Nightlife in Vancouver

Rendezvous Club may not have a hidden stock of cupid’s arrows, but it does have its fair share of date cards. While they may not be as whimsical as love-yielding weaponry, club founders Hillary and Chris have found they tend to be just as effective. At some chapters, Rendezvous Club's hosts hand the cards out during speed-dating parties and dinner-dating events that serve three-course meals. Using them, singles can jot down the names, characteristics, and preferred Monopoly game pieces of people they’re interested in meeting again. For those who prefer more organic dating atmospheres, Select locations feature less-structured singles parties and mix-and-mingle events that round up singles and let them converse on their own, aided by complimentary appetizers.

Reliably friendly servers weave throughout Bird of Paradise Pub's airy lodge, whose large windows offer panoramic views of surrounding greenery while welcoming in sunlight to warm diners' shoulders. The pub inhabits the renovated 1914 Royal Oak farmhouse, and its rustic charm multiplies when staffers light up the wood-burning fireplace each night or pour fresh oatmeal into the tropical marine-reef aquarium each morning.

Sandy earth tones, noble cacti, and terracotta accents allude to the restaurant's menu—a collection of dishes inspired by the American Southwest. Pub favourites include nachos, burgers, chili, and pizzas, plus thick-cut french toast and chilaquiles rancheros during Sunday brunch. On Saturday nights, live music encourages patrons to dance off bubbles that have accumulated on their tongues after fresh brews from the bar.

Chef Alex Mok—who apprenticed with the former chef to the King of Belgium—melds classic French and Asian culinary techniques with a modern twist. Mok wraps ribbons of bacon around quail stuffed with dried cranberries, and covers baby back ribs with an Asian-style barbecue glaze. He also builds seven-course menus with dishes such as a pan-seared duck breast with blueberry compote, as well as burgers made with house-made patties and buns and baby back ribs featuring a barbecue glaze. Out in the dining room, patrons melt into red tufted banquettes as servers deliver burgers with quirky touches such as yam fries.

Since filling their first glass with suds more than 30 years ago, the Sandpiper Pub’s affable staff continues to foster a casual atmosphere where White Rock citizens and surrounding communities can congregate for relaxed merrymaking. Out of view of the bustling dining room, Sandpiper’s chefs artfully plate classic British pub fare such as steak-and-kidney pie with homemade gravy and fish 'n' chips assembled in the shape of John Cleese. While the sun makes its daily retreat over the horizon, its brilliant blush spills through the bar’s windows and bathes all in attendance in its golden glow. Amid views of the bay afforded by its location off Marine Drive, a heated, covered patio facilitates scenic alfresco feeds and photo-ops of undercover snowmen masquerading as humans. A weekly calendar of televised sports games and live entertainment—including karaoke on Friday and Saturday nights and weekend DJ-fueled dances—brings customers back to the pub to share in its food and communal vibe.