The Resurgent Sharbot Lake County Inn and Crossing Pub

Jeff Green | Aug 28, 2025

By the time Frank and Sandra White sold the Sharbot Lake Country Inn in June of 2023, they had earned the support of the local community after 13 years of hard work, improving the property.

They had consolidated the kitchen and dining room in the form of the Crossing Pub, transforming what had been a deficit to the business into an asset, and had rebuilt and modernised all of the rooms. And they had established the Crossing Pub as a music venue for travelling roots and traditional music acts from the East Coast and across Canada.

COVID had taken a lot of the momentum from the business, however, and the dining room was still not open on a regular basis three years after the start of the pandemic.

The new ownership group included Gobi Nada, a restauranter/developer who at that time also owned Kothu Labs in Perth. The restaurant was open during the summer of 2023, with a pub style menu similar to what The Crossing’s menu had been, with the addition of Kothu and some other Sri Lankan influenced dishes. The Crossing also hosted musical events, but in place of the dinner/show packages featuring travelling musicians, the focus was on local musicians and open mic events, with a modest cover charge. The restaurant was open for regular hours.

The first sign of difficulty came in the early fall of 2023, when The Crossing Pub lost its liquor license. As time wore on, it became clear that re-establishing a license was not happening, and the hours started to become sporadic. By the fall of 2024, The Crossing was basically closed. Rooms were still available for rent, but even that aspect of the Country Inn dropped off.

In the late spring of this year, a new manager, Madhu, started posting on social media that the restaurant was going to re-open, and in late June with a new menu, and new front of house staff, the hotel was reborn. It took most of July for hours to be regularly established, but armed with a new liquor license, and pub menu with a focus on burgers, sandwiches, and poutine dishes, the Sharbot Lake Country Inn and the Crossing Pub is back.

“People want a place they can go, to relax, have a meal, a beverage, where they can play pool or watch sports or visit with friends,” Madhu said in an interview last month.

With new staff and hands-on management, the pub is open 6 days a week for lunch and dinner.

Dinner entrees include Japanese Chicken Curry ($27.99) and Sizzling Black Pepper Steak ($27.99) burgers start at $17.99 (fries included) and Poutine at $13.99.

A new menu is planned for the fall.

Music is back as well, on Thursday Nights. Every fourth Thursday into the fall, the Pranxters will be playing, with a special guest each time, and there will be rotating bands on the other Thursdays, all from 6pm-9pm. The first Thursday Night, which was kicked off on August 14 with a show hosted by Zach Teal, followed by the Pranxters on August 21. This week, the Togs will perform.

“There are a lot of great musicians in this area,” said Madhu, everyone seems to play an instrument. I’ve been to the K&P Brewery on Friday Nights, where they have an Open Mic that is packed each week. We are not going to go against that, so we are looking at Thursday nights. Our goal is to work with the other restaurants, other businesses in the community to build it up for everyone.”

The Crossing Pub is open from 11:30am six days a week (Tuesday excepted). It closes at 8pm on Mondays and Wednesdays, at 9:30pm from Thursday to Saturday nights, and at 9pm on Sunday night.

For information, look to the Sharbot Lake Country Inn and The Crossing Pub on Social media, or call 613-279-2198