Vancouver Bar Named Canada’s Best at 50 Best Bars Awards
Vancouver earns its flowers across the board. And we’re not just talking about the cherry blossoms. From breathtaking natural beauty to a MICHELIN-recognized dining scene and its “Hollywood North” status, the city earns its world-class reputation on every front.
And on April 22nd, Vancouver’s cocktail culture got its moment at the 5th annual North America’s 50 Best Bars awards. Vancouver hosted these prestigious awards for the second year running, welcoming North America’s top bartenders to the Vancouver Convention Centre. Emma Sleight of 50 Best described the evening as a celebration of the “creativity, hospitality, and ingenuity” of the continent’s leading bars, and those “pushing the craft of the drink forward.”
This night was a reminder that Vancouver's bar and nightlife scene belongs in the same conversation as the NYCs and CDMXs of the world. Because the results proved we weren't just good hosts, but serious contenders, with four of the city’s favourite bars cracking the Top 50 and another four spots landing on the extended Top 100 list.
Vancouver Bars on the North America’s 50 Best Bars List
#7 Keefer Bar
The Keefer Bar didn’t just top Vancouver’s rankings on this year’s Top 50 list. It claimed the coveted title of Best Bar in Canada, cementing the city’s reputation as a world-class cocktail destination.
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This Chinatown institution has been setting the standard since 2010. Behind its unassuming façade lies a moody, apothecary-inspired den where drinks, live music, and Asian-inspired tapas flow deep into the night. The Keefer's cocktail menu reads like a modern herbalist's handbook. The space itself, with its exposed brick, vintage medical equipment, and red lantern lighting, perfectly captures Vancouver's East-meets-West identity.
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Much of its cocktail program changes with the seasons, using only the freshest ingredients for its inspired creations. However, we always go back to the Forager's Martini, a gin-and-vermouth-based drink served with house-pickled vegetables, olives, and a lemon twist.
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If you’re feeling peckish, their bar snacks are also top-tier. Dim sum favourites like BBQ pork steam buns and handmade dumplings are delicious, as are their small plates, such as ahi tuna ceviche and smoky pork tacos.
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📍Make a Reservation.
#17 June
A brand-new entrant to the Top 50 list is the celebrated brasserie June, the newest venture from the team behind the iconic Keefer Bar. June’s French-influenced West Coast fare and inventive cocktail program have taken the food-forward Cambie Village by storm.
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Off the cocktail menu, we love the Genmaicha Clover Club, a grappa and gin-based cocktail with genmaicha, lemon, raspberry, horseradish, honey, and egg white. Another favourite is the Guava Batida, a rum-based cocktail with guava, yogurt, fig leaf, and rose. Devour a plate of frog legs and an order of the Hamachi Crudo, served with elderflower ponzu, radish, and coriander dressing.
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#32 Prophecy
Prophecy has risen through the ranks of the top 50 list, rising 21 spots on this prestigious list from last year. Tucked behind the unmarked door beneath the Rosewood Hotel Georgia is Vancouver's most glamorous drinking den. It’s a love letter to the Jazz Age with velvet banquettes and Art Deco lighting channeling 1920s elegance, though the cocktails themselves are thoroughly modern. Canada's Bartender of the Year Jeff Savage works his magic with truly local ingredients like foraged herbs, B.C.-distilled spirits, and yes, even the ice is from a B.C glacier.
#38 Botanist Bar
Perched atop the Fairmont Pacific Rim in Coal Harbour, Botanist is not your average hotel bar. This light-filled oasis presents a cocktail program that combines mixology magic with a true dedication to local ingredients, fresh, seasonal, and inspired by the natural landscape of the Pacific Northwest.
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Their ‘laboratory’, complete with evaporators and dehydrators, fuels boundary-pushing, whimsical creations like the Raincouver, which arrives under an edible helium cloud that dissolves into a yuzu-vodka sour. Or sip on the gin-based What the Flower cocktail, an ode to the subalpine floral meadows scattered across BC.
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More Reasons to Celebrate: The Extended Top 100 Bars
#59 Bagheera
Bagheera is perhaps Mount Pleasant’s most stunning cocktail bar. This speakeasy is cleverly hidden behind the fictional “Happy Valley Turf Club,” an old-school horse betting joint. Even the website keeps up this facade.
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Once inside, you’re transported to the antique bazaars of Delhi and Jaipur, with gold bangles, trinkets, and toys as decor. Your eyes immediately draw to the hand-carved teak and tiger blue onyx bar that runs the length of the long and narrow room. Bagheera is inspired by its namesake, the black panther in Rudyard Kipling’s The Jungle Book. And it delivers on the intrigue and mystique as well as some seriously inspired cocktails and dishes.
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The To Frighten a Mongoose cocktail features Beefeater Gin, sherry, pistachio rose orgeat, and cardamom bitters. Another favourite is The Bragart, a clarified milk punch featuring ingredients like grilled pineapple and coconut ginger tea. Must-try dishes include Indian classics such as chicken tikka and lamb biryani.
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📍No small group reservations. Walk-ins only.
#64 Meo
Meo in Chinatown is the it girl of Vancouver’s bar scene. Effortlessly cool, endlessly chic, elevated, yet approachable. It’s the sister establishment to the MICHELIN-starred Italian-Japanese fusion restaurant, Kissa Tanto. Meo brings a similar Asian-fusion flair to its inventive bar-food menu and cocktail program.
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Mouthwatering dishes, such as milk buns stuffed with a curried potato filling, are served with whipped fruit butter. Scallop crudo with passionfruit and corn emulsion is topped with spicy popcorn dust and pickled kohlrabi. And the cocktails are just as imaginative. Their signature Matcha Highball is made with Tanqueray gin, matcha, banana milk, lime, and tonka bean soda. We also love the Liquid Cocaine, a rum-based cocktail with Lucano Amaro, cinnamon cordial, and chocolate mint.
#72 Laowai
Laowai is a true speakeasy, accessible only through a freezer door behind Blnd Tger Dumplings and is yet another Top 100 bar in the heart of Vancouver’s Chinatown. Accessing it is half the fun. Hint: order the #7, or you won’t be let in. This Shanghai-inspired bar is one of the city’s most imaginative cocktail bars, with vintage design accents, dimmed lighting, and a strict no-phone policy. In the words of a Laowai bouncer, “It’s the 1920s after all.”
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The menu reads like a novel, with drinks inspired by historical figures and regional Chinese flavours, like the Baijiu Pappi, showcasing Canada’s best selection of Baijiu. Pair them with Tibetan-inspired momos or smoky tofu noodles for a delicious journey into the East.
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📍No small group reservations. Walk-ins only.
#91 - Mount Pleasant Vintage & Provisions
Nostalgia and style go hand-in-hand at this cocktail bar in the heart of the trendy Mount Pleasant neighbourhood. From the street, it appears to be yet another neighbourhood thrift shop, but once inside, Mount Pleasant Vintage & Provisions delivers on taste, not textiles.
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There’s nothing stuffy or boring about this spot. Think high-brow, low-brow moments where appetizer tater tots are followed up with beef tartare. And drinks span everything from boozy slushies to cocktails like the Uncrustable and Hot Girl Shit. Don’t let the names fool you, though. These drinks are complex and layered, featuring premium spirits and seasonal ingredients.
Hosting North America's 50 Best Bars was a celebration of how far Vancouver's cocktail scene has come, and a glimpse of where it's headed. With world-class bars, incredible talent, and a growing community of passionate drink-makers, there's never been a better time to explore Vancouver's vibrant bar scene.
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