A Toast to the Local

Raising a glass to the emergence of the good old-fashioned neighbourhood bar.

i moved to vancouver back in 2001, and it took a little acclimatizing, particularly on the after-work drinks front. A place could look like a bar and act like abar, but if it held the lower-tiered “food-primary” restaurant license, you had to follow aprescribed set of rules—mainly about ordering food to go with that beer. It was a skill newcomers quickly learned: how to fudge it a little. “How about I just leave the menu here, for later?” one server at the now-shuttered WaaZuBee asked me. (I was also quickly schooled when I tried to order a half pint like a foolish Easterner. Sleeve, please.)

The challenge for restaurant owners in acquiring aliquor-primary license back then meant a challenge for us patrons in finding a true local to call our own. Much as I never like to extol Toronto’s virtues over Vancouver’s—who would give up mountains and ocean and beaches for the BigSmoke?— its (comparative) lack of nanny-state laws meant that bars with gruff service and cheap beer (with or without a side of fries) were easy to find.

And while I’m always a fan of a wellcrafted cocktail and agreat meal, it seems that perhaps Vancouver’s reputation of being a little insular wasn’t helped by our less-than-social social policies. An easy place to pop in for a drink after work, and strike up aconversation with those you didn’t arrive with—those are the spaces where community can be found.

But it’s gotten better. In fact, our senior editor, Jessica Barrett, was originally following a story on what was broken with our liquor board for this issue, and the resounding answerseemed to be…not that much, at least not anymore. A change in policy that allowed for our booming craft beer scene, for one, has seen the creation of casual joints I once lamented the lack of.

Recently, on one of the first patio nights of the season, my friends and I gathered at our local on Davie—a place where, not long ago, the wait staff had to remind us it was a food-primary spot as we sat down. But on this evening, as the patio got more crowded, we made room for strangers at our table, including onecouple who hadpopped in to grab a quick night-before-the- Sun Run drink (some people hydrate in unusual ways). I know that because—prepare for aVancouvershocker—we talked to them. Did that happen because it’s easier now for people to just drop in for a beer or two? Maybe,maybe not—but Ido know it was a pretty good night.

This new era ofwarmerwelcomes and looser beer taps means you now have more locals to choose from, and our “Good Times Guide” (page 35) is here to help, with great places to drink around the city—including a calendar to get you out every night of the week. I hope it’s astarting point for you in getting to know your ’hood, and maybe even your neighbours, a little bit better.