Let’s Go Out! Where to Grab Drinks in Vancouver, Whether You’re Sipping Craft Beer, Wine, Cocktails or Mocktails

Big on Craft Beer?

Snag one of the large wooden tables at The Magnet (309 W Pender St.) and start making your way through their 30 draft lines—including specialized pull taps for beer nerds who like a meringue-like pour—and the “good grub” selection that includes daily hand pies.

If those aren’t enough options for you, then head to the Alibi Room (157 Alexander St.) instead, where a rotating list of 50 local and imported craft beers awaits in the low-ceilinged heritage room—Shaketown Prohibition pilsner and Begbie’s Dark Side of the Stoke nitro stout among them, plus several solid non-alc brews, too.

If you’re more interested in shooting hoops than geeking out over hops, The American (926 Main St.) is your spot: Phillips, 33 Acres, Strange Fellows and plenty of other local heroes dominate the taps, but the lively, usually crowded “barcade” also features a pool table, pinball and arcade games (please, don’t spill).

Alternatively, you could head right to the source for your craft beer fix: Vancouver’s east-side taprooms are plentiful and welcoming.

Craving a Cocktail?

The 515 Bar (521 Seymour St.) is the spot to head if you’re out on the town with a foursome: it’s a little too cozy for a big gang, but the brick-and-neon ambience is ideal for sipping an Exit Strategy—a bold, coffee-and-tequila-based negroni—and dissecting your larger friend group’s most intimate gossip.

Keefer Bar (135 Keefer St.) is the obvious stop if you’re in cocktail-mode for the night: the Chinatown institution landed on North America’s 50 Best Bars list again this year.

Nearby, find Arcana (238 Abbott St.) hidden behind a glowing “Pet Psychic” sign; each of the occult-inspired drinks—like the herbaceous, gin-based Magician—comes with a tarot card.

Or, there’s Pourhouse (162 Water St.), which serves up expertly executed classics (hello, pisco punch!), often alongside danceable live music.

Want Some Wine?

During the summer months, the cool kids at Bar Tartare (54 Alexander St.) spill out onto the streetside patio with their by-the-glass natural wines, but come wintertime, the buzz continues within the bar’s brick walls.

Another Gastown option for vino is Is That French (45 Blood Alley Sq.)—slip down the alleyway and up to the bar to peruse minimal-intervention B.C. wines and oysters aplenty.

Or, if your timing is right, you could catch Vin Van’s lively wine-and-disco party Stompin’ Grapes (1024 Main St.), which pops up at the Ellis Building in Strathcona monthly-ish.

Make It a Mocktail?

These days, almost every bar or restaurant has something delicious and zero-proof on the menu. You can’t go wrong at DD Mau Chinatown (145 E Pender St.), where Friday night DJ sets turn the excellent Vietnamese room into a party—owner Kim Tran doesn’t drink and has made a point of adding interesting non-alc options to the menu, like the Passionfruit Nojito or the Tra Da iced tea, made with jasmine tea-infused Lumette gin.

The mixologists at the moody, speakeasy-inspired Prophecy Bar (801 W Georgia St.) may be reverent about their booze, but just as much love—and showing off—has been put into the “free spirits” selection here: the Amor Fati 12 (a concoction of bergamot, makrut lime, pandan, mint and tonic) is described with a Nietzsche quote.