Beach Hut offers tasty treats

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This article was published 14/08/2025 (225 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

KILLARNEY — Nestled in the heart of southern Manitoba’s breadbasket, the unincorporated town of Killarney is one of the region’s best small towns. The community, which is adjacent to its namesake Killarney Lake, is well known for its natural beauty and recreational opportunities.

It’s also fast becoming known as a great town for breakfast, lunch and dinner, thanks in part to a now year-round restaurant just down the street from the beach along Lakeshore Drive.

The Beach Hut Drive In has long been a fixture of Killarney’s seasonal food favourites. But in recent years, new owners Hernan Guinanao and his wife Arlene Cardenas, who took over the business in 2020, have expanded the restaurant to a year-round operation.

As reported by Discover Westman, the family migrated to Canada from the Philippines 10 years ago and settled in the Yukon Territory to call Canada home. But they decided after a while it was time to explore the rest of Canada, and when the Beach Hut came up for sale, they jumped at the opportunity.

Now open year-round, The Beach Hut is still well known for its homemade burgers, hand-cut fries and ice cream treats, but it has expanded the menu for the morning crowd and now does a strong breakfast business.

Located at 44 Water Ave., the establishment also sports an 18-hole mini-golf course, making it the perfect spot to relax and putt the afternoon away after lunch and a morning down at the beach.

Honestly, I love a good burger, and I was tempted at first to try their double cheeseburger combo for $18. But I decided instead on a combination of a fish burger — breaded cod on a fresh bun with lettuce and tartar sauce — and a basket of Mexi fries, which includes peppers, tomatoes, chili and nacho cheese.

No, this isn’t exactly health food, but it certainly hit the spot.

The fish burger came hot and fresh, though I could have used a little more sauce and a pickle or two to round it out. On the other hand, the fries were fantastic, with the chili adding just the right kick to the dish.

There are, of course, dozens of other choices, including something called a Beaker Burger — listed as Killarney’s favourite — with twice the cheese and bacon added to a double bacon cheeseburger “deluxed” with tomato, lettuce, mayo and pickles.

And you’ll find everything from salads and wraps to toasted BLT sandwiches and variations on the classic poutine.

You can sit down in their bright restaurant space that sports wooden booths and large picture windows looking out over the mini golf course, or take it with you in the car.

Their breakfast menu addition sports the classic eggs, sausage or bacon, hash browns and toast, and a meatless variety as well. The Beach Hut also offers its own take on the breakfast sandwich for those quick bites on the go, and a selection of omelettes, among other favourites like muffins and French toast. Breakfast is served between 7 a.m. and 10:30 a.m.

The lunch crowd is a hungry bunch by the way. If you’re looking for a bite during the lunch hour, I recommend you get there early — or fashionably late. The noon hour on Tuesday was hopping with people lining up at the order window — conveniently located inside the building not outside like a regular drive-in restaurant.

In speaking with Arlene and Guinanao, they told me that among the many different ice cream treats they serve, one of the most popular seems to be among the simplest — a soft-serve cone. Of course, that also happens to be my top pick at most drive-ins when I visit, so I had a chocolate and vanilla swirl.

Also available — and perhaps unique to The Beach Hut in Manitoba, at least — is something called the Beachie. Think of a marriage between a slushie and soft-serve ice cream.

And as usual, they have many hard ice cream flavours as well, along with sundaes, banana splits and specialty parfaits.

With such a large and sprawling menu, there’s no doubt it’s difficult to make every dish perfect, and I think there’s still a little room for improvement and experimentation with things like the fish burger. The owners might also consider fixing their sign on top of the restaurant — looks like someone threw a rock at it and hit their target.

But all things considered, if you’ve got an afternoon to spend down by the water, make sure you take the opportunity to grab a little Beach Hut, too. 4/5 stars.

» mgoerzen@brandonsun.com