Funky Winker Beans

Vancouver, British Columbia

Field Note

Vancouver is almost too nice for its own good, many of the city’s dive bars forced out of the downtown urban core due to continued, growth-fueled redevelopment. Funky Winker Beans is a hold out, one of the last remaining true dive bars in Vancouver, a staple of the Gastown neighborhood since its founding in 1984.

Of course, the building now inhabited by Funky Winker Beans has a history that stretches beyond today’s karaoke-steeped dive bar. The structure that today houses Funky Winker Beans was erected in 1904 and was purchased in 1927 by infamous Vancouver madam Kiyoko Tanaka-Goto, who opened a brothel on the second floor. A handful of faded paintings of women can be found near the front of today’s Funky Winker Beans, a nod to the building’s past.

Over time, the building transitioned into a more upscale hotel, complete with men’s and women’s entrances, a restaurant and a bar. The hotel eventually became known as The Palace Hotel, evolving over time from a high-end hotel to a more straightforward bar as the fortunes of the bar’s immediate vicinity shifted. When the business transformed into Funky Winker Beans (at one time occasionally referred to as Punky Thrasherbalts) , a stage was installed, home to a string of live music acts culminating in the bar’s adoption of the Vancouver metal scene when fellow dive bar Cobalt closed its doors.

Groaning about Funky Winker Beans’ invasion by music-seeking hipsters began as early as 2010 and the bar’s live music scene eventually shifted to complete karaoke devotion. The massively elevated stage in the center of the bar is home to karaoke every night from 9:30 PM until closing, though two hours are reserved each Sunday for an open mic comedy night.

The area outside Funky Winker Beans’ doors has seen better days, though the iconic Save-On Meats building sits next door. The site of a long-running meat market for over 50 years, the site was converted into a no-frills diner until 2019 when the COVID-19 pandemic hit. After shuttering for a time, the kitchen once used for the diner was transformed yet again and is now used as a commissary supporting Vancouver nonprofits by providing meals to the area's homeless population.

Black exterior walls welcome visitors to Funky Winker Beans with massive white lettering reading “Funky’s” above the bar’s original sign inscribed with the name of the bar and a bit of neighborhood graffiti. Inside, Funky Winker Beans is clean and cavernous. a center bar island anchoring a space that includes a large gaming area (pool, pop-a-shot, dart boards) and the stage-adjacent seating area. Drawn by nightly karaoke, crowds here can be late-arriving and on the young side.

Ownership of Funky Winker Beans now sits with Doug Heywood, a veteran of the Vancouver bar scene, who ushered in a series of updates upon taking over the reins. Fresh flooring, an updated stage & DJ booth, exterior repairs and fresh paint have ensured a welcoming environment without losing the bar’s status as one of the lone dives left in Vancouver.