Restaurant Awards 2026: Bartender of the Year, Riley Maggs

The Vancouver Magazine Bartender of the Year for 2026 Is… Riley Maggs

June
3305 Cambie St.
juneoncambie.com

Good bartenders focus on bulk satisfaction, efficiently slinging vodka tonics to bars full of thirsty hellions; the really good ones migrate to elevating the experience, labouring over optimal balance, glassware and garnish for perfect cocktails crafted for the rarefied few; and the great ones… well, they’re somehow able to do both. And Riley Maggs is a great bartender.

His good days came while he was working on campus at Edmonton’s University of Alberta, servicing waves of thirsty sorts leaning hard into our neighbouring province’s 18-year-old drinking age. And while the money was great, his hunger to push the limits of what’s been done before drove him to reach for new horizons. That thirst drove him ultimately to the coast, and once here he apprenticed at all the stations of the mixology cross: the vibey Diamond, the intimate L’Abattoir and the quiet excellence of Botanist. Each stop sharpened his skills and expanded his conception of not just how to make drinks but also how to serve patrons. But it wasn’t until he landed at the legendary Keefer Bar that all these elements fell into place. It wasn’t just the talent at Keefer, although the level is off the charts here (2012 Bartender of the Year Dani Tatarin is an alum; 2019 Bartender of the Year Amber Bruce is beverage director). It was the approach to the drinking experience that felt like home: dialled-in but not fancy; freewheeling but focused; and, above all, a defining lack of pretention in every aspect of the bar. In Maggs’s mind, it was the perfect job and one that he never wanted to leave.

But the problem with perfect jobs is it that no one else ever wants to leave either, so even for a talent like Maggs, finding room for growth was a trick. When general manager and partner Keenan Hood—the legend most responsible for the Keefer’s DNA—approached him about joining a new restaurant venture, he was ready to take the leap of faith. The result—June on Cambie—has been one of the buzziest openings in recent history, and a big reason it’s so flipping hard to get a reservation is the bar program created by Maggs and bar manager and BOTY-alum Satoshi Yonemori. It’s a wonderful mix of technical skill (their take on a Clover Club melds grappa, gin, genmaicha, lemon, raspberry, horseradish, honey and egg white), reverence for the classics (there are four proper martinis and none of them feature espresso) and an undeniable warm-heartedness (said martini is $7 during happy hour). Maggs has been able to transport that sophisticated yet approachable essence from The Keefer to Cambie Street. Throw in the moody Lala listening bar in the basement and it has a fair bit of the Keefer’s swagger too—no small feat for the west side. Maggs has created a small, controlled explosion of vibe tucked seditiously into a serious restaurant, and patrons can’t get enough. And that’s why he’s our newest Bartender of the Year.

Find more of the best Vancouver restaurants on our list of 2026 Vancouver Magazine Restaurant Award winners.