Key Party is a bar in Chinatown, Vancouver.
Key Party on Powell in Chinatown is a hidden basement cocktail bar since 2017, entered through a faux accountant's office, the city's reference speakeasy.
Food program: Hong Kong cafe-style snacks
Tip: Reservations on the website; the door key code is texted the day of. Dealers' choice is the bar's standard.
Address: 270 Powell Street, Vancouver, BC V6A 1G3
The Keefer Bar on Keefer Street in Chinatown since 2009 is Vancouver's reference cocktail bar, an apothecary-style room, Canada's 50 Best Bars perennial.
Signature drink: Dragonfly cocktail with house ginger syrup
Food: Chinese-leaning small plates
Tip: Walk-in only Monday to Thursday; weekend bookings open at the door from 17:00.
Havana on Commercial Drive since 1996 is the city's reference Cuban-Caribbean cocktail bar, the patio strip's longest-running corner room with a back gallery.
Signature drink: Cuban mojito
Food: Cuban-Caribbean small plates
Tip: The patio takes walk-ins for the mojito and Cuban sandwich pairing; back gallery for late-night live music.
Cinema Public House on Granville Street is a heritage Capitol 6 cinema-turned-pub since 2017, the Entertainment District's reference late-night cocktail room.
Signature drink: Mason Jar Negroni
Food: Burgers and pub plates
Tip: Late-night kitchen closes 01:00 Friday and Saturday; reservations for the upstairs cinema seats book on OpenTable.
The Keefer Bar on Keefer Street in Chinatown since 2009 is Vancouver's reference cocktail bar, an apothecary-style room, Canada's 50 Best Bars perennial.
Signature drink: Dragonfly cocktail with house ginger syrup
Food: Chinese-leaning small plates
Tip: Walk-in only Monday to Thursday; weekend bookings open at the door from 17:00.
Botanist Bar at the Fairmont Pacific Rim is the hotel's stand-alone cocktail room since 2017, World's 50 Best Bars top 30 and head bartender Jeff Savage.
Signature drink: Garden cocktail with house botanicals
Food: Botanist-kitchen snacks
Tip: Walk-ins from 16:00; the bar's tasting flight pairs four miniature cocktails for the cocktail-tour bookings.
Prohibition at the Rosewood Hotel Georgia is a speakeasy-style basement bar since 2012, classic cocktails and live jazz on Wednesday through Saturday.
Signature drink: Sazerac, classic build
Food: Snacks and small plates
Tip: Walk in from the side entrance on Howe Street; tables turn at 21:00 for the second seating.
The Diamond on Powell in Gastown is an upstairs cocktail bar with Maple Leaf Square views since 2009, a Hong Kong-inflected small-plate menu and a classic.
Signature drink: Diamond Sour with house grenadine
Food: Hong Kong-leaning small plates
Tip: Walk-ins only; the upstairs bar window seats fill first. Tuesday evening is the calmer seat.
