Grand Union Hotel Pub

Vancouver, British Columbia

Field Note

On the edge of Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside district, Grand Union Hotel Pub certainly feels like it’s on the edge, one of last true dive bars in a city that has almost entirely wiped away the concept thanks to the prosperity of its downtown core. Across the street from fellow holdout Funky Winker Beans, Grand Union Hotel Pub is the decidedly less glamorous of the two drinking spots, a cavernous space that spans multiple bars, seating areas and rooms.

Online listings will be forgiven for referring to what is actually Grand Union Hotel Pub as “Vancouver’s Favorite Country Music Pub,” due to the massive mural depicting the phrase that runs the length of Grand Union’s building. The mural, installed in the 1950s, is today obscured by a pair of commercial real estate signs reading “For Sale,” an ominous omen for one of Vancouver’s last divey options.

The history of Grand Union Hotel Pub is lengthy, the bar’s current location its second after first opening in 1911 adjacent to what was once the Oxford Hotel, a business that was gutted, re-licensed, renamed to Grand Union Hotel and permitted to move next door to 32 West Hastings Street. Boasting 102 rooms and four stories, it was demolished in 1916, prompting the Grand Union Hotel to relocate to 74 West Hastings, its current location. The former bar on that site, named Bergman’s Cafe to match the Bergman’s Rooms hotel upstairs, was built in 1913 and occupied the space that is now Grand Union Hotel Pub. Once a hotel, the rooms above Grand Union Hotel Pub today serve as Single Room Occupancy (SRO) affordable housing.

The fortunes of this portion of Vancouver have fluctuated over the decades since Grand Union Hotel Pub was first established, today’s dynamic one that includes a significant homeless population a few steps from the bar’s front door. In a city filled with polished drinking options, Grand Union Hotel Pub is a true dive. Despite the massive country music-themed mural above the front door, the iconic Grand Union Hotel Pub sign stands out thanks to a vintage red striped design and ornate lettering.

The bar’s interior is expansive with countless tables and chairs distributed through a space divided into multiple rooms. A disco ball hangs in the middle of the bar’s main seating area, perhaps a nod to the karaoke evenings hosted three times a week at Grand Union Hotel Pub. Mirrors just below the bar’s ceiling ring this area, presumably to allow bartenders to keep an eye on the proceedings. The bar itself is lengthy, winding from one small section toward the front of the bar into a longer portion that operates as the main serving area.

Again surprisingly, the amenity list for Grand Union Hotel Pub is long, including keno, pinball, a digital jukebox and a pool table. A number of draft beer selections are available and bottles are housed in both the vintage coolers behind the bar and in an ice bath that sits just behind the bar rail. Given its location, the vibe at Grand Union Hotel Pub can certainly at times feel insular thanks to a core set of usual suspects at the bar, but this reviewer’s visit was nothing less than welcoming. In a city short on dive bars, it is worth reinforcing that Grand Union Hotel Pub is indeed a dive and a bit rougher than pretty much any other downtown drinking option, but therein lies its charm as a throwback to when the city wasn’t quite as pristine as it is today.