‘It’s always about the people — 100 per cent,’ says Ashi Minhas, owner of The Moose.

This city has plenty of places to go for a fancy cocktail, pinkies out, with glitz and glamour and shimmering chandeliers. But there’s something to be said for the opposite: a place stripped down, where the glitz is gone and glamour fears to tread.

These are the dive bars. The lighting is low, the decor is dated and the drink of choice is probably one-syllable long. It’s the type of place that regulars take shelter in to avoid the winds of change and Top 40 playlists.

So what’s the secret to running a great Vancouver dive bar? Just ask Ashi Minhas, who’s been operating The Moose downtown for 25 years. “You gotta be consistent, and it’s always about the people — 100 per cent,” he says. “You gotta have the same staff and just treat people good.”

You change anything at The Moose, and people get upset, Minhas explains. The only decoration that appears different over the years is the collection of bras hanging above the bar. “Gillian (bartender) takes them down once every year and then cleans them, donates them to the women’s shelter when they get overloaded,” he says.

Here are five of Vancouver’s best dive bars to check out.

The Moose

724 Nelson St.

Its owner calls it the city’s true rock and roll bar, and it’s not hard to see why. The tables, walls and ceilings are covered in concert keepsakes including records, tickets, banners and his own photos with famous rock acts who’ve visited The Moose over the years. Minhas’s favourite band is Iron Maiden (look no further than the bar’s logo) and that’s clear wherever you look.

Expect reasonably priced beers, cocktails and pub grub. Go here before and after concerts downtown to keep rocking all night long.

Two Parrots

1202 Granville St.

For more than a century, there’s been a restaurant on the corner of Granville and Davie, and for nearly 30 years it’s been the Two Parrots Bar & Grill. From the outside, you’ll be drawn in by the glow of twin giant neon birds. On the inside, it’s a straightforward pub, but keeps the tropical theme up with murals filled with illustrated animals.

The menu is cheap and the wings are particularly popular, even with Hollywood folks (British actor and Shōgun star Tommy Bastow gave the spicy wings a shout-out during the SAG awards).

Many in the service industry consider it the neighbourhood pub for downtown, and it’s the kind of place you could go by yourself and wind up making a friend or two.

Princeton Pub & Grill

1901 Powell St.

Tucked away outside the city’s core, the Princeton Pub & Grill is an old school East Vancouver neighbourhood pub. Beer has been served at this spot for quite a while. The Princeton Hotel was built in 1912 and by the 1920s a beer parlour was in operation downstairs, so this place has some drinking heritage.

In fact, in the 1950s the pub was one of a handful called out as “‘disgusting’ beer parlors where customers get ‘paralyzed’ with drink,” according to an old Vancouver Sun article. For some dive bar connoisseurs, you can’t buy better advertising.

Go here if you want to sing your favourite rock ballad to a non-judgmental crowd.

Funky Winker Beans

37 West Hastings St.

Since the early ’80s, Funky Winker Beans has drawn people to the Hastings and Main area. With eclectic decor, and patrons to match, Funky’s is a self-described dive bar, but it’s not posing, it just knows itself. It’s the kind of place that’s open at 3 a.m. on Christmas Eve.

This crust punk paradise is also a karaoke destination, and is also a venue for live metal shows.

Fun fact, some of the original interior decorations were designed by Joe Tinucci, who was also involved in the restoration of the Orpheum.

The Ivanhoe Pub

1038 Main St.

Like the Princeton, the Ivanhoe evolved out of the earliest beer parlors in Vancouver, which were attached to hotels. While it doesn’t quite look like it’s stuck in 1907, it’s definitely a piece of old Vancouver that’s kept working-class generations quenched, and looks it.

Consider a visit if you’re pre-gaming for a concert at The Cobalt across the street, or you want to lose all the cash in your wallet to a local pool shark.

It’s the kind of place a local punk band would write about. The Dreadnoughts did that 20 years ago and the words still hold true.

The band is jumping

And the music fills the air

We’re tripping right down the stairs

We’re going to Main Street now

 

Pints of lager overflow

Way-hey, Ivanhoe!

It is the only place to go

Way-hey, Ivanhoe!

I know, the city’s down on her dreams

But we’ll go out with a shanty and a scream

IVANHOE