I went to the Olympic Irish House (620 Nelson Street) preview last night, a 9,000 square-foot pavilion house which is open to the public between February 8th to 28th. Located in a makeshift tent beside Doolins Irish Pub, this country pavillion reminds me of a typical beer garden crossed with a sports bar – complete with TV projections, a Nintendo Wii Station and a live band. Drink tickets can be bought for $8 to $9 – a preview of Olympics prices for the next month. There are two separate balconies accessible by stairs, and a sales booth by the entrance selling Celtic patterned jewelry. Click for photos and to continue reading.

The The Donnelly Hospitality Management group (Pop Opera, Bar None, Library Square, etc.) has reopened the downtown pub Smiley’s as “Smiley’s Public House” (911 West Pender Street).

The space has been given a sleek makeover that has drawn both thankful regulars and new clientele. Smiley’s Public House delivers the style of a modern, British-style pub while retaining the warmth and character of a traditional pub. The open-concept room boasts 240 seats and a range of table sizes, including 16-seat picnic tables. Guests come in to loosen their ties, tuck into modern pub food, watch a football match and engage in good-natured banter around the pool table. The dance floor brims on busier nights, and a DJ spins to the after-work crowd on Fridays.

One of the summer’s highly anticipated restaurant and bar, The Diamond (6 Powell Street), quietly opened its doors last week in historic Gastown.

Ah, Gastown. Arguably one of my favorite districts in Vancouver. If you’re 19+, here’s an opportunity for you to head down there for “The Gastown Shuffle”, sponsored by Red Bull, Heineken and Sauza. The event starts at 7pm and goes until 11pm. There is no cost to participate, simply ask for a Shuffle badge at any of the participating locations (Livestock, ALife, Complex, Stussy, JD’s Barbershop), and get into the shuffle ending up with a club DJ show at The Modern. Participating bars include Diamond, The Metropole, Deighton’s Well, Revel Room and The Lamplighter.

UVA Wine Bar (900 Seymour Street) was opened in April, 2008. Despite its modern, refurbished feel, with bold, black double doors at the entrance contrasting the light-colored interior German wallpaper, this venue has managed to keep it heritage roots, subtly incorporating aspects of its history such as the original floors from 1908. UVA Wine Bar is obviously influenced by an European allure, perhaps because of the French roots of the general manager Sebastien Le Goff. In fact, the ambient lounge melodies played in the background of UVA Wine Bar can be traced to the Parisian musical influences of the Hotel Costes in Paris.

Zodiac-inspired space theme, with a wall of glowing space lights, translucent curtains, and menu based on the four elements…

Last night I went to the Industry and Media Reveal for Tunnel Bar|Lounge (622 West Pender Street) which was an invitation-only event to preview the club before it opens to the general public. By 10pm the club was already starting to fill up with groups of people who know a lot of other people from working in “the industry”. The Tunnel venue is a long, rectangular club. Looking through the entrance, you could see right to the end of the club, where the DJ booth is located. Coatcheck is on the right, a small, veiled VIP lounge is on the left. Beyond that, the bar, its white counter stretched down on the left side of the club while couches were opposite it on the right. Behind the bar were wide TV screens flashing scenes of a driver’s-seat view of (appropriately) driving through a tunnel. At the back end of the room, with the dance floor and DJ booth, the walls and ceiling curved where they met to give the impression of a tunnel.

, located at 958 Granville Street and an initiative of Donnelly Nightclubs, celebrated their two-year anniversary last night on Tuesday May 27th. As a celebratory memento, CDs were given out to attendees as a souvenir for the night. Read the full story »