Bar entertainment in Canada
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Le St-Sulpice
This student evergreen is spread over four levels in an old Victorian stone house – a café, several terraces, disco and a sprawling back garden for drinks ‘n’ chats. The music changes with the DJ’s mood, from hip-hop and ambient to mainstream rock and jazz. It use recyclable glasses and also sells alcohol-free beer.
reviewed
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Sticky Wicket
This cavernous complex is the place to head if you want a noisy night out with the locals. The Wicket's main bar serves popular (if slightly pricey) Irish beers, while its menu serves up heaping plates of pub grub, ranging from burgers all the way to chicken strips. Live sports are pumped through the TVs and there's a poolroom upstairs. The highlight bar is Big Bad John's, a tiny hillbilly nook with tree stump tables and a carpet of peanut shells.
reviewed
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Flames Central
The place to be to catch a hockey game on the big screen. The huge interior of what used to be a cinema has been transformed into the sports bar to end all sports bars. With more TVs than an electronics shop, you'll definitely get a good view of the game - just make sure you're not cheering for the Oilers. There is an on-site restaurant and it has concerts from time to time.
reviewed
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Else’s
A warm and welcoming neighborhood bar where, as the saying goes, everyone knows your name. Settle into one of the worn chairs for an order of nachos, a tasty microbrew and a big portion of chat in front of the ceiling-high windows. Late-night jazz is a joy on weekends.
reviewed
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Stella’s Tap & Tapas Bar
Leading the Drive’s friendly neighborhood bars, Stella’s is a pilgrimage spot for fans of great Belgian brews. Leffe and Stella Artois are on tap but it’s the multipage bottled list that’ll do you in. Try fruity Mort Subite Kriek, coppery Chimay Rouge, strong Golden Draak and dark X.O., a brooding, end-of-the-night beer made with cognac. And don’t forget that other nutrient group: moules et frites (mussels and fries) is recommended, or a cone of addictive fries (served Euro-style with mayonnaise) is always a good idea. There’s also a more food-forward Stella’s on Cambie.
reviewed
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Diamond
Look for the unassuming entrance and head upstairs and you’ll suddenly find yourself in one of Vancouver’s best and coziest cocktail bars. This high-ceilinged, renovated heritage room is studded with sash windows – try for a view seat – and while it’s popular with local hipsters it’s never pretentious. A list of perfectly nailed cocktails (try the warming Penicillin of blended scotch, peated scotch, ginger, lemon and honey) is welcoming, but you’ll also find a roster of intriguing, Asian-focused tasting plates, such as pork gyoza and green-tea noodles.
reviewed
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George Ultra Lounge
One of hedonistic Yaletown’s favorite haunts, George attracts the local glitterati with its perfectly executed high-concept cocktails – anyone for a Sazerac, featuring bourbon in an ‘absinthe-washed glass’? Work your way down the menu as you hone your chat-up lines on the locals, or just sink into that lip-shaped sofa in the corner and try to figure out what the giant swirly glass thing above the bar is. Food-wise, it’s all about tasty side-dishes (the pork buns are especially recommended), while the DJs hit the turntables on Wednesdays and Thursdays.
reviewed
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Salt Tasting Room
Tucked along a cobbled back alley reputedly named after the area’s former butcher trade, this chatty and atmospheric little brick-lined wine bar offers around 100 interesting tipples, most of which are unusually offered by the glass. Beer fans will also find a small menu of treats, including the excellent Anchor Liberty Ale. From your communal table perch, you should also peruse the giant blackboard of house-cured meats and regional cheeses, then go for a $15 tasting plate of three, served with piquant condiments – go for Brit-style piccalilli.
reviewed
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Narrow Lounge
Push through the door just around the corner on 3rd Ave – the red light above tells you if it’s open or not – then descend into Vancouver’s coolest small bar. Little bigger than a train carriage and lined with stuffed animal heads and junk-shop pictures, the hipster-luring Narrow is an atmospheric nook where the absence of windows means it always feels like midnight. Ask the friendly bar staff for recommendations (cocktails like the Bramble or beers including Blue Buck Ale are popular) and refuel with an ‘unburger’ – meatloaf on a baguette.
reviewed
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1181
The West End’s coolest gay bar, this loungey spot combines a chatty, sofa-strewn front space with a cozy back area that feels a lot more intimate. Separating the two is a sidebar staffed by friendly servers ever-ready to offer you tips on the local scene: this is also where the singletons sit, so you can expect to be the subject of some flirty attention as soon as you arrive. There’s a good wine list and plenty of tempting cocktails, including the signature 1181 Margarita, made with Cointreau and lime-infused tequila.
reviewed
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O’Doul’s
Live nightly jazz attracts savvy locals to the watering hole of the Listel Vancouver hotel, where there’s an impressive winelist of Old and New World classics and a surprisingly smashing BC beer selection from brewers like Crannog, Storm and Turning Point: go for the Hermann’s Dark Lager. The shows are cover-free and you can also expect performers to drop by for some late-night jamming during the Jazz Festival. Service is excellent here and there’s also a good grease-free bar menu.
reviewed
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Cascade Room
A great way to fast-track your way in with the local hipsters, this is the perfect contemporary reinvention of the trad neighborhood bar. Choice bottled beers like Anchor Steam and Young’s Double Chocolate Stout feature, but the excellent 50-strong cocktail list is recommended: try a Cascade Room Cocktail of bourbon, pressed apple, lime juice, vanilla bean, bitters and egg white. Food is of fine gastropub quality, with the wine-braised beef and bubble and squeak worthy of praise. Drop by on Mondays for quiz night.
reviewed
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UVA
Possibly the city’s best wine bar, this little nook combines a heritage mosaic floor and swanky white vinyl chairs that add a dash of mod class. But despite the cool look, there’s a welcome snob-free approach that will have you happily taste-tripping through a boutique drinks list carefully selected from Old and New World delights plus some exciting BC wines: go for the citrusy Joie Riesling. Combine your drinks with tasting plates from charcuterie to tangy cheese – make sure you have the sardine bruschetta.
reviewed
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Keefer
A dark, narrow and sophisticated new bar that – along with nearby Bao Bei – is changing the face of Chinatown from old-school to mod-cool. Claimed by the hipsters as soon as it opened in 2010, you’ll find an intriguing menu of extremely well-crafted cocktails (they start north of the $10 mark, so they should be) plus Asian-fusion tapas. Try something new and you’re almost bound to be blown away (if you need help, go for the Opium Sour or Keefer Fizz).
reviewed
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L’Escogriffe
Though you’re apt to see some dubious characters staggering into this small, dungeon-like bar, the ‘um, what?’ factor is part of L’Esco’s punk-rock charm. Over the years many amazing bands have graced its tiny stage, and the bar continues to book bands some nights. Sundays, resident DJs spin laid-back new wave, indie rock and rockabilly, making this deliciously dark hole-in-the-wall ideal for knocking a few back with friends.
reviewed
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Le Sacrilège
It's been around for over 10 years, but this watering hole has taken off in a big way recently and night owls start or end their revelry here most weekends. Even on Monday night, when neighboring bars are empty, it's standing room only at this one. There's a popular terrace out back - get to it through the bar or the tiny brick alley next door. To find Le Sacrilège look for the sign with a laughing, dancing monk saucily flashing his knickers.
reviewed
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Chill Winston
Gastown’s best patio is the highlight attraction of this large, brick-lined bar overlooking Maple Tree Sq. Snag a spot under a parasol on a sunny afternoon and you’re unlikely to move much for the rest of the day. Drinks-wise, you’ll find a wide array of tipples, from flirty cocktails to New World wines, as well as a good boutique selection of interesting beers from Quebec, Belgium, the UK and beyond. Refuel with some sharable tapas plates.
reviewed
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Afterglow
Tucked at the back of Glowbal, the city’s tiniest lounge is an intimate, brick-lined room studded with low-slung couches and little white coffee tables: it feels like a den for fashionistas. Pull up a vinyl stool and you’ll soon be experimenting with flirty cocktails or a selection from the restaurant’s wine list. Take a break from all that quaffing with a handful of lip-smacking satay sticks or some black truffle popcorn.
reviewed
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Bacchus
A roaring hearth on a chilly day is the main attraction at Bacchus, a decadent bar with a gentleman’s club ambience on the lobby level of the Wedgewood Hotel & Spa. Sink into a deep leather chair, adjust your monocle and listen to the piano player as you sip a signature Red Satin Slip martini of vodka, raspberry liqueur and cranberry juice. There’s a good small-plate menu for the incurably esurient (go for the cheese).
reviewed
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Sylvia’s Lounge
Attached to the permanently popular Sylvia Hotel, this was Vancouver’s first cocktail bar when it opened in the mid-1950s. Now a comfy, wood-lined neighborhood bar favored by in-the-know locals (they’re the ones who are hogging the window seats as the sun sets over English Bay), it’s a great spot for an end-of-day wind down. Go for a 1954 vodka and Chambord cocktail, along with a side-dish of seafood-stuffed mushrooms.
reviewed
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Bily Kun
One of the pioneers of ‘tavern chic, ’ Bily Kun is a favorite local hangout for a chilled DJ-spun evening. First-time visitors usually gawk at the ostrich heads that overlook the bar but soon settle into the music groove of DJs and sometimes bands. Upstairs, O Patro Vys is a performing-arts hall that features anything from electronic installations to Patagonian song and Haïku art.
reviewed
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Gogo Lounge
The retro-kitsch decor here looks like it was copied from an Austin Powers movie: ‘60s psychedelics, flower-power motifs, glistening vinyl and teardrop chairs. Friendly, flirty staff shake martinis and dance on the bar, while regulars jump the long lineups for a guaranteed party any night of the week. Though the loud music tends to get a bit Top 40, the festive formula works.
reviewed
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Snack’n Blues
Does the name of this dive bar indicate a combination ridiculous or genius? Probably both. The ‘snack’ consists of an assortment of salty treats poured from a bag – pretzels, beer nuts, cheese crackers – all conspiring to satisfy your sodium-laced fantasies. The ‘blues’ is pretty good too, though played on a CD – and loudly.
reviewed
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Sweaty Betty’s
In a city of infused vodkas and creative cocktails, Betty’s refuses to mix anything with more than three ingredients. This no-nonsense approach pares a night out at the bar to the essentials: having a good time and chatting people up. The tiny place is packed with hipsters on the weekends, and the living room-ish setup kinda makes it feel like a college house party.
reviewed
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Bifteck
Pool, popcorn and indie rockers hold court alongside students and random weirdos at this legendary dive bar that’s as much part of the Main’s culture as smoked meat and bagels. Drinks are cheap, the faux country-and-western decor hasn’t budged for decades and the rough-around-the-edges staff keep it real. A great place to kick off a night out.
reviewed
