Get to know Mike Spence, co-owner of The Drake Eatery in Victoria, British Columbia.

Chances are, if you’ve ever walked the streets of Victoria, you’ve probably seen an eatery with an iconic logo covered in gold leaf. If you have, then you’ve probably met one of its owners, co-founder and co-owner Mike Spence of The Drake Eatery. 

image of Mike Spence (left), in 2019, sourced from their website

Born in Ontario and raised in the small town of Charlottetown in Prince Edward Island, Mike grew up with a supportive family who encouraged his love of drums and small business ownership. Or, as Mike would put it, he grew up using his mother's knitting needles as drumsticks, and they gained a drum set to give her peace. And the small business? Well, Mike had a love of cleaning around his junior high school, resulting in leaving school behind to pursue a career as a janitor for hire. Looking back, he doesn't regret that decision. In fact, maybe as a reflection of his personal values, his family supported his decision to own his first business.

Eventually, Mike, at the urging of his more adventurous and older brother, left his life in Prince Edward Island and headed west to British Columbia. Mike would say that it was more a sibling ribbing, associated with the brutal winters in Prince Edward. 

Mike recalls those brutal winters, where one would drop from their second-story window to dig their way to the front door. A time when shoveling snow wasn’t a badge of honor. It was a war against nature. A period when it wasn’t uncommon to see cars buried in meters of snow. So, for Mike Spence, it was an obvious choice to trade another winter in Prince Edward Island for a rainy and windy one in Nanaimo, British Columbia. But like so many adventures, Mike’s trip was delayed after a bus ride from Vancouver to Horseshoe Bay, before a scheduled ferry ride. 

It all started over a drink, if you can believe that. 

Recalling it, as a wry smile creeps across his face, Mike tells how he let his brother know he was on his way at the ferry terminal. After the call, with some time on his hands, he stopped by the local bar and ordered a Budweiser. This did not sit well with a peer who argued he should instead have a Brown Herman. Taking this advice, a few beers, some dart games later, several missed ferry departures, and Mike made a friend before arriving in Victoria.

image from 2023 of Lee Spence, sourced from their Herald Street Brew Works Facebook account.

It was here that he met his wife, Lee, and at her urging they would start their first restaurant together, the Knockanback Grill. With a focus on comfort food and welcoming hospitality, Mike and Lee created a successful venture that yielded two locations. Unfortunately, that dream lasted less than 20 years, after they sold one of their locations. The other was closed to make way for a large commercial building. But they never gave up on owning another restaurant. 

After some 4 years, Mike and Lee Spence found the perfect location, just minutes from the nearby Victoria breweries. With high ceilings, exposed brick, and an overall rustic feel, they got to work on their new restaurant, The Drake Eatery, in the mid 2010s. 

Starting with the concept after learning from their mistakes at both Knockanback Grill locations, Mike and Lee elected to focus on simplifying their food menu. Designed to be assembled by any member of their staff, this resulted in a reduced need for a fully staffed kitchen. But it’s not the simplicity of each menu item that is remarkable, it’s also Mike and Lee’s support for locally sourced, humanely raised meats, local vegetables, and local bakeries that elevate their dishes. The co-owners will let you know, it costs them more in the end, but it's the peace of mind they can’t receive from cheaper ingredients.

Following on their food menus, The Drake Eatery focuses on making people comfortable from the moment they walk in, to when they sit down, and before they leave. And then there are the drink options.

Authorized to have a full bar with spirits, wine, beer, and cider, the duo instead sought to simplify things. Taking cues from places in their travels like Tiger, Tiger and The Blind Lady Ale House in San Diego, they decided to put draught beers and ciders front and center. You’ll notice there’s a focus on mostly local or regional craft breweries. But, depending on the day, you can also find imports from nearby Washington, Oregon, or elsewhere in the United States.

For Mike and Lee, the draught options you see aren’t the result of successful sales pitches. Instead, many of the out of province, sometimes out of country, beers are based on first-hand visits. Bend? Chances are Mike, Lee, and a select group of staff have traveled to Deschutes Brewery and sampled flights or pints of beer. San Diego? Mike and Lee make a point to visit at least once a year. Just don’t take offence if you’re from the states, and it’s San Diego beer night. There’s still plenty of days and weeks where local Canadian beer is on drought. 

And it all comes together at your table, from the meal you order to the drink, all intended to be paired with one another. After 10 years, contemplative, Mike would say that the space was his idea. But his wife Lee, she’s the engine that keeps everything going. As Mike puts it, if something’s broken, missing, or out of place, she’s on top of it. But he equally would tell you they support one another in their own way. 

Mike is also quick to bring praise upon their staff for helping make Lee’s and his days shorter and with less stress. This comes from years of encouraging their staff to make each guest's visit comfortable, to develop ways to improve execution, and to take initiative on everything from food menus to even, reluctantly as Mike might put it, the draught orders. When asked if he sees his progression at The Drake Eatery as a manager or a teacher, he would say he hopes everyone sees him as a coach.

If you want to experience The Drake Eatery for the first time or the most recent time, know that their doors are footsteps away.  If you want to experience that feeling all you need to do is visit 517 Pandora Ave in Victoria, BC.

A small footnote since we first drafted this article. The duo behind The Drake Eatery have co-founded a brewery called Herald Street Brew Works. Please visit their website at https://www.heraldstreet.com/