THE NON-STOP HAPPY HOUR
How new liquor rules are changing city’s social scene.
No fun city? Not any longer. It seems that happy hour has put a big ol’ smiley face on the town once known for being, oh, let’s be politely Canadian and call it “reserved.” Others, however, might call it boring, unfriendly and really, really expensive.
You wouldn’t think Vancouver was so dull if you were hanging around the new cocktail bar at Hy’s Encore on a Friday at 5 p.m., though. The place is jammed with a mix of young and old, male and female, denim and suits. The DJ’s spinning what he calls “eclectic and borrowed nostalgia.” The waiters are busy ferrying $5 cheese toast and half-price Manhattans out to customers having, yes, fun.
“It’s been nothing but positive,” says Hy’s head bartender Ryan Shimozawa.
That wouldn’t have been the case a couple of years ago. That’s because it was illegal to serve discounted liquor — a.k.a. happy hour — in British Columbia. It was also illegal to carry a glass of wine from a restaurant’s lounge to the dining room, to sample craft beer at a farmer’s market or to order a drink in a restaurant without being forced to order food as well. That’s all changed, too. After welcoming the world for the 2010 Winter Olympic Games, it became apparent that our antiquated liquor laws were preventing Vancouver from joining the ranks of world-class hospitality cities. In response to a multitude of complaints from tourism operators, business owners and customers alike, the provincial government conducted a review of the liquor laws and in April 2014 began implementing the first of 73 proposed changes.
So far, 38 recommendations of the Liquor Policy Review have been implemented. Some have been more successful than others. Putting wine on grocery store shelves has been fraught with difficulties, for instance. And don’t get private store owners started about the so-called “level-playing field” of pricing.
But a little bit surprisingly, legalizing happy hour has made a lot of people, well, happy.
“It’s been a great thing,” says Scott Garett, general manager of Joe Fortes, which was one of the first restaurants to set happy hour drink prices in Vancouver. “It’s been really positive and it’s been wonderful for our guests.”
“It’s wonderful,” agrees Sabrine Dhaliwal, bar manger at Uva Wine & Cocktail Bar, whose happy hour features the sort of handcrafted cocktails you might find at the Diageo World Class bartending competition. “I’m so happy that we find it implemented, especially now that so many Americans are coming up. Everyone wants to go out and have fun, and all businesses want to make money.”
You might be surprised by this if you remember all the alarm about happy hour when it first started in 2014.
Back then, words like “dangerous” and “irresponsible” were being tossed around — and that came from bar owners themselves. There were fears about excessive drinking and related social problems. More to the point, smaller, independent bars and restaurants were afraid they’d be clobbered by the big chains. It didn’t help that the provincial government introducing minimum pricing around the same time, which meant that prices in some establishments actually went up.
It’s true, happy hour doesn’t work for everyone. Pourhouse is one restaurant that introduced happy hour, then quietly dropped it.
But for the most part, happy hour, at least in downtown Vancouver, is fun and social, and still more likely to focus on food than booze. Perhaps that’s because Vancouverites are so used to “appy” hours. Or maybe it’s just that few people really want to get schnockered on a weekday afternoon.
Crowds actually line up for Joe Fortes’ happy hour, but Garett says he’s not really seeing much of an increase in liquor sales. “Our happy hour is a bit more about the food piece,” he says.
Still, it is proving lucrative, even though they make less on each order of food and drink than they do during regular hours. When they offered “appy” hour in February 2009, they managed to generate $300,000 a year, Garret says: “Now, seven years on, we’re hovering around the million-dollar mark. It’s been really successful.”
The real value is that happy hour brings in completely new revenue by filling seats at times they would otherwise be empty. Besides, as Hy’s general manager Chris Langridge points out, many of those people who come in for, say, Hy’s $5 cheese toast return for special occasions.
“The benefit of the opportunities it opens for us outweighs the pricing,” he says. “Every hundred people who come in, if one or two see an opportunity, it’s a winner.”
More to the point, perhaps, happy hour offers great value to the consumer, even though we’re not likely to see U.S.-style $2 highballs and 50¢ beers any time soon. And that encourages customers to try untested new establishments.
“It just gives people another reason to check out new venues because the financial commitment is not really there,” Dhaliwal says.
It can also create a whole new customer base, as it is doing at Joe Fortes and Hy’s, which have traditionally attracted an older, moneyed demographic.
“It’s a slightly younger crowd, the twentysomethings and the thirtysomethings, we’re seeing more of that,” Langridge says. “You do get sort of the office crew who’ve been in the office all week. And also it enables a lot of people, let’s be honest, who can’t afford to eat here on a regular basis. It’s nice that you can be open to the whole spectrum of people.”
Even better, although part of the fun of happy hour is hopping from bar to bar, many establishments are seeing those customers staying on for dinner and returning week after week.
“Some people come in, enjoy happy hour, and leave. And then some people come in and enjoy the happy hours and stay on afterwards,” Langridge says. Adds Dhaliwal, “Usually, they’ll stay for one more because they really enjoy these features and want to see what else we have.”
Of course, nothing is perfect. Garett, for one would like to see a few changes: “I would like to see the B.C. government be a bit more liberal, maybe lower the minimum pricing. There’s still an opportunity to pass on those savings because it’s really expensive to live in the Lower Mainland,” he says.
And, sure, there are those who over-indulge, and those who take advantage of the deep discounts. But for the most part, what sets happy hour apart is not the great deals ( though they certainly help), but the fun atmosphere. Happy hour is, above all, a social hour.
“Everyone’s having fun,” Dhaliwal says.