How many times have you gone to a nightclub, pay the $20 cover, and just feel disappointed while standing in a dark room with a sticky floor with pounding music being played by a DJ that doesn’t know what they’re doing? For a lot of people, it seems that that experience has become the norm, and is on the way out.

instead, it seems that the rise of craft breweries has taken hold of the Vancouver nightlife. When you go to a nightclub, it’s supposed to be a night out where you stay up until 2:00 or 3:00 in the morning, and wake up not remembering anything from the night before. Bars, on the other hand are more like a cozy afternoon after work.

Instead of loud music and crowded, hot rooms, they’ve been replaced by board games and trivia nights. It also means that there is no dress code. Instead of having to get ready and dress up for every night that you go out, you can show up in anything you’d like and still be welcome in and not be turned away at the door.

The Astoria Bar in Vancouver (Credit: Ted McGrath via Flickr)

It has turned passive drinking into a more active, engaged experience that makes use of everything around you as well as not making the drinking and getting as drunk as possible the focal point. You don’t feel pressured to leave as soon as your cup is empty, or the pressure to buy another drink or another shot, instead you feel like you can still engage in the activities and what is going on around you.

It is also expanded away from the downtown core. Instead of being stuck on Granville St. or Yaletown, there’s places all around the city, and even outside the city as well. There are bars and breweries on Granville island, Mount Pleasant, or even closer to home.

Not only does this make it feel like it’s a neighborhood spot, it also helps people save money on travel and getting to and from the bar. It makes it feel more attainable as opposed to a night where you are expecting to spend hundreds of dollars just to get around.

Will bars fully replace night clubs? I doubt that will ever happen. What I do see it as is an alternative for those who don’t like the night club scene, but still want to be able to go out with friends and have fun with them outside of their everyday activities.

there are plenty of breweries and bars around Vancouver and the lower mainland. All it takes is 1 search and one trip to 1 to see if it’s right for you, and I definitely recommend it.