Cocktails

Laowai (251 E Georgia St)

After years of planning, Laowai opened in July 2021 as a hidden cocktail bar in Chinatown. Conceived by Lewis Hart, access is gained through the popular Blnd Tger dumplings—simply ask for the off-menu dumpling to unlock the speakeasy entrance. Inspired by the booming economy and wild nightlife of 1920s Shanghai, Laowai aims to capture that era’s chaotic mix of visionaries and misfits, free from societal restrictions. The name Laowai (Mandarin for 'foreigner') nods to this atmosphere, encouraging guests to explore and indulge. The stylish, dark interior was designed by London's Bergman Interiors, offering seating near the bar and in a secluded back area, plus a private event room. The drinks menu is a beautiful, book-like pleasure to read, featuring original illustrations and stories for each signature cocktail. It includes a strong focus on baijiu, which appears in several signature drinks and is also available by the shot.

The Keefer Bar (135 Keefer St)

The Keefer Bar, alongside Gastown's Pourhouse, pioneered Vancouver's modern craft cocktail scene, launching the city's mixology boom around 2010. Over a decade later, both venues remain essential reference points for sophisticated drinking. What sets The Keefer apart is its creative use of local resources: it sources ingredients, many possessing medicinal properties, directly from Chinatown's traditional apothecaries to craft truly innovative cocktails. Overseen by GM Keenan Hood and Bar Manager Amber Bruce, this legendary spot draws a diverse crowd of locals and visitors into its space. The bar embodies the classic cocktail aesthetic—long, narrow, and dimly lit—while distinctive ornaments, bottles, and art serve as a quirky reminder of its Chinatown setting as you enjoy the team’s expertly prepared "prescriptions."

Bagheera (518 Main St)

Bagheera isn't just a bar—it's an exclusive Indian-inspired speakeasy hidden right behind the Happy Valley Turf Club. The challenge? You need to bet on owner Lewis's horse just to get in! Once inside, you'll be transported to a gorgeous vintage train car traveling across India, where you can enjoy perfectly balanced cocktails and irresistible Indian snacks.

Meo (265 E Pender St)

Located in Chinatown, this stunning 70-seat cocktail lounge is drenched in '70s vibes. Think sensual pink hues, rich dark wood, plush carpeting, and an awesome jukebox. The rounded L-shaped bar, complete with angled mirrors, is the perfect spot to soak up the atmosphere. Bar Manager Denis Bykov leads the drink program, offering eight revamped classics and eight signature cocktails (six on tap!). And don't skip the food—it's from the geniuses behind Kissa Tanto and Bao Bei. Seriously, their Beef Bourguignon Burger might just be the best burger you'll ever have.

Prophecy (801 W Georgia St)

Prophecy stands as one of Canada's most breathtaking cocktail bars, a true source of pride for Vancouver. The atmosphere is immediately intimate and warm, created by dim lighting and complemented by constantly rotating digital art that captures the eye. Overseeing this exceptional experience is Jeff Savage, who has assembled an impressive staff, including the charismatic head bartender Nicole, ensuring both the service and the drinks are flawless.

The Fairmont Pacific Rim (1038 Canada Place)

The Lobby Lounge is the Fairmont Pacific Rim’s original cocktail bar, found on the hotel’s main level. It offers a glamorous, warm atmosphere complete with live music and high-quality sushi, donburi bowls, and bento boxes from RawBar. Guests leave the typical Vancouver laid-back attitude at the door, stepping into a vibrant, high-energy mood reminiscent of a South Beach crowd. Whether seated at the communal, Bob Dylan-inspired tables or at the white Italian marble bar, guests are guaranteed a great time, thanks to the upbeat vibe and expertly mixed drinks by Beverage Director Grant Sceney and his team.

Botanist is the hotel's flagship bar and restaurant (see the next section for a description of the cuisine), located upstairs from the Lobby Lounge. Its most striking feature is the visible cocktail laboratory, which uses modern equipment like a rotary evaporator and centrifuge. This lab empowers bartenders with a culinary approach to cocktail design and production.

The latest menu, The Water of Life (Eau de Vie), is a collaboration between Chef Hector Laguna and Grant Sceney's bar team, launched in March 2025. This concept explores the impact of water on botany across its many forms, from oceans to evaporation. The menu’s most stunning drink is The Ring of Fire, which expresses the influence of water vapor on tropical botany around the Pacific Rim. The cocktail—a clarified, yogurt-washed blend of 12-year-old rum, rye whiskey, and melon liqueur—is complemented by passionfruit distillate, vanilla, and lemon cordial. Served in a custom glass with ignited steel wool and dry ice, it is an exciting and delicious showpiece.

Botanist with Olivia of Fairmont Pac Rim

Mount Pleasant Vintage & Provisions (67 W 6th Ave)

Imagine a bar designed by the kids from Stranger Things, and you get Mount Pleasant Vintage & Provisions. Opened in 2022, this spot perfectly captures "retro, vintage, and early Winnipeg" style, filled with fun '70s and '80s furnishings. Housed in an early 1900s heritage building, it boasts a massive 2000-square-foot warehouse and a seasonal patio. The menu is a modern spin on the classic bar and grill, featuring delicious dishes like signature short ribs and steak from the wood-fired grill. Drinks are playfully unpretentious, including a frozen Vietnamese slushy and the nostalgic Five Alive-inspired beverage—a nod to everyone's favorite '80s juice.

Good Thief (3336 Main St)

Opened in summer 2024 next to the popular Anh and Chi in Mount Pleasant, Good Thief is inspired by the Vietnamese communal eating and drinking tradition of nhậu. Founders Vincent and Amelie Thuy Nguyễn created a lively, 40-seat space designed as a luxurious, East-meets-West homage to 1970s Vietnamese bars, featuring brass and colorful drapery. The menu offers complex yet approachable, creatively designed cocktails. The Old Secret cocktail is a standout, featuring their mother’s custom Chilli Fish Sauce recipe alongside Michter’s Rye and House Amaro, which is aged via a traditional Spanish wineskin (bota).

My “Posts to Pours” seminar at Good Thief

Published (3593 Main St)

Since opening in 2019, Published on Main has become a fixture on Main Street in Vancouver's vibrant Mount Pleasant, joining several other notable dining spots (see the Food section for a description of the cuisine at Published). A key to its success is the effortlessly casual atmosphere, which masterfully fuses the bar and dining areas into one cohesive, inviting space. This laidback approach, which allows patrons to enjoy a full dinner right at the counter, perfectly suits the local Vancouver crowd.

Head Bartender Lacey Roberts drives the innovative cocktail program, which is deeply personal. She explains, "At Published on Main, we craft liquid creations that convey our personal stories from behind the bar." For the current menu, the team explored the question, "Who would we be if we made a different major decision in life?" Roberts’ “American Dream” cocktail is an ode to the life she might have led if she hadn't moved to Canada as a teen. This spirit-forward drink features Michter’s American whiskey, sweet corn, smoke, and oat, celebrating all things American

June on Cambie (3305 Cambie St)

Located in Cambie Village near F&B giants Vij's and Elio Volpe, June on Cambie was the highly anticipated 2025 opening from the Keefer Bar team. Co-founder Keenan Hood defines it as a neighborhood brasserie where guests are encouraged to "settle in, stay a while." With food by Connor Sperling (ex Published on Main) and drinks by Amber Bruce (Keefer Bar), the expertise is clear, supported by familiar faces like Satoshi Yonemori, Leticia Castro, and Riley Maggs. Don't miss the Pasta for Rachel or the Steak Frites. After your upstairs meal, be sure to explore LaLa, the sexy drinking spot located downstairs.

Food

Burdock & Co (2702 Main St)

In the company of Viranlly, I was ushered into the ephemeral world of the Sturgeon Moon menu at Burdock & Co. This wasn't merely a meal; it was a beautifully paced culinary narrative, one that captured the final, opulent crescendo of the British Columbia late summer.

Chef Andrea Carlson's renowned commitment to hyper-local provenance became immediately palpable. Through every course, she weaves a subtle tapestry of the region—from the primal earthiness of foraged forest elements to the jewel-like brightness of meticulously harvested produce. The multi-course experience itself is a masterclass in refined simplicity: dishes arrive seemingly light and unadorned, yet unfold to reveal a complex, deeply satisfying spectrum of flavors—a dialogue between the earthy and the exhilaratingly bright. The dish that lingers, however, is the unforgettable stroke of genius: the pork collar, burnished with a uni XO glaze, anchoring a tender slice of geoduck, all offset by the subtle bite of braised celery and the luxurious embrace of spotted shrimp cream.

Published (3593 Main St)

Under the direction of Executive Chef Gus Stieffenhofer-Brandson, the cuisine at Published on Main transcends mere dining; it is a sophisticated, sensory portrait of the Pacific Northwest. This practice is not simply farm-to-table, but a meticulous, terroir-driven narrative, blending the esoteric allure of foraged forest finds with the abundant bounty of local farms, all translated through a lens of global, contemporary precision. The resulting dishes are designed to be at once comforting and startlingly new, showcasing both technical restraint and a captivating, playful curiosity. Among the uncompromising luxuries are the Perogies, which elevate the humble dish with wild mushrooms and refined sour cream and onion notes. And when the season permits, the Gnocchi, sculpted from prized Pemberton potatoes, provides a textural, earthy indulgence that speaks directly to the region's soul.

ELEM (2110 Main St)

The arrival of ELEM in Mount Pleasant is a moment of pure, calibrated excitement. This is no mere restaurant; it is a cocktail laboratory and dining temple, conceived by the visionary duo of Chef Vish Mayekar and Hassib Sarwari, whose audacity lies in pairing Mayekar’s inventive, spice-driven tapestry of global cuisine with a liquid experience unlike any other. Overseen by the former bar manager Winnie Sun, the cocktails are an exercise in elemental alchemy—sustainable and exquisitely composed.

Stepping across the threshold of the 280-square-meter sanctuary is to enter a dialogue with design. The expansive, 76-seat space is cleverly partitioned into intimate dining vignettes, each whispering the secrets of the four elements. From the sleek, cool touch of polished stone to the glimmer of burnished copper, the design—like Sun’s meticulous menu—is a study in the interplay of earth, air, fire, and water, utilizing textures, light, and acoustics to craft an unforgettable, enveloping atmosphere. The open window to the kitchen provides a vital glimpse of the culinary performance at its core.

Yet, it is the cuisine that seals ELEM’s magnetic pull. The triumphant signature is Chef Vish’s grilled lamb skewer—a marvel of flavor achieved over four days of meticulous preparation. Finished with a lush Medjool date glaze and the refreshing tang of ginger labneh, it is a dish of unforgettable, sensual depth. To follow is the bright precision of the Yellowfin Tuna Behl or the dramatic, complex artistry of the Octopus, rendered in red zhoung and black cuttlefish ink aioli.

Torafuku (958 Main St)

Torafuku’s Chef owner Steve Kuan brilliantly fuses Pan Asian flavors with Pacific Northwest ingredients, creating highly addictive dishes that faithfully honor Taiwanese and Chinese traditions. While lunch features delicious noodles and rice, dinner expands to include sophisticated main courses. Torafuku also boasts a serious cocktail program, including Asian-influenced drinks like the Kanpai Negroni (featuring Chrysanthemum-infused Tanqueray gin and plum sake). The signature lunch item, the Torafuku Beef Noodle Soup, is simply the best noodle soup I have ever tasted in my life, and possibly the best dish in all of Vancouver. This masterpiece—with sake-braised beef shank, 72-hour broth, and hand-pulled noodles—is Chef Kuan's heartfelt tribute to the beef noodle soup his mother prepared during his childhood in Taipei.

Anh and Chi (3388 Main St)

Anh and Chi is a vibrant, authentic Vietnamese restaurant situated on Main Street, anchoring the southern edge of Mount Pleasant—a street rapidly gaining recognition as Vancouver's favorite culinary hub (thanks to neighbors like Published, Toshi, and others). This modern eatery successfully maintains deep fidelity to its Vietnamese roots. Other than the best in town pho and spring rolls, another standout is Number 37, featuring succulent lemongrass chicken and char-grilled pork chop served with jasmine rice, fresh vegetables, and the essential Mẹ’s chilli fish sauce. The quality of the meat transported me back to the best Vietnamese dining experiences of my PhD days in Toronto—a benchmark for Canadian Vietnamese cuisine. Like popular competitors such as The Lunch Lady, DD Mau, and Do Chay, Anh and Chi also offers creative Vietnamese twists on classic cocktails.

Botanist (1038 Canada Pl)

To speak of Botanist merely as a stunning cocktail laboratory is to miss its protagonist. While the bar crafts liquid artistry, Botanist Dining offers sublimely executed cuisine, thanks to the vision of Chef Hector Laguna.

Laguna's kitchen offers a sophisticated tribute to its surroundings. He engages in a deep, respectful dialogue with the Pacific Northwest landscape, utilizing sustainably-foraged elements and translating them through precise, contemporary technique. This commitment extends flawlessly to the wine cellar, where the terroir-driven list exclusively champions organic, sustainable, and biodynamic growers.

The Summer 2025 menu offered moments of sheer brilliance. Headlining the experience was the sumptuous Dry-Aged Beef Striploin, a dish of profound elegance. Paired with a vibrant summer ratatouille, the bright tang of pickled zucchini, and crispy potato, it was cloaked in a rich, enveloping bordelaise. It is a composition that speaks not only of seasonal abundance but of uncompromising luxury—a necessary pilgrimage for the discerning palate.

Baan Lao (4100 Bayview St, Richmond)

The afternoon ritual at Baan Lao transcends simple dining. I had the singular privilege of indulging in an afternoon tea experience that was nothing short of exquisite, featuring Chef Nutcha’s delectable Royal Thai creations. Each meticulously crafted dish found its perfect counterpart in the fine, nuanced teas selected with expert precision by tea sommelier Lena. I was utterly enchanted by the beauty and artistry on display. This sophisticated interlude only deepens the anticipation; one simply must return to experience the dinner menu's full promise.

Coffee

Revolver (325 Cambie Street)

Located in Vancouver's hip Gastown district, Revolver sets the standard for specialty coffee in Western Canada. They excel at preparing excellent espresso and offer a wide range of brewing methods, including cold press, siphon, and pour over. While they do not roast their own beans, Revolver curates a top-tier selection of roasters, featuring the best local names (Phil and Sebastian from Calgary) alongside international superstars like Tim Wendelboe (Oslo) and Rubens Gardelli (Rimini).

Modus Coffee Roastery (112 W Broadway)

Modus is a distinguished micro-roaster offering beautifully balanced seasonal coffees and excellent small bites. Patrons are invited to dine in and enjoy the calming atmosphere while indulging in their exquisite Yuzu Avo Toast, featuring Japanese mayo, sauerkraut, smoked salt, black sesame, and fromage blanc.

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