The 10 Best Bars & Nightlife in Vancouver

Inside the Fairmont Pacific Rim, this is Vancouver's most decorated cocktail bar (No. 26 on North America's 50 Best 2025) and the drinks earn it, order the Marine Martini with kombu and sea asparagus or the foie-washed Duck Duck Goose. The room is bright marble, brass and greenery, polished rather than cozy. The honest caveat: it's a hotel bar with hotel prices ($16+ a cocktail) and a see-and-be-seen energy, so it's a special-occasion stop, not a casual one.

By wide consensus one of the finest places to drink beer in BC, with a lively little tasting room and a wall of rotating taps, get the flagship Passive Aggressive pale ale or whatever one-off is on that day. The vibe is unfussy, communal and beer-first. The caveat: the room only seats about 50 and takes no reservations, so Friday and Saturday nights mean a wait, and the food is limited to snack boards.

The bar that basically kicked off Vancouver's natural-wine movement back in 2015, and still one of the best, walk in, trust the staff, and let them pour you something skin-contact and weird in the best way. The 30-seat room is dark, stripped-back and genuinely intimate, with excellent small plates and house cocktail sodas. The caveat: it's tiny with a frequently changing list, so no two visits match and you may wait for a seat.

A Gastown craft-beer institution with 50-plus rotating taps and honest, locally sourced comfort food. A friend sends you here for the beer list, not a scene. Opens at 4pm only, and the room fills fast on weekends, so come early or expect a wait.

An apothecary-themed cocktail bar in Chinatown that was just named Canada's best bar for 2026. A friend absolutely sends you here for inventive drinks built on herbs, spices and Chinese ingredients. It's small and gets busy, so arrive early or aim for the 4-6pm happy hour.

A tiny, loose neighborhood spot on the east side championing wild natural-wine producers from around the globe alongside a thoughtful, ever-shifting food program. It's unpretentious and genuinely fun, the kind of place regulars treat as a living room. The caveat: it's small, out in Hastings-Sunrise away from downtown, and the constantly changing list means you're along for whatever they're excited about.

A 1920s-Shanghai speakeasy hidden behind a freezer door in a dumpling shop, with a menu of a dozen cocktails built around Chinese flavors like baijiu, lychee and sichuan peppercorn. It's genuinely one of the most beautiful and inventive rooms in the city, and the drink 'book' is a piece of theatre. The caveat: reservations are tough, there can be a wait and a music charge, and at roughly $100 a head it leans exclusive, some find the drinks more concept than balance.

A Commercial Drive institution and one of the city's best craft-beer pubs, with a big board of rotating BC and North American taps tracked on live screens so you know exactly what's fresh. It's a proper neighborhood beer bar, sports on, decent pub grub, easygoing crowd. The caveat: it's a busy, sometimes loud gastropub rather than a refined tasting room, and The Drive location means it draws a mixed, casual crowd.

A dark, brick-lined underground room off Maple Tree Square with live music most nights, from jazz to funk to burlesque, plus solid cocktails and board games, it's the move when you want nightlife with actual atmosphere instead of a Granville megaclub. The vibe is cozy, buzzy and unpretentious. The caveat: it's cash-cover for many shows, gets packed and loud on weekends, and the low-ceiling space can feel tight once the band starts.

One of the anchors of East Van's 'Yeast Van' brewery strip, with up to 40 taps, a big patio and a full-service food truck inside, so it works for a group that wants beer plus a real meal. It's more crowd-pleasing than cult-cool, but the range is huge and the space is fun. The caveat: it's a large, busy production brewery rather than an intimate craft haunt, so don't come expecting a quiet pint.