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The Bars and Pubs of Vancouver, B.C.
The Places to Party for the Winter Olympic Games
Locals are welcoming Olympic Games visitors with open arms and full beers.
Fans going for the gold in the host city of the 2010 Winter Olympic Games – that's gold as in a Canadian lager – can use the many bars and pubs in downtown Vancouver as their own personal medal stand,
In many ways, it's reminiscent of a little London (certainly it's British
heritage plays a large role in making is feel this way) with pubs tucked
into spaces next to shops, hotels, businesses and bistros.
 The Vancouver lifestyle is perfectly suited to the bars and pubs. People are
largely casual here and they like to hang out with a few pints and friends.
As a result, there are some really cool hangouts, a few of which mix
in a strong singles scene that rivals that of the clubs.
Do expect to pay cover charges, even at the pubs and bars. This is $7-8 CDN on a normal weekend; it could be much more during the Olympics. The beer prices, ranging from $5.50-7.50, will remain steady as bars are not allowed to charge extra for Canada's favorite beverage. They same applies for mixed drinks and wine.
Pubs of different character – and characters – are located
throughout Vancouver's many neighborhoods as follows. The area of Yaletown is the most happening spot, at least until midnight or so when Granville takes the top spot on the medal stand.
It's easy to have a good time in Vancouver's pubs and bars.
PubClub.com has a separate article on clubs and live music venues; click here for that story.
• Yaletown
• Granville Street and Downtown
• Gastown
• The
East Side/Main Street
• Kitsilano
Yaletown
The casual but fun Cactus Cave features a dynamite DJ.
Yaletown, a rebuilt old warehouse district, is where Vancouver's young
and trendy people live and play. This is one of Vancouver's defining
small neighborhoods, presenting a distinct personality all its own. Residents in Yaletown like to dine on the small outdoor patios of the many restaurants and nearly every one of them has a dog.
This is THE party place during the Games
The brick buildings house exclusive boutiques, small cafe-style
restaurants such as the popular Milestones and the upscale Blue
Water and a populated corner coffee shop, Blenz Coffee. Located
on the east side of Vancouver between downtown and the Granville and
Cambie street bridges, it is basically a two-block area of Richards
and Hamilton Streets bordered by Drake and Helmcken.
Yaletown is primarily comprised of restaurants, many of which also create a buzzing bar scene. And as restaurants, they have no cover charges. What the do have is outstanding food served in a lively atmosphere.
A good vibe makes the Cactus Cafe a good place to be in Yaletown.
A PubClub favorite is Cactus Club Cafe. It's smallish bar area is dark and classy and the energy is friendly and positive. The food is good, the atmosphere intoxicating. Let's put it this way – the place just a good vibe. At night, a fun female DJ takes over the hostess stand and plays cool, hip music ideal for this setting (but this is not a dance club). During the Games, she will relocate outside and the patio will be rocking.
A similar setting in a much larger area is Earl's. A fairly upscale eatery, it has a bar section that starts to fill up around Happy Hour. At night, the place to be is the upstairs lounge, free of any cover charge. There's another Earl's on Burrard Street and it's happening, as well.
One of the social heartbeats of Yaletown is the Yaletown Brewing Company, a large microbrewery with good food, a pool room and a patio that overlooks
Hamilton St. It is the neighborhood gathering spot, especially Thursdays,
Fridays and Saturdays. To the right of the place is the restaurant, which is quite sedate when compared to the jumping bar to the left.
Clubbers finish the night across the street at Bar None, a comfortable
club that resembles a living room (although on busy nights there are
so many people it's hard to tell. It's brick-walled interior fits its Yaletown neighborhood. As a club/lounge is has a cover, $15 an up, depending on the night.
Downtown/Granville Street
DJ Paul's lively personality shows up in the songs he plays.
The heart of Vancouver's pub life is downtown. This encompasses the
primary shopping and hotel district of the city.
On Granville, home to Vancouver's young club scene, Doolan's
Irish Pub (at Nelson) is the best place non-club bar. It's clean and so is the
crowd. This highly popular weekend mingling spot where people sit in booths or lean up against the bar in big numbers. It also draws in the occasional
crazy crew for a number of brews and DJ Paul plays good, fun "party music."
Doolin's is a fun Irish pub on Granville.
For an additional $4 cover (it's $8 to get into Doolan's on weekends) it includes The Cellar, a casual downstairs dance bar.
Ignore the fact the The Lennox Pub (Granville and Robson) is located
beneath a Burger King. It's a clean, modern place that has the feel
of a classic pub. A diverse menu makes it a popular lunch and dinner
spot and its patio is perfect for watching the interesting activities
of Granville Street. Past 10, the small patio is packed.
All up and down Granville Street are a number of small bars and restaurants, some of which actually become bars as people get ready to head to the clubs, or actually prefer these places to the clubs. For example, The Granville Room (957 Granville) has upscale fare
in a bar setting and the Speakeasy (921 Granville) is another popular spot.
Taking the edge off at The Edge on Granville.
Want to cool, hip lounge in which to relax, have a good time yet not pay the typical downtown Vancouver cover charge? Then The Edge The Edge Social Grill and Lounge next to the Chateaux Granville is the call. It has couches, comfy seats, a cool and soothing DJ and a welcoming bar. It's not crazy and cranking like many other spots on Granville, but if a group wants a place to hang out and have conversations, then The Edge has the edge.
A fun diversion – especially for groups – is Commodore Lanes and Billiards. It's a small bowling alley (featuring a Canadian game called 5-pin) with a side area of several pool tables. The only bar is a little snack stand with two taps and a few other adult beverages in a convenient store-style cooler. Which, of course, its part of its charm.
 Those looking for a warm, cozy pub have only to go as far as The
Jolly Taxpayer (600 block of West Hastings). This British-style
establishment is what a good pub is all about. It has an inviting entrance,
is kind of dark, has leather chairs, a pool table, lots of wood and
a bookcase (alas, the latter is fake).
The
Jolly Taxpayer has "Old English Pub" written all over it,
although the TVs give it bit of a welcome modern touch. It is very comfortable,
the kind of place where one could walk in for a pint and stay for hours.
Singles should note that Fridays are busy from 5-10.
Down the street, on Pender just near Granville, is a lively sports
bar. In fact, it's Vancouver's Best Sports Bar because of the combination of the atmosphere and the games. Malone's is rustic, as all good sports bar should
be, spots on many plasma TVs and people who are just out to drink and party and don't
always care about what's on the tube. It's most crowded on Friday nights.
The Shark Club (Georgia and Beatty streets) is appropriately
named, because it's full of land sharks as well as prey. Well, not really but it makes for good copy. It's really a kind of hang-out bar that plays club-type music weekend nights. Hockey fans like to stop in before and after Canucks games.
For a good game of darts, check out The Rose & Thorn.
Fo sports, especially on sunny days, is Mavrick's on the Waterfront (770 Pacific Blvd.) The build-your-own pasta bar is almost as popular
as the beer. The place is absolutely bonkers in the afternoons following
the Molson Indy on Labour Day weekend.
Looking for a good stroll? Robson Street's many restaurants,
cafes and shops make it a popular early evening activity for the 20s-
and 30s-crowd, especially between Burrard and Butte streets. Two main spots to stop at Catcus Cafe (younger crowd) and Milestone's.
Gastown
Did we make a wrong
turn and wind up in Amsterdam?
Each city seems to have an invisible force that attracts tourists like
a magnet. In Vancouver it's Gastown. Maybe that's because it hugs Burrard
Inlet, or because it's a short walk from Canada Place, or perhaps because
it has a few of the standard tacky souvenir shops. It's also about the
only place downtown where visitors should be careful of crime after
dark.
Its cobblestone streets and miniature black lamppost-type fixtures
make it seems as if one has made a wrong turn and wound up in Amsterdam.
Certainly the coffeeshop-looking Cambie House Saloon on Cambie
Street, located on the first floor of a youth hostel, adds to this perception.
It's a collection of people one would easily find in, well, Amsterdam.
The Steamworks Brewing Company is a more conservative call for
those who left the backpack at home. Its outdoor patio overlooking the
water make it a hot lunch and afternoon drink spot.
Gastown has a couple of nightclubs – Shine and the Purple
Onion – which are reviewed in our Clubs section.
The East Side/Main Street
Isolated from downtown, Main Street is a truly local area of Vancouver
where few tourists ever have the pleasure of discovering.
It's known as The East Side and contains a pair of separate communities
full of eclectic shops, bars and bistros. The crowd is classy yet casual
and very local from the surrounding neighborhoods.
It starts just west of the Georgia Viaduct at The Brick House in the
700 block and continues to a place called Whip at 60th Ave. Here and
in between is a real taste of the culture and diversity of Vancouver.
The crowds here are home-based, and the businesses are small clothing
shops and other family or individual-owned stores. The surrounding pubs
reflect this identity.
The Brick House is a small, quaint pub where people go to hang
out and play darts. Upstairs is a lovely little bistro offering incredible
bargains such as a shrimp and noodle stirfry for $7. Weekends at the
bistro are packed, often with a table wait of an hour or more. This
is no problem, as the lively bar scene quickly passes the time. Thursdays
feature poetry readings, Friday is martini night, and there are other
special events every night except Mondays.
Further up Main Street is The Locust (25th and Main)
is another quaint neighborhood watering spot and The Latin Quarter
is a tasty tapas restaurant and bar. The Whip (6th and Main)
is part art gallery and part pub that reflects the owner's love of art.
It has a restaurant, live music and frequently features special events.
It's adjacent to Slickety Jim's, Public and Madison's,
all favorite pubs of the locals.
Bukowski's, named after the legendary American writer Charles
Bukowski who wrote the movie 'Barfly.' features poetry readings every
Tuesday. It is located in the heart of 'The Drive' (more formally known
as Commercial Drive), an area which is considered very much Vancouver's
only bohemian/hip/cool neighbourhood, an area which the Utne Reader
once referred to as 'one of the ten coolest places to hang in North
America'.
Kitsilano
The fun Kitsilano
crowd is not always beach laiid-back.
California meets Canada at Vancouver's hottest beach area.
Locals refer to Kitsilano – located just west of family-packed
Granville Island – as Kitifornia because it reminds them of a California
beach town (except that Southern California gets about 250 days more
of sunshine a year than does Kitsilano).
Here is where blonde-haired girls twinkle their blue eyes at muscle-happy
men. Everybody here runs for exercise, so looking good is definitely
a prime pastime. Such attention to physical detail must be displayed,
and after the beach people do just that from the patio at Malone's.
It overlooks the beach and is THE place to go after a day of sun, sand
and surf (or any combination thereof).
Those seeking a quieter hangout go to Tangerine across the street.
Tangerine is large on fun but small on space; it only has something
like 15 tables.
The club in Kitsilano is Urban Wall, which features different
themes each night.
On nearby Granville Island, The Sandbar has a funky dance floor
and really popular patio scene.
There you have it – PubClub's guide to the Pubs of Vancouver.
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