slow recovery of international tourism in Burlington since the pandemic and the prospect of an extended chill in relations with Canada, Lawson said, 'We could be looking at a lost decade here, and that scares me very much.'
Yahoo
16-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Tasty treats at Upton House food & music festival!
The best food, drink and live music festival in the south, Upton House Food & Music Festival is ready to cook up a storm of good vibes to get the summer going with a bang. The three-day weekend from 20th to 22nd June is a tasty treat for the whole family with a winning recipe of big tunes and big flavours from a line-up of top UK tribute acts, great local bands and the region's finest food and drink producers in the picture perfect gardens of award-winning Upton Country Park. 'With great food from around the world and top tunes from some of the greatest artists of modern times, there's lots to love about Upton House Food & Music Festival,' says festival organiser Serena Wren. (Image: Upton House Food & Music Festival) 'This is an amazing site – not too big, not too small – and we've got a brilliant line-up with even more food and drink, including loads of fabulous local producers. There's free entertainment for kids and we've kept prices down.' Don't miss your chance to save money with 'Early Bird' tickets, starting from just £16 for families, £6 for adults and only £3 for kids; with full three-day weekend tickets from £45 for families, £18 adults and £8 children. Foodies will be able to sample flavours from around the world including Hey Macaroni's marvellous mac 'n' cheese variations, traditional Asian cuisine with a western twist from The Bao Bao Beast and festival favourites from Bournemouth Ice Cream. (Image: Upton House Food & Music Festival) To wash it down look out for Shanty, Poole's very own seaside vodka distilled using five types of hand-foraged organic seaweed, and the tasty T-City Bubble Tea truck. The music bill features tributes to U2, Kings of Leon, Red Hot Chilli Peppers, Arctic Monkeys, Kasabian, and The Police. Plus, there's a strong bill of local acts topped by those banjo-wielding good time merchants Sixteen String Jack, ace rockers Saints Of Sin, Chris Payn and Jordan Watts, cover masters Wonky Donkey, and inveterate party starters Mother Ukers. The site opens from 5pm on Friday and 11am on Saturday and Sunday with pre-paid on-site parking available and well-behaved dogs on leads welcome. Full details and to book tickets at
