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Mill Marine
The food is a little overpriced but the spectacular panoramic views of Stanley Park, the North Shore mountains and the seaplanes descending on Burrard Inlet more than make up for it. There's a small but impressive selection of draught beers available - try the Whistler Export Lager - as well as specials on offer throughout the week.
Arrive before 5pm on summer evenings or you'll have to wrestle someone for a table.
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O'doul's
Free nightly jazz attracts locals and visitors to the Listel Vancouver hotel's laid-back resto-bar, a romantic, ambient-lit venue showcasing hot soloists, trios and quartets from the city and beyond. The focus is mainstream, but there's always a great buzz here during the Jazz Festival, when performers drop by to jam into the wee hours.
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Odyssey
The city's number one gay club, combining regular drag nights on Wednesdays and Sundays with a host of ever-changing special events throughout the week, Odyssey is a thumpingly fun night out. You don't have to be gay to dance here, but it certainly helps if you're planning to meet someone. The vibe is entertainingly risqué - hence Thursday night's Shower Power, when local beefcakes lather up in front of the slavering crowds.
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Pat's Pub
Saved from gentrification by its grungy location - the downtown Eastside is unlikely to see a rash of swanky cocktail bars anytime soon - the reinvented Pat's Pub used to be one of Vancouver's most happening jazz bars (Jelly Roll Morton was a regular early performer). Now focusing on indie rockers (mostly on Fridays and Saturdays), you can usually expect two or three bands to blow the roof off while you sup on your brewpub Classic Lager.
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Plaza Club
Another converted Granville St cinema, the Plaza offers a hopping, mosh pit-style dance floor backed by a circular bar that always seems to be crowded. The music is of the mainstream variety - Saturday's R&B, Top 40 and old-school night is best - and the crowd includes plenty of nonlocals in from the suburbs for their big night out on the town. The club is increasingly showcasing live acts, and low-priced bands are also starting to appear.
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Railway Club
The old-school Rail is great if you just want to grab a beer in a trad-pub setting, but what really makes it special is its enduring commitment to the indie music scene. Its little stage has seen dozens of rising stars kick-start their careers and it's still the best place in town to catch passionate, consistently high-quality acts, ranging from folk to metal to bluegrass to polka. If you don't like what's on, just slink to the back bar.
There's no cover charge before .
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Republic
If you make it this far up Granville, you're in for a loungey change of pace from the noisy clubs at the Robson St end; Republic attracts those sophisticated over-25s who have strayed all the way from Yaletown. Start your visit with a cocktail on the 2nd-floor patio while you look over the human wreckage of staggering late-night drunks. Then hit the dance floor, open nightly. Fastlife Thursdays is recommended for great 80s, electro and house.
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Rime
Presenting a diverse grab-bag of musical genres but focusing on jazz and roots, this warm and welcoming venue is a truly happening little joint. Sunday is artist-in-residence night, when a regular celebrated jazz exponent holds court, while the rest of the week ranges from folk to bluegrass and back again. There's a good Mediterranean bistro menu, too.
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Roxy
A raucous old-school nightclub that still has plenty of fans - including lots of partying youngsters who seem to be discovering it for the first time - this brazen old hussy is downtown's least pretentious dance space. Expect to be shaking your booty next to near-teenage funsters, kid-escaping soccer moms and UBC students looking for a bit of rough. On Sunday, don your buttless chaps and drop by for a wild western night out. Open nightly.
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Royal Unicorn Cabaret
A grungy, uninspiring old-school lounge throughout the week, the Unicorn is transformed on Salbourg Saturdays into perhaps the city's best alternative night out, when it's packed to the rafters with indie lads and lasses celebrating a relentless barrage of ironically cool dance music. They're certainly not here for the beer selection, which runs all the way from Coors to Kokanee. Arrive early to avoid the line ups.
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Shine
With music from electro to funky house and hip-hop, Gastown's sexy subterranean Shine attracts a younger crowd and is divided into a noisy main room and an intimate cozy cave with a 40ft chill-out sofa. The club's Saturday night Big Sexy Funk (hip-hop and rock) is a local legend, while Thursday's 1990s retro night appeals to all those ancient 25-year-old hipsters out there (you know who you are).
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Sonar
Many Vancouverites don't know it, but double-roomed Sonar is actually the city's premier club for experimental DJs and live club shows from all over the globe. On any given night you're likely to find progressive house, jazz fusion, soul, hip-hop, reggae or electronica. It's definitely worth braving the atmosphere - which can sometimes be thick with attitude - if you know exactly what you're looking for.
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Urban Improv
The best place to tickle your funny bone in Kits, Chivana is a restaurant and lounge most of the week but a live improv comedy venue on Mondays. Expect to see many of the usual improv suspects who appear at Vancouver Theatresports, plus a host of other well-oiled performers who know just how to spin an audience suggestion into a jaw-achingly funny good time.
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Vancouver Theatresports League
Vancouver's most popular improv group concocts energetic stage romps, loosely connected to themes such as Shakespeare, Star Trek or the Olympics. If you're sitting near the front, expect to be picked on or called to the stage, unless you're naked - they tend to leave you alone if you're naked. The recommended late-night Friday and Saturday shows are commendably ribald and if you think it looks easy, try one of their improv classes.
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Wise Club
This comfortably grungy former church hall is a friendly neighborhood gem that's close to the heart of in-the-know locals, who flock here to catch folk and ska bands and dances that remind them of the youth club discos they used to attend. A great place to mix with cool East Vancouverites, the bouncy floor here brings out the mosh pit desires in the most reluctant of dancers.
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Yale
A sassy unpretentious joint with a large stage, a devoted clientele and a beer-sticky dance floor, the Yale is the city's best blues hangout. Photos of Koko Taylor, Junior Wells and other stars who've played here adorn the 19th-century, brick-built interior, while latter-day regulars include Jim Byrnes, who holds court here like a king. Drop by on Saturday and Sunday afternoons for free-entry jam sessions.
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Yaletown Brewing Company
This classic Vancouver brewpub is something of an icon in the city's pub scene. Outside on the enormous patio or inside playing pool, you'll find a casual crowd comparing notes on the fine microbrews and savouring the great comfort foods on the menu.
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Yuk Yuk's
Stand-up comics from around the city and across North America perform at Yuk Yuk's, part of a Canada-wide chain of dedicated comedy clubs. Tuesday and Wednesday are improv nights, while famous faces usually appear Thursday to Saturday. If you're happy for soup to erupt from your nose at any moment, you can also splash out on a dinner-and-show package.
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