In short: The Coombs Old Country Market, the one with the goats on the roof, is where I fell for rustic, homey Vancouver Island: log walls, a grass roof, a patio and a beer garden, goat t-shirts, and a feeling that for an afternoon everything in the world is exactly where it should be. Here is why it matters to me, and every business you will find there today.

Where I Fell in Love With Coombs

The first thing you notice is the roof. A long, low building of rough logs, with grass growing on top and goats standing up there like they own the place, chewing and looking down at the traffic on the Alberni Highway. The second thing you notice is the smell: fresh bread, coffee, something frying, cedar warming in the sun.

I have been coming here for years, and the feeling has never worn off. The Old Country Market started in the early 1970s as a roadside fruit stand run by Norwegian immigrants Kris and Solveig Graaten. It grew into the market you see now, with a sod roof modelled on the old farm buildings of Lillehammer, Norway. The goats came later, as local legend tells it, when the grass got long one Coombs Fall Fair weekend and somebody borrowed a few to mow it. They never left, and neither did the crowds.

Inside, it is a happy maze. Wooden floors, baskets of produce, hanging lanterns, shelves of things from every corner of the world, and a bakery case you have to physically walk away from. It does not feel like a store. It feels like somebody’s very large, very busy country kitchen.

What It Means to Be Carefree Here

There is a particular feeling I only get in Coombs. You park, you stretch, you hear goats, and something in your shoulders lets go. Nobody is in a hurry. Kids are pointing at the roof, dogs are on leashes, people are eating doughnuts at ten in the morning without apologising for it.

For an afternoon, it feels like everything is perfect in the world. Not because nothing is wrong anywhere, but because this one small place is exactly what it says it is: honest food, friendly people, animals on a roof, and nothing to prove. That is what security feels like to me. Not locks and alarms, but a place that has stayed kind and a little bit silly for more than fifty years, and lets you be carefree for a while.

The Restaurant, the Patio and the Beer Garden

When I am hungry, the Market Cafe inside the market is the easy choice, a family menu with some Mexican options and a patio where you can sit outside and watch the goats. On a warm day, the beer garden is where I end up: a cold drink, a plate of something good, and the sound of the market going on around you. There is also a taqueria counter at the market for tacos when that is all you want.

For a proper sit-down, Cuckoo Trattoria & Pizzeria is the Italian landmark of Coombs, right in the market area, and in the off-season the goats graze the grass pasture beside it. Pizza, pasta and a glass of wine after a morning of wandering is about as good as a day gets.

The T-Shirts

I have a weakness for the t-shirts. The goat shirts are a rite of passage: you are not really a Coombs regular until you own one. Coombstock does tie-dye and that easy, hippie-style clothing, Wabi Sabi Boardwear has surf and skate gear, and the Coombs Emporium next door has its own clothing shops. Every shirt in my drawer from here comes with a memory attached.

Every Business at the Coombs Country Market

Here is every business I could find at and around the market this year. Shops come and go and hours change with the seasons, so check before you make a special trip.

At the market

• Old Country Market: the main building with the goats on the roof; imported and local groceries, bakery, deli and gifts.
• Root Cellar Produce: open-air fruit and vegetables.
• The Garden Center: garden supplies and pots, behind the Root Cellar.
• Zolena Home: home goods, bedding, robes, plants and candles.
• Wabi Sabi Boardwear: surf and skate brands and clothing.
• Market Cafe: the restaurant inside the market, with a family menu, Mexican options and a patio. One listing showed it temporarily closed this year, so check first.
• Taqueria at Coombs Market: a counter for tacos.
• Cuckoo Trattoria & Pizzeria: Italian food and pizza.
• Coombs Ice Cream Parlour: ice cream.
• Billy G’s Doughnuts: wild doughnut flavours, down the alley at the back of the market.
• Billy Gruff Creamery & Bistro: more than 70 ice cream flavours, coffee and snacks, with a dog-friendly patio.

Next door and along the highway

• Coombs Emporium: giant stone sculptures, a used bookstore, a comic shop and clothing stores.
• Coastal Carvings Fine Arts Gallery: Indigenous and other fine art.
• James Island Grill: burgers, wraps and Mexican food, with hours that vary.
• Karma Coffee: organic, ethically sourced coffee beans to take home.
• Coombstock: tie-dye and hippie-style clothing.
• Red Door Treasures: collectibles.
• Coombs Wooden Shoe Dutch Import Store: Dutch cheese, candy, meats and wooden shoes.
• Pyromania Pottery: local pottery.
• Demxx: reclaimed building materials and home decor.
• Coombs Village Centre: Statue Square, the Fairy Castle and more small shops.
• The Other Side Artisan Collective: local artisans, across the bridge.

A short drive away

Butterfly World is just up Highway 4A, Hamilton Hobby Farm sits across from it, and Englishman River Falls, Little Qualicum Falls and the giant trees of Cathedral Grove are all close enough to turn a market stop into a whole day.

POTUS: The Pot Sale Out Back

If you go at the right time of year, keep walking past the beer garden. Once a year, rows of pots go on display and sell for next to nothing. We call it POTUS, and it has nothing to do with politics. I wrote the whole story, including the legend of the mysterious pot billionaire, on Strategic Crypto Reserve: POTUS, the annual pot sale at Coombs’ Goats on the Roof.

Planning Your Visit

• Where: Alberni Highway (Highway 4A), Coombs, about 10 km west of Parksville.
• When: the market is usually open daily from roughly March to December, about 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.; individual shops vary.
• Goats: on the roof from about the May long weekend to late October.
• Cost: free to walk in. You only pay for what you eat and carry home.
• Parking: roadside spots fill fast in July, August and on weekends; there is more parking by the Village Centre and the Fairy Castle.

Frequently Asked Questions

Where is the Coombs Old Country Market?

It is on the Alberni Highway (Highway 4A) in Coombs, about 10 km west of Parksville on Vancouver Island, on the main road toward Port Alberni and Tofino.

When are the goats on the roof in Coombs?

The goats are up on the sod roof from about the May long weekend until late October, then spend the winter on a nearby farm.

What businesses are at the Coombs Old Country Market?

The market itself sells imported groceries, baked goods, deli and gifts, and around it you will find Root Cellar Produce, The Garden Center, Zolena Home, Wabi Sabi Boardwear, the Market Cafe, a taqueria counter, Cuckoo Trattoria & Pizzeria, Coombs Ice Cream Parlour, Billy G’s Doughnuts, Billy Gruff Creamery and the Coombs Emporium, with more shops along the highway and across the bridge.

A Tiny Bit About Cuckoo, the Mining Algorithm

Here is a fun coincidence for the crypto crowd. Cuckoo is not just the trattoria by the goats; it is also a crypto mining algorithm. Cuckoo Cycle is a proof-of-work puzzle designed by computer scientist John Tromp in 2014. Instead of hashing over and over like Bitcoin, miners hunt for a loop of exactly 42 edges hidden inside an enormous random graph, a job that leans on memory more than raw processing power. Tromp’s idea was a puzzle limited by memory speed rather than brute-force hashing, so ordinary computers would stand a fairer chance against giant mining farms. The name comes from cuckoo hashing, a way of storing data where items kick each other out of their slots, the way a cuckoo chick pushes eggs out of a nest. Variants called Cuckaroo and Cuckatoo have powered coins such as Grin, and Aeternity was built on Cuckoo Cycle too. A memory-hungry puzzle named after a bird, sharing its name with a pizza place next to a roof full of goats? Surely this has something to do with Coombs.

Photos: goats on the roof (cover, cropped), 2006, by Gillian from Toronto, Canada, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0). Goats on the roof, July 1990, by Giorgio Galeotti, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). Market interior, 2011, by Doug Hay, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0). Coombs Emporium, Wikimedia Commons, public domain. Photos resized. Business details from public listings as of October 2026. This post is not affiliated with the Old Country Market or any business named here.

As an adjective: To describe something as authentic or high-quality (e.g., “That’s a fair dinkum Stock Price Iren” or “a fair dinkum mate” who is loyal and true).