Avanti’s Neighbourhood Pub

mean staff behind the bar; but wait staff are usually nice…

Staff is unbelievably rude… With all the other fantastic bars/​restaurants on commercial, I sure as hell will never go back!

Avanti’s is, as my star-​count would infer, A-​Okay. I come here often enough when my friends and I are indifferent and just want a place to drink and/​or eat and chat with no hassle.
Pros:
They have one of the genuinely best veggie burgers I have ever had in Vancouver. Considering this is a no-​frills pub type deal I wasn’t expecting much. But holy crap, it was like I had died and gone to veggie burger heaven.
Tons of seating, so you never have to wait around and often have your pick of what kind of table/​where you’d like to sit.
Cons:
The drinks are nothing to write home about. Almost everytime I’ve ordered a mix drink it comes as some bare-​bones minimum variation of what it should be. One of the places that thinks «vodka and tomato juice» when they hear Bloody Mary.
Depending on who you get, the service can be pretty brutal. From incredibly slow to outright rude. Now I’m not saying EVERY server is like that, because there are some who are fine and dandy. Buuuut there are also a couple who rank pretty high on the bitch-​scale. Oops, I said it!
All in all, I keep coming back so it’s gotta be doing something right!

Came by on a whim after noticing the 1 $ sign. Yup, this is a ghetto bar indeed.
Parking here is available on the side streets.
The inside is old and a bit musty. The tables were were in decent shape though. The seating area is large, though most of the tables looked like the 2 person variety. There’s a raised area which I couldn’t see though, so maybe you can fit a group there.
One thing to mention: there is a 1 drink menu. Even though I originally came just for a snack, I had to buy a beer. The special was Stanley Park Amber, for $ 5. Not much of a special if you ask me. The glass was a glass. Definitely not a pint.
Speaking of drinks, there are virtually NO cocktails or mixed drinks available here. It’s literally just beer and wine.
So why 2 stars? I had the jalapeño poppers (stuffed peppers), and it literally tasted like something you’d buy from the frozen section of Safeway. Except the Safeway ones would taste better. It was a bit of a nasty shock. Really? Street pizza would be a way better deal.
I don’t think I’ll be back. Way better options are only steps away.

My boyfriend and i live just above– oh, who i am i kidding?- just below the poverty line, so we are always looking for a places with food under ten bucks on the Drive. As everything seems to be getting more and more expensive (that’s right Timber, i’m looking at you) we find ourselves coming here more and more… and enjoying it quite a lot too!
The first night we came here we had beef au jus sandwiches, and holy crap were they good! You don’t need a lot of fancy fixings for a good beef au jus except fresh bread, decent meat and delish dip, so Avanti’s actually exceeded our expectations by using garlic bread! We were here on Tuesday and discovered their amazing five dollar hamburger or salmon burger special too! My bf got the burger (which looked pretty darn good) and i had the salmon. Neither of us were disappointed, and from now on, Avanti’s is probably gonna be our first choice for dinner!
As for the place itself, it has a really cozy, casual atmosphere. I love the old school pub feel, and the little room that used to be the smoking area is the best for its fire place! Whether we’ve been here for a drink or for dinner (that’s right, we can come here for dinner and NOT drink. I swear!) the service has always been good, and the music is usually classic rock or upbeat rock n roll (think Zeppelin, The Who, Loverboy and Heart) but i’ve been here once and heard Top 40. I have a feeling it was just one of the staff deviating from the norm since the manager wasn’t around, because none of the patrons seemed to be enjoying it much!

What the heck happened over here? The food that came to everyone at my table last night tasted like it had been sitting there forever. Soggy, terrible presentation, uninviting. Blech. Should have just stuck to my beer. which took over 20 min to get a waitress near enough to order one from…
Nah, I’ll stick to the offsales.

The outspoken sports bar on Commercial drive. Pitchers and nachos, spaghetti and highballs, hot wings and darts. Perfect place for friends to eat dinner and drink while watching the game (any game), and then maybe play keno later after telling a funny story.
Plus, the upper section has thrived since its death as a smoke pit, with new cushioned arm chairs and a roaring fire place that makes it feel like you’re getting drunk with your buddies in dad’s study while he’s out of town.