Ivanhoe Pub

Omg we literally smelled urine inside the pub! Its not very well-​maintained and the people coming there are a little scary! The drinks are cheap and decent. The staff is also friendly. The music is awesome! It was a fun experience going there once but not anymore!

This a great place to drink some cheap draft and play some pool. There’s a restaurant, but the food is atrocious. I ordered a beef dip and got an extremely small portion of beef along with a tiny bun and there wasn’t any au jus! It was just thick gravy. the kind usually served with French fries.
But the regulars and staff are all awesome. I recommend the place, but I don’t recommend the food.

I’ve been coming to this pub for 20 years and it’s definitely more ‘cleaned up’ than it used to be. The bar staff is fantastic and friendly, the beer is fresh without any crappy ‘unclean lines’ taste and the weekend bands are fun. Still miss the ‘back in the day crazy ‘Hoe with Leigh the bartender dishing out her sassy attitude… :)

This is my favorite bar in the world. Fantastic, friendly patrons and staff. Food is delicious and super cheap.
Hot Nuts!!!

Absolutely LOVE this place! Always great staff, friendly and outgoing, and always having a great time no matter what day of the week! Lot’s of regulars here and most of them are hilarious and good hearted. I’ve been coming here for a while now and I don’t think I’ve found another one just quite like this one. It’s just so welcoming and no one ever bothers you in a negative way, which is a plus especially where it’s located. Prices here are great, and you can even get a meal AND a beer for under $ 5! WHAT?! I know! The cooks are friendly and the food isn’t bad at all. The price is right! There’s always a really good vibe here, and if you’re looking for something where you don’t need to be wearing a suit, and deal with snotty rich people. this is the place! Sundays are the best, live band from about 5 – 8 and it’s just bumpin! Check it out if you’re near Main and Terminal.
One warning, if you are not from the area. or don’t like loud drunks, this might not be the place for you just because it’s on it’s own level. However everyone should check it out for themselves, I am just one voice :)
Oh ya and the washrooms are pretty gross. Bring sanitizer.

I generally don’t like staying downtown when I’m visiting Vancouver. However, I Priceline’d a deal (4-​star for $ 72/​night!) and ended up near the stadium.
I’m no Yaletown fan. It reminds me of the shitty Pearl District from my hometown of Portland, Oregon. Except someone how it’s even more boring and expensive.
So, being my birthday weekend, I wasn’t excited about the late night drinking options in the ‘hood. I have already done my time with the Cambie and the Railway Club and wanted to try something new. So after a failed attempt at one place, I regrouped and remembered seeing a dive bar earlier in the day that I’ve always been intrigued by: The Ivanhoe Pub.
Home sweet home. The staff was really nice. The house band was fun. I loved everyone dancing. And, there were hot nuts out of a vending machine. My friends and I found a little corner niche to hide out in and just enjoyed the night.
They served meat pies and pizza. Didn’t try either.
Going to the bathroom was an experience. I don’t recommend going alone past a certain hour (to the Ivanhoe or the bathroom at the Ivanhoe).
If you are looking for a night of good quality people watching (and, I’m not talking about chichi Yaletown) and cheap beer, give the Ivanhoe a try!

Oh boy… Is all I can say. This place has some interesting characters. It did seem like a larger pub. If you’ve gotta go here, go with friends.

My favorite Ivanhoe memory (granted, this was years ago): finally getting up the guts to use the washroom there one night only to find a woman with an ice cooler in the bathroom selling stolen steaks.

Going to the Ivanhoe is a terrifying experience. The patrons are unsavory and the staff are unfriendly. Not to mention, eating/​drinking at the Ivanhoe is like playing a risky game of Russian roulette with food poisoning.

When I walked in the door, people looked at me like I didn’t belong. I probably didn’t belong, but it was exactly where I wanted to be. For some reason I had never sat foot in the Ivanhoe before which is a shame because it’s up got to be up there for best dive bars in Vancouver. Right away my eye was drawn to a pinball machine. PINBALL! How did I not know there was a machine, let alone Getaway which is a fun one? It’s in pretty good shape too, which will now put this place up on the pinball list. It’s your basic dive bar set up, there’s some sort of food place in the back, which I didn’t check out. They had free darts and free pool, the pool may have just been free on the day I went because it was written in chalk on the board, but still a good deal. Plenty of TV’s to watch a game on if that’s what you’re interested in, which I was, as I had come in to watch the rest of the ALCS baseball game. The clientele all seemed like regulars. «Come step into my office.» The patron at the bar says to his friend, they exchange insurance papers for their mom’s places. They were actually doing business here, like it was their second home. The bartenders were friendly, some of the staff off hours were just hanging out in the place, which seemed like a good sign to me that the Ivanhoe was a pretty stand up establishment. Some guy came around and offered a bag of shoes to us. What struck me was that he wasn’t looking for money for the shoes, he just wanted to give them to the Ivanhoe staff, because they’ve been working hard on their feet. It’s the friendly neighborhood bar where every weirdo knows your name, and even though it didn’t look like I fit in, I felt at home.
Warning: Apparently on Sunday there is a house band that plays, so that will probably dramatically shift the ambience of the place depending on if that’s your thing or not.
¹⁷⁄₃₀ Unilocal 30 in 30

You know how you used to watch those Old West TV shows where the bartenders’d pick up a drunk guy and literally throw him through the swinging doors out on the street? I finally got to see that happen. In real life. And it was at the ‘hoe.
It was out the back door, mind you, and it was kinda nice to have that fightin’-spirit drunk dude out the place, but I think it told the story of the night. My companion and I were assailed by the too-​close tales of an older drunk’n’friendly Québécois fella with a huge backpack whose breath smelled unfortunately (and almost unforgivably, if not for his friendliness) of sardines. Sardines packed in mustard, I think. He was pretty close.
The corona was cheap. The people were real, and regulars. I just haven’t found a reason to find my way back.

This place is filthy. The beer is super cheap. I went on a Tuesday and it was $ 2.50 for a beer I believe. There was no need to order at the bar or anything as the waitress just circulated with a tray of beers (draft lager) and pizza slices (Delisio?), which are the only thing really worth ordering. You can just dump some change onto the tray and take what you need. There is a jukebox too which plays lots of classic rock as well as pool tables.
This is a really cheap place to get drunk real close to main and hastings. It has a sketchy crowd. It’s super friendly though, don’t wuss out go and enjoy it and you can have an outrageously fun and relaxed time. OR get some filthy pre drinks. If it’s a bit much you can check out The Cobalt or Brickhouse which are both super close.

Best cheap night out at the pub– play some pool, meet your buddies, drink your face off, dance at the jukebox and pretty much have the greatest time ever.

I came here with friends attracted by the promise of cheap drinks, but was sadly disappointed. The inside was relatively clean, and that includes the washrooms, and the staff were ok. Drink selection was poor, though, and the prices were on par with other places in the area. I am not planning to go back anytime soon.

OoooOoo!!! On a whim, i came here a few nights ago for some cheap dinner… and holy shit, was i ever impressed! I only remembered seeing signs outside Ivanhoe advertising cheap food, and they weren’t kidding! It was 5 bucks for a burger and fries (and all month long in July, on Monday if you buy a beer you get a free dinner!) but it was a damn good burger! The patty actually tasted identical to the ones they serve at Cactus Club, and everything– the bread, lettuce and tomatoes– was really fresh!
The little diner also had the same laid back atmosphere i love so much about Ivanhoe. The servers were really friendly and the eating area was super neat and tidy! They also have a tv NOT set to a shitty sports station, which is a nice touch if you’re eating there alone. I’m definitely putting Ivanhoe on the top of my list of tasty but cheap dinner options!

I thought this place was going to be hipster chic.
I’ve never been so wrong.

A regular’s bar. This is definitely a place people who live minutes away go to. You can show up in sweats and a mask and no one would be the wiser. That being said, neighborhood bar = awesomely friendly people! In my search for the bathroom, 2 people went out of their way and ended up walking me to it! So nice. There was even a game on and STILL room to sit and watch it. What? A place in Vancouver that you don’t have to show up 2 hours before game-​start?! Ridiculous. However…
this bar is not for everyone. There are some overly friendly people. Ladies beware because you will probably get hit on so I’d recommend bringing some dudes or dressing up in a garbage bag… but bring dudes. Seriously. Also, the live music is great but anti-​social. It’s soooo loud you’ll be screaming all night long.
Don’t take your date here but if you’re looking for cheap drinks and a place to hang out close to Main Skytrain Station then DOIT!

Original, unique, and real — the Ivanhoe is straight outta the movies. Think Julian, Ricky, and Bubbles. And especially Ray. (disregard if you aren’t into the TPB).
Not my usual choice of places to grab a drink, Campagnolo was closed so my buddy and I went here for an early evening Sunday beer after art shopping at an East Hastings gallery. A colorful crowd of mostly guys from across the board: seemingly homeless transients to pool sharks and hustlers to dudes selling «brand new jackets» and old timers to blue collars doing weekend business over a pint, and then there’s me and my buddy with nice coats and designer jeans. Not an ounce of judgment came down upon us though — a pleasant surprise considering the vibe in the typical DES dive.
The beer was cheap, the poutine tasty, and service smiley and charming. The Ivanhoe definitely has its place — it was crowded and entertaining, clearly doing good business.
Go here for a raw local experience, one that will likely be pushed away in the next decade as the gentrification of the area propagates.
Proceed with caution if interested in being a spectator tapping on the glass… I expect the freedom judgment is a two-​way street, and the Ivanhoe crowd is likely not to be trifled with.
Enjoy!

A cheap bar that’s open late and serves food early. The regulars are covered in tattoos and there’s always motorcycles parked in the back. I’ve seen people pull out knives in the back corner of the bar before, so watch out who youre making fun of. Theyre not the only people here on any given night though, a lot of construction workers, old men, and pool sharks make up the roster of a typical night here.
This bar used to be a lot more easy going when there was a smoking section. You’ll still find yourself talking to strangers going out back to smoke, but people like to keep to themselves with their cheap beers.
The beer tastes like water, but for $ 11 a pitcher, you cant expect much better. There’s a jukebox with some OK music selection available, and a live blues cover band that can be a lot of fun to watch on the weekends. There’s never any cover to the bar, and the security is of a take-​no-​shit variety that will have you leave the moment they sense trouble.
I am probably more partial to this bar because I live up the street from it, and remember visiting it between bands at the cobalt for cheaper beer and a quieter atmosphere. Now that the cobalt’s closed I am betting the clientele will be a bit less mixed, despite the hostel rooms upstairs.

The Ivanhoe definitely has some redeeming qualities, like comfortable seating and cheaper than cheap drink specials. It’s just that it also has certain negative implications, like the filthiness of the floor (and customers), and the fact that there’s a good chance that you’ll get in a fight.
Tough and lowbrow, it earns some of its reputation by being located in the death-​metal district of Vancouver. People are usually happy though, and if you can swallow your pride you’ll probably have a good time. It’s always nice to drink somewhere where everybody else is already drunker than you.
Think middle aged and tattooed, but the music is pretty dead-​on. Like I said, as long as you don’t hold eye contact with any of the regulars for too long you can enjoy yourself and get hammered for less than $ 15.